A public apology is to be made to the family of hit-and-run victim Shane O’Farrell in the Dáil next week by Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan.
Mr O’Farrell (23) died after being knocked off his bicycle in Co Monaghan in 2011 by a man with multiple convictions.
His mother, Lucia O’Farrell, and relatives have been campaigning for a public inquiry to be established into the events that led to the man who caused her son’s death being in a position to do so.
Zigimantas Gridziuska, who was driving the car that hit Mr O’Farrell, was out on bail at the time of the fatal incident. He had 42 previous convictions, including for road-traffic offences, theft and heroin possession.
Nine of a doctor’s 10 children killed in Israel’s latest strikes in Gaza
Vogue Williams: ‘Spencer ran towards me with red flags hanging off him in every direction’
David McWilliams: There are signs of overheating everywhere you look in Ireland’s economy
Bono defends taking honour from Joe Biden and questions ‘competitive empathy’ over Gaza
A ruling from Monaghan Circuit Court in January 2011 meant the Lithuanian national should have been in jail at the time of Mr O’Farrell’s death. However, he remained on bail despite being arrested on both sides of the Border for various crimes.
In 2013, Gridziuska pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court of failing to stop his car at the scene of the incident on August 2nd, 2011. He received a suspended sentence of eight months on condition he leave Ireland and return to Lithuania.
Shane O’Farrell was in training for a triathlon at the time of his death. He handed in his dissertation for his MA in Law at Trinity College Dublin just hours before his death and had returned home to spend time with his family.
Ms O’Farrell, her husband Jim and their four daughters met Mr O’Callaghan in March and afterwards said they were “hopeful” a public inquiry would be set up into the case.
When in opposition in 2018, Mr O’Callaghan introduced a private member’s motion calling for a fully public inquiry into Mr O’Farrell’s death. It was passed by both the Dáil and the Seanad.
A scoping inquiry in 2023 recommended against holding a public inquiry and Mr O’Callaghan recently said he could not ignore that decision. He told the Dáil in March that he would instead consider asking the Oireachtas justice committee to examine the scoping inquiry’s recommendations.
Ms O’Farrell said there was “no point putting us through another process” like that as the scoping inquiry did not answer why Gridziuska was out on bail when he killed her son.
“We need a transparent public inquiry to look at all of the facts, to see why he was at liberty,” she said.
In a statement on Saturday, a spokesman for Mr O’Callaghan said he met the O’Farrell family in March and “listened carefully to what they had to say” and reflected on the matters raised.
“Minister O’Callaghan will address the Dáil on Tuesday 27th May regarding an apology to Shane O’Farrell and his family. Time has been provided so that members from across the House can contribute,” she said. “The Minister will not be making any further comment before addressing the Dáil.”
In a statement to RTÉ, Ms O’Farrell said: “We note that Minister O’Callaghan will make an apology to Shane on Tuesday. Shane’s case raises serious issues about how the criminal justice works and how it ought to work. We await the apology on Tuesday.”
Fianna Fáil TD Timmy Dooley told RTÉ’s Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin programme that he hoped the apology would be of assistance to the O’Farrell family.
Sinn Féin TD Darren O’Rourke said he welcomed the news of the Minister offering an apology for the O’Farrell’s, which he said was long overdue.
“The man who killed him should have been in prison at the time. The family have been failed by the State ever since.”
