The wife of Thomas Dooley, who was murdered while they attended a funeral in Tralee in 2022, has said his death has had an "everlasting impact" on her, and that what happened that day "will never leave" her.
In a victim impact statement read to the court on Siobhán Dooley's behalf as five men were given mandatory life sentences for his murder, she said she would "never understand why Thomas was murdered in the most horrible way".
Ms Dooley said that they first met in 1996 when they were both 16 years old. They married in Tullamore in June 1998, before deciding to settle in Killarney at the end of that year, she said.
"We had a very happy and content marriage and our lives were lived for our children," Ms Dooley said.
"His children always came first with him," she said, adding that he was "a doting father" and that "becoming a grandfather brought a new happiness" into his life.
"He doted on the grandchildren and his grandchildren took over his life. It’s fair to say he nearly favoured the grandchildren over his own children, he was just so proud and honoured to be a granddad."
She said Thomas "was never happier than when our house was full of his children and grandchildren" and that her husband "always had good time for everyone".
"He hated trouble or hassle and hated to see anyone suffer trouble or hardships and always tried to help people."
She said that she remembered him walking to the graveyard with her on 5 October 2022, "messing, jumping into puddles and laughing".
"Every day I see the horrible scar under my arm as a constant reminder of that horrible day. A scar that I will always have.
"Every day when I wake from only a few hours' sleep I think it has all been a really horrible nightmare but then I’m thrown back into our new reality."
"As a family, we will never get over what happened to Thomas, that horror will never leave us. To lose someone to God is always hard, but the way he was murdered is a death that no one ever deserves and certainly not my Thomas," Ms Dooley’s statement read.
"He was such a softie, who was never a troublemaker and the way in which he left this world was just not fair to him.
"In his last words to me, he told me to run so that I could be saved. There was nothing any of us could do to save him."
Siobhán Dooley thanked gardaí in Tralee, the liaision officer and the legal prosecution team for their work during the investigation and the trial.
She also thanked Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring and the jury in the trial.
"As hard as it was for me to listen to what was being said in the courtroom, it was important to me to be there as many days as I could, for Thomas.
"I made a promise to Thomas on the day we put him in the ground that I would get justice for him, and justice we did get for him."
