They said that Patrick "Dutchy" Holland pulled the trigger and murdered Veronica Guerin, the determined reporter who exposed the Gilligan drugs gang in Dublin. For her tireless efforts, she was gunned down, but she destroyed John Gilligan and his empire.
No one could prove that Holland was the triggerman, but he was convicted for possession of cannabis and sentenced to twenty years. His sentence was reduced to twelve years on appeal. Last night at midnight, he walked out of Portlaoise Prison, a free man after serving nine years of his sentence. Good behavior gave him three extra years to walk this earth while Veronica Guerin's family lives with her brutal murder for the rest of their days.
Dutchy has gone off to Italy for a lie detector test to prove that he was innocent of the crime. Something wrong with the lie detectors in Ireland? Ah, of course, the weather in Italy is warm and sunny, and the lie detectors work much better in such a lovely climate.
It smells fishy and no one will trust the veracity of the results anyway. But take heart. John Gilligan has been fighting for years to retain his vast estate, his equestrian center, and what all he bought with the proceeds of his drugs trade. The courts won't give it back to him, and everything he once had now belongs to the state. He's still in jail, the ringleader who gave the orders, and that's as it should be.
2 comments:
Hi. I have read as much as I can on the various court cases, and any new developments surrounding the death of Veronica Guerin (10 years ago just last month).
How do you keep up-to-date on that? Irish Papers? Friends? Thanks.
EB
The wonders of the Internet - you can obtain a paid subscription to The Irish Times online, and the Independent papers are free. RTE Radio is out there as well.
As for friends and family, we seem to only talk about old times and other assorted inanities. Newspapers are better sources of information, unless you're looking for gossip about the neighbors, of course.
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