The 100-year-old former Garda superintendent who fought against his dismissal from the force for 71 years expressed elation yesterday after an announcement by the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, restored his good name.
From his apartment in Bayside, Queens, Mr William Geary said a huge burden had been lifted from him. "I left the country branded a scoundrel and a traitor and now my name is cleared after all these years."
In June 1928, when Mr Geary was serving in Kilrush, Co Clare, an area noted for Republican activity, he was sacked for allegedly accepting a £100 bribe from the IRA.
The only evidence against Mr Geary was based on intercepted IRA correspondence.
Despite his repeated requests to view the evidence and protestations of innocence, the superintendent was dismissed without charges, a disciplinary hearing or trial.
Earlier this year, the Government finally released Mr Geary's evidence file to him. After receiving the papers in New York City, Mr Geary reiterated to the Minister for Justice that he was innocent and said the file contained only circumstantial, unsubstantiated evidence.
In a carefully worded statement, the Minister for Justice said yesterday that after reviewing papers relating to the case he was not convinced the procedures which were followed in 1928 were satisfactory. If the same procedures were followed today, it was unlikely it would be within the "requirements of natural justice as currently understood", he said.
As a result, the Government "considers it reasonable that Mr Geary should have the impediments to the future enjoyment of his good name and reputation lifted". In an effort to recognise this in a practical way, the Government has granted him a pension of £17,500 a year, the equivalent provided to a Garda superintendent retiring after completing full service. In addition, Mr Geary receives a once-off lump sum payment of £50,000.
While he said he appreciated the Government's gesture, Mr Geary added: "The money doesn't mean anything. It never has." The most important aspect of the Minister's announcement, he said, was the acknowledgment that he was never charged with, or convicted of, a crime and was entitled to his good name and reputation.
The Minister's announcement brings Mr Geary's 70-year campaign to restore his honour to a close. He wrote hundreds of letters to numerous taoisigh, ministers for justice, presidents and several politicians over the decades, without success. Mr Geary attributes the recent movement in his case to the publicity generated through Irish Times coverage.
Mr Geary is not bitter about his life and credits its course and his continuing good health to a higher force. "This was in the hands of God and when I think through it, I have to be so humble," he said.
The Minister's announcement took his family in Limerick and Cork by surprise.
His niece, Ms Mary Geary O'Donoghue, from west Limerick, was very emotional after hearing the news. "It's brilliant, isn't it? All his family is thrilled to bits but we're shocked it's all happened so quickly at the end."
Her sister, Ms Angela Geary Smith from Cork, said: "We're just trying to take it all in. It has taken a long time and he's just kept up. He's been so determined all down through the years."
The case received cross-party support in the Oireachtas following a series of articles and editorials in The Irish Times. Of yesterday's decision, Mr Conor Lenihan, a Fianna Fail TD for Dublin South West, said: "He's been vindicated, given the pension rights and monetary compensation that is due to him and the lack of fair procedure was recognised."
The Fine Gael deputy for Limerick West, Mr Michael Finucane, was also delighted with the news. He has been prosecuting the issue for Mr Geary's family, who are his constituents, over the past few months.