Shane O'Farrell's family have described the public apology from the Government as a day of "vindication" after their long years of campaigning.
Mr O’Farrell’s father Jim and mother Lucia along with his sisters Amy, Gemma, Hannah and Pia stopped outside the gates of Leinster House to reflect on the more than three hours they spent in the Dáil chamber.
It began with admissions by both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste that there had been failings on the part of the State in relation to Shane's death.
Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan then took to his feet to offer the family a public apology, including the appointment of a senior counsel to examine the conditions under which a repeat offender can be granted bail while awaiting trial.
Mr O'Farrell was 23 when was knocked off his bicycle and killed in a hit-and-run incident near his home in Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, in August 2011.
The car that struck the law graduate that day was driven by Zigimantas Gridziuska.
The Lithuanian national was a repeat offender, who was on bail from multiple courts and should have been in jail at the time of the collision.
Watch: Shane O'Farrell's sister calls public apology from Government 'a day of vindication'
Speaking outside the Dáil, Mr O’Farrell’s sister, Hannah, said the family finally felt that all their campaigning had been justified.
She said: "When you think about the facts that we have been putting out there for the last number of years, that were once pitched as allegations and they are now being stated as fact by the minister, I think it’s a hugely significant day for our family.
"The accountability, the institutional accountability, that the minister set out today is hugely significant, not just for us, but also for all victims of crime who might have unanswered questions.
"There is a message of hope here from us that victims should persevere if they have unanswered questions and if they’re being stonewalled by those departmental agencies, that they should persevere.
"I think that individuals behind the departmental agencies should look at themselves and should consider how they are treating families and the level of respect they have for them."
The family also said that given the minister had accepted as fact the details that they said ultimately led to Mr O'Farrell’s death, they were now glad that they were not put through the process of a public inquiry.
Gemma O'Farrell said: "The minister said today, he doesn't need a public inquiry for five years to come back to this point today, to be apologising to the family.
"If we went through a public inquiry, and the time and effort to go through all of that, and an inquiry found in our favour, it would be an acceptance of facts and an apology from the minister, and in some ways, we have achieved that today.
"I think that is something that we will definitely consider in terms of what the minister has said [to us].
"I think there's a lot of merit in that."
However, even after the public apology, the family remains steadfast that there are further questions to be answered in terms of how such circumstances could transpire that Gridziuska was still on the road that day almost 14 years ago.
'Very significant'
Lucia O'Farrell, who has spearheaded the family’s campaign for more than a decade, said she believes many of those questions can be easily answered.
She said it is "very significant" that the Government apologised.
"Basically, it is almost 14 years and we welcome that apology and so many people spoke today, TDs spoke today. and they welcomed the apology," she said.
"They also said that questions remain, and questions do remain for me and for our family," she added.
Ms O’Farrell said: "Did you hear the litany of times he [Gridziuska] should have been brought back and wasn’t, and why did that happen? Nobody is asking why.
"I think those answers need to be given to us.
"It doesn’t have to be in the public inquiry, it can be in the GSOC [now Fiosrú - The Office of the Police Ombudsman] reports that have been refused to us.
"There is a file on him [Gridziuska] in the Garda National Crime and Security Intelligence Service, what is in that file?
"Our child lies in a grave. We should be given the answers and, apologies, yes, if it goes so far but we do need answers to our questions.
"That doesn't have to be through a long process of an inquiry.
"The answers are there. We do have them, so they should furnish them to us."
