RTÉ News has learned that one of the killers of Detective Garda Gerry McCabe, who was granted temporary release to visit his sick mother, spent a night in a hotel with a woman. A second man released to visit his sick father was found in a pub in Donegal when it was raided by the Gardaí after hours. The Garda Representative Association has strongly criticised the insensitivity of the Department of Justice in releasing the men who it says are clearly abusing the system of temporary release.
Since their conviction in February of last year for the killing of Det Garda Gerry McCabe in Adare County Limerick, Kevin Walsh, Jeremiah Sheehy, Michael O'Neill and Pearse McAuley have enjoyed the benefits of the most relaxed and comfortable conditions the Irish prison service has to offer. All four are serving their 14-year jail sentences in a self contained unit in Castlerea prison where they enjoy free association, cook their own meals and are more or less independent. They have access to a private phone, they have sent prison officers out to bring them back Chinese takeaway meals from the town and on one occasion they took a prison officer hostage when they got drunk in the prison.
The men are also eligible for temporary release and have been out in the community on a number of occasions for what the Prison Service says is compassionate grounds. Today, RTÉ News has learned that when the most recent man to be released on such grounds, Jeremiah Sheehy, was supposed to be visiting his sick mother last weekend he was in fact spending the night with a woman in a hotel. Mr Sheehy was spotted by a Garda at the Rathkeale Inn at 9.30am, last Sunday. Neither the local Gardaí nor the McCabe family had been informed that he would be in Limerick, just ten miles from Adare where Det Garda McCabe was murdered four years ago.
RTÉ News has also learned that on the Saturday of the October bank holiday weekend last, Pearse McAuley was released for the weekend to visit his father. However, when Gardaí raided a pub in Lifford in County Donegal they found McAuley on the premises after hours and again local Gardaí were not told of his impending release. The GRA has written to the Minister for Justice and he replied that he has to balance the decision in relation to releasing people on compassionate grounds, but he again assured the GRA that the men will not be released early from prison.
Fine Gael’s spokesperson on Justice, Michael Noonan, has described the temporary release of the men found guilty of the killing Garda McCabe as “quite appalling”. Mr Noonan said that he had been informed that the decision to release prisoners was founded on letters from general practitioners, which in each case claimed that a close relative of each prisoner was seriously ill.
“Just two weeks ago, Mrs Anne McCabe expressed her horror at the idea that those who killed her husband would be released early. Mrs McCabe was in contact with me last week and I know how appalled she will be at today’s news,” he said.
Mr Noonan added that it now seems that the assurances by the Taoiseach that these prisoners do not qualify for release under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement is not the water-tight commitment which the McCabe family, the Gardaí and the public were led to believe.
