An Garda Síochána was still reeling from the murder of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe when Veronica Guerin was shot dead three weeks later by John Gilligan’s gang — a crime group who arrogantly considered themselves “untouchable”.
They were wrong,” according to a lead investigator in the Guerin murder probe, who spoke on condition of anonymity this weekend, out of respect for the late journalist’s husband Graham Turley, and their son, Cathal.
“They weren’t untouchable before they murdered Veronica, many of them had served long stretches at Portlaoise prison — that’s where the gang formed.
“After the murder, we immediately started building a case against them and pursued them relentlessly. They were naive. They thought they could shoot a journalist dead and the entire country would get over it within a couple of weeks. They couldn’t have been more wrong.”
The genesis for the shooting of Veronica soon became clear to investigating gardaí: John Gilligan had her executed because he was facing criminal charges for viciously attacking her when she called to his Jessbrook home to confront him about his involvement in crime nine months previously.
“The motivation was simple in many ways. John Gilligan was determined not to go back to prison,” explains the retired senior garda.
“Veronica was badly beaten, threatened and hospitalised after that attack when she called to his home. It was truly savage. Veronica had made a statement against him, he knew he was facing jail again.
“He was absolutely outraged that she called to his home. He wouldn’t have had much respect for women either. He wanted her dead after that and he had an explosive temper. To put it simply, he was a little scumbag who didn’t want to go back to jail and was prepared to do anything to ensure he didn’t.”
On the day in September 1995 when Gilligan attacked Guerin after she knocked on his front door, she had phoned gardaí she knew looking for directions to his Jessbrook home.
“The gardaí she phoned told Veronica to go home, that Gilligan was a dangerous man,” recalls the retired investigator. “But she didn’t. I got the impression there was no stopping her when she was pursuing a story. All we could do after she was murdered was immediately react.”
A major garda operation swung into action in the aftermath of the shooting on June 26, 1996. It was led by Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Hickey and was run out of Lucan garda station.
The garda commissioner of the day, Pat Byrne, signed off on extensive resources and as many as 100 detectives were assigned to the investigation team.
Brian Sherry, then a detective sergeant attached to Raheny garda station, was one of those assigned to the case. Now retired, he remembers the day of the shooting well.
“It was a beautiful summer’s day,” he recalls. “I remember listening to the garda calls on the radio and shortly after 1pm I heard a call that a shooting incident had occurred on the Naas Road.
“As more information became available it became clear that the shooting was fatal, and the victim was a woman.
“Garda networks went into overdrive and it soon became obvious that the victim was Veronica Guerin.”
Garda dedication to the case was evident immediately, adds Mr Sherry, despite garda resources being stretched, with significant manpower assigned to probe the IRA murder of Det Gda McCabe in Limerick.
“Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Hickey, one of the most experienced and respected detectives in An Garda Síochána, was in charge of the Veronica investigation. Within a short period, a short list of prime suspects was created from intelligence received,” Mr Sherry says.
“Each suspect that was nominated was profiled to include family and known associates, movements, phones, vehicles and any known relationship to the victim.
“Within a small time frame a considerable amount of intelligence was built up and several prime suspects within the Gilligan gang were identified.
“What followed was one of the most intense and thorough investigations undertaken by An Garda Síochána ever. The dedication of the officers was second to none. Breakthrough after breakthrough brought investigators nearer to their goal of bringing those responsible to justice.”
While Brian Meehan remains in jail convicted of Veronica’s murder — Paul Ward had his conviction overturned in 2002 — most other senior members of the gang were convicted of drug importation and served lengthy sentences in the aftermath.
Gilligan himself was released in 2013 having been given a 28-year sentence for cannabis distribution in 2001. “The gang was completely dismantled. We had Gilligan and others charged with murder. I’ve no doubt that Gilligan would have been convicted of murder had he not been intimidating witnesses,” adds the retired investigator.
“Am I disappointed he didn’t get convicted of murder? As investigators, we have to accept the verdict of the court. There was enough evidence for the DPP to charge him with murder. We secured a charge, that proved we had a prima facie case against him.
“It definitely helped that he was then locked up for a long time for cannabis importation, the longest sentence in the history of the State for drugs. In many ways he didn’t get away with what he did, in my view.”
Two Gilligan gang members, Charles Bowden and Russell Warren, turned State’s evidence against their criminal associates, which was instrumental in the garda case. The criminal underworld also turned its back on the Gilligan gang when it saw how murdering a journalist had backfired and hampered all criminal activity in the country as pressure grew.
“Ordinary decent criminals turned on those involved and the investigation brought more and more pressure on these criminals — so much so that they found it almost impossible to work,” explains Mr Sherry.
“This resulted in great intelligence which finally broke the back of the criminal organisation involved in this terrible crime. Those of us who were involved in any part in this investigation remember it with pride and sadness. Pride in the work and effort put in by so many. But there is sadness at the loss of such a young life taken by ruthless criminals.”
Twenty-five years on, one of the lead investigators says that while the criminal landscape constantly shifts, in many ways it remains the same.
“The Dunne crime gang came first. They were brought down, so too was Martin Cahill’s gang after them, followed by the Gilligan outfit being put out of operation,” he explains. “Now it is the Kinahans. Rest assured, they will be taken down too.”
