The sister of Robert 'Robin' Wilkin has said she feels overwhelmed by the lack of remorse shown by her brother's "cold, calculating" murderers and by the way they dumped his body over Ireland's tallest cliffs "as if his life was worthless".
The 66-year-old was hit on the head with a rock and thrown off the Sliabh Liag cliffs on 25 June 2023.
Both had pleaded not guilty to the charge but each subsequently claimed the other did it. The jury found both had engaged in a joint enterprise.
Vial and Burns were sentenced to the mandatory term of life imprisonment at a sentencing hearing in the Central Criminal Court this afternoon.
Irene McAleer, sister of the deceased, sat through the entire trial and today delivered a statement on behalf of herself and her surviving siblings, David and Marie.
She said his family will never be able to come to terns with "the brutal nature of his death".
Mr Wilkin was the eldest sibling, she said, and the rest of the family looked up to him.
She said the impact of his "cruel and needless murder" will live with the family for the rest of their lives.
"Now, as a family, we have been left with nothing but memories of growing up together with Robin, due to the actions of Alan Vial and Nikita Burns," she said.
Ms McAleer said the "agonising journey" from when a garda called to say they believed Mr Wilkin and been murdered to the end of the trial has been "filled with grief, denial and undoubtedly anger".
Nothing or no one could have prepared me for the evil and harrowing details I have witnessed. To sit in the same room as those two very cold, calculating individuals has been so difficult.
While the convictions have brought "a certain degree of closure", she added that the family will never come to terms with the brutal nature of Mr Wilkin's death.
Ms McAleer said she felt she owed it to her brother's memory to sit through the trial, despite the distress she felt.
She added: "Nothing or no one could have prepared me for the evil and harrowing details I have witnessed. To sit in the same room as those two very cold, calculating individuals has been so difficult.
"The fact neither of these individuals has shown a grain of remorse has been very overwhelming at times."
She was sickened, she said, when she heard that Burns had said she hoped the body would not be found and that the victim's family "wouldn't bother to come looking for him".
Family's 'grieving will begin now'
She was further upset when she heard Vial "mocking" her brother, by declaring during one of his garda interviews it was ironic that Robin had said he wanted to be buried at sea.
Ms McAleer denied that her brother was estranged from his family.
She said: "He was, in fact, just travelling his own path and lost regular touch with us, as many siblings do. Robin's callous and unnecessary murder has deprived us all the chance to reconnect now that our own lives are slowing down."
She said she appreciated the fact that Vial's father and stepmother approached her in the court of offer condolences and apologies.
Ms McAleer said: "At this time, I realised that there were two families affected. I was emotionally overwhelmed. This had a profound effect on me.
"Although I appreciate the expression of sympathy, Alan Vial is still alive.
"They will be able to see him, talk to him, and hear his voice. Something that is not possible for our family."
Mr Wilkin's sister said the murder trial had been "absolutely harrowing for us as a family" and she said they "sat through gruesome evidence and have endured an agonising wait for the verdict" that was reached.
"The strain of attending court and listening to dramatic details is something that will live in me for the rest of my life," she said.
"The callous nature of the murder and how Robin's body was dumped off the cliff, as if his life was worthless, is something that will resonate with us all for life," she added.
Ms McAleer said their "grieving will begin now".
Ms McAleer also thanked the gardaí and witnesses who came forward to give evidence at the trial.
In particular, she thanked Chris Quinn and Sharon O'Dowd, who told gardaí that Burns had confessed to murdering a man and throwing him off the cliffs at Sliabh Liag.
Without them, she said, Burns and Vial would never have been caught and prosecuted.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Imprisonment for life
Following the victim impact statement, Mr Justice Paul McDermott acknowledged what he described as the pain and suffering experienced by Mr Wilkin's family, offering them his condolences.
Mr Justice McDermott praised the investigating gardaí for the professionalism they showed in what he said was "an extensive and difficult" inquiry.
He also commended the gardaí for their professionalism in the way in which they approached the case.
Handing down his sentence, the judge said there is "no is no other sentence to be imposed in a case of this kind other than imprisonment for life".
He imposed the mandatory life sentence for each of the defendants, back dating Vial's sentence to 14 July 2023 and Burns to 29 August 2023, when they both first went into custody.
