The mother of hit-and-run victim Shane O'Farrell believes she would have received a State apology sooner if she had received greater support from Fine Gael presidential candidate Heather Humphreys.
The 23-year-old cyclist was knocked off his bicycle and fatally injured by a driver who should have been in jail at the time.
Lithuanian national Zigimantas Gridziuska had a string of previous convictions prior to killing Shane O'Farrell in Carrickmacross in 2011.
The O'Farrell family have fought tirelessly over several years for answers about how and why Gradziuska was at liberty to kill the young cyclist.
They have received support from across the political spectrum - including from Fine Gael - and in May received a formal state apology in the Dáil for failures in Shane's case.
However, Lucia O'Farrell has consistently maintained through the presidential campaign that Ms Humphreys did not do enough as the family's local TD and Minister in Monaghan to support her family's cause.
The Fine Gael presidential candidate has always insisted she did her best for the O'Farrell family.
Ms Humphreys was first elected as a TD six months prior to Shane O'Farrell's killing and sat at Cabinet for 10 years as the O'Farrell family's push for a public inquiry into the killing reached its peak.
In her first broadcast interview since the campaign started, Ms O'Farrell told RTÉ's Drivetime how a State apology could have been delivered sooner with Ms Humphreys' support.
"Instead of receiving a State apology over 13 years later on the 27 May 2025, I think it would have shortened that time (if we received greater support from Heather Humphreys)", she said.
"We would have been allowed to grieve our child after getting a measure of justice for him. That would have been very welcome rather than the long time we were waiting. That could have happened a lot sooner if Heather Humphreys had met with us and addressed the failure."
Ms O'Farrell says she received support from Fine Gael Dublin MEP Regina Doherty, former Fine Gael Presidential candidate Mairead McGuinness & Independent Presidential candidate Catherine Connolly.
Ms O'Farrell's most recent correspondence to Ms Humphreys in May 2024 went unacknowledged.
"Why did she not speak up for Shane? How can she represent the people of this country if she couldn't represent her own constituents on the violent death of an innocent child?" she added.
Ms O Farrell contacted Ms Humphreys in 2018 and Ms Humphreys says she made representations on Ms O'Farrell's behalf to then Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan.
"I am sorry if she feels that I didn't do enough for her. I've always tried to help everybody that came through my doors" said Ms Humphreys on RTÉ's The Katie Hannon Interview last night.
"I spoke to her on several occasions and I made representations on her behalf", she added.
