‘He was a great big brother' – Ian Bailey's sister pays tribute as his ashes are scattered off a secluded pier in West Cork
Stories shared by friends and family at memorial in west Cork a long way from media portrayal of suspect
Today at 21:30
As Ian Bailey's loved ones scattered his ashes from a secluded pier in west Cork on Friday, filmmaker Jim Sheridan and investigative journalist Donal MacIntyre were there to record the final goodbye.
Bailey's 'deepest wish' before he died was to clear his name of any involvement in the murder of French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier and some are still determined to do so now, 17 months after his death.
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Extra.ie
7 hours ago
- Extra.ie
Family of Sophie Toscan du Plantier 'fully respect' Bailey ceremony
The family of Sophie Toscan du Plantier said they do not believe it would be appropriate to comment on the scattering of Ian Bailey's ashes during a ceremony in west Cork on Friday. The French filmmaker's uncle, Jean Pierre Gazeau, told 'We want to fully respect the ceremony, so we don't have any comment to make. 'It's a private thing. We respect fully the kind of event and ceremony.' Sophie Toscan du Plantier. Pic: REX/Shutterstock Ms Toscan du Plantier's family had called for Mr Bailey to be extradited to France, where a court found he was guilty of her murder in May 2019. They recently criticised a new film by Jim Sheridan, Re-Creation, which focuses on what may have happened if an Irish jury had to deliberate on the case. Jim Sheridan. Pic: Juan) Ms Toscan du Plantier's family described the movie as 'ethically questionable'. Mr Gazeau said while they 'fully acknowledge' Mr Sheridan's reputation as a gifted and accomplished filmmaker, they 'regret he has chosen to apply his talent to a project based on questionable evidence'. The six-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker defended his film, stating that it was not intended to cause distress to the family.
Extra.ie
8 hours ago
- Extra.ie
Ian Bailey's partner reveals his ashes 'weren't even scattered where he wanted'
The former partner of Ian Bailey has revealed the late murder suspect's ashes 'weren't even scattered where he wanted' during a much-publicised memorial ceremony on Friday. Bailey's ashes were spread on the waters off west Cork during a memorial event organised by his sister, Kay Reynolds, at Skeaghanore pier near Ballydehob, overlooking Roaringwater Bay. But Jules Thomas – the Welsh-born artist who was in a relationship with Bailey for decades before ordering him to move out of her house two and a half years before he died – told 'Ian always said that after his death he wanted his ashes scattered into Dunmanus Bay, but I heard they put them into Roaringwater [Bay] – that's on the other side instead. Jules Thomas and Ian Bailey. Pic: Collins Courts 'He always said he wanted them to be scattered into Dunmanus – that's between Mizen and Sheep's Head with Durrus in the corner. He was very specific. Instead, he apparently ended up someplace different.' She added: 'Poor b***er; he wasn't even scattered where he wanted to be in the end.' Ms Thomas was not invited to the private final farewell for her former partner, which was attended by around 30 family members, friends and supporters on Friday, which included filmmaker Jim Sheridan and Bailey's long-time solicitor Frank Buttimer. Jules Thomas. Pic: Collins Courts But she said she probably would not have attended the ceremony even if she had been invited. Ms Thomas explained: 'I was in Dublin seeing my legal team about my High Court case against Netflix and on other business and only got back to Cork late on Thursday night. I was exhausted and probably couldn't have made it even if I had planned to be there.' She described her non-invitation as a way of 'airbrushing me out'. The artist said: 'I supported him through thick and thin for 27 years of emotional hell for both of us. The worst thing that can happen to anyone is to be accused of something like murder, and that is what happened. 'I wasn't going to go anyway; when I threw him out, I finished with Ian and that was that.' Ian Bailey. Pic: Ian Bailey's sister said she did not invite Ms Thomas to Friday's ceremony because she didn't think she would want to attend the event. Ms Reynolds told 'She [Ms Thomas] said he just wasn't in her thoughts, that's what she said, so I didn't think she'd want to come'. However, she paid a warm tribute to her brother's former partner, adding: 'She stuck by him… he wasn't easy, was he? She had been incredible; we know he wasn't easy. And to stand by him all that time was incredible. She certainly had it tough with him.' Meanwhile, Ms Thomas has also revealed she was diagnosed with leukaemia around the time that the controversial Netflix three-part documentary series, Sophie: A Murder in West Cork, came out in 2021. Sophie Toscan du Plantier. Pic: REX/Shutterstock In her ongoing action against the streaming giant, she said the widely seen series turned her into a 'social pariah' and included 'glaring inaccuracies, fabrications and falsehoods'. She also alleges filming was carried out on her property without her permission. Ms Thomas is suing Netflix and its production company, Lightbox Media, for injurious falsehood, infliction of emotional suffering and negligence. The artist also revealed she had known she had leukaemia for more than two years before she told her daughters. Jules Thomas. Pic: Hell's Kitchen/Barbara McCarthy via Sky Studios She said: 'I knew they would be devastated, so I wrote each of them letters I posted at the same time to tell them. I waited over two years because I couldn't bring myself to tell them. I knew they would be so upset. 'I just couldn't give my three beautiful girls that worry and upset, I kept it to myself for as long as I could. Eventually, I decided they should know, so I wrote letters at the same time to each of my daughters to tell them.' Around 250 people in Ireland are diagnosed with the same form of incurable, slow-growing blood cancer affecting the blood and bone marrow, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, every year. Earlier this week, Ms Thomas travelled to Dublin to discuss the next phase of her High Court case with her legal team, which includes the high-profile solicitor Gerald Kean and leading senior counsel Michael O'Higgins. Ms Thomas said: 'I went utterly downhill watching the Netflix documentary., my brain was in total turmoil, I couldn't sleep, all my energy sapped away. What it showed, watched by millions of viewers around the world, was a shoddy home, nothing like mine, a rundown, shabby place, not clean.' She said this followed 'all the worry and isolation' following the murder of French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier, and the emergence of her former partner as the chief suspect in the unsolved killing. Ms Thomas said that, on top of 'the court cases with constant media attention for decades', she also had to endure 'the emotional burnout of living with a man like Ian Bailey. No wonder I was getting shingles due to exhaustion with all my defences constantly down.' She went to her GP in the summer of 2021, who prescribed anti-viral medication for shingles. Ms Thomas added: 'I was utterly exhausted all the time. My doctor referred me to a consultant in Cork who carried out tests, and the results came back confirming I had chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. 'It took a while for that to register the news. The specialist asked if I had been under a lot of stress, and I said: 'Oh yes, unbelievable stress and for years and years.' To be honest, it didn't surprise me that my body was caving in from it all.' Ms Thomas said she has not had blood transfusions and is treating her illness mainly with homoeopathy, which stimulates healing responses in affected parts of her body. 'It's slowly creeping up, but I am feeling okay at the moment,' she added. 'There's no place for stop in my character; I have to keep cracking on, and I hardly ever sit down. But when my immune system is down and I get the signal I am doing too much, I try to take it easy.' She also believes the stress of the unsolved murder contributed to her former partner's death. Ian Bailey died in January 2024 at the age of 66 after suffering several heart attacks that Ms Thomas says were brought on by his 'chronically unhealthy lifestyle'. She told 'He drank himself to death and took drugs to block out the hell he was living after denying all those years that he committed the murder and was not believed.' Ms Thomas has always protested that her partner of 30 years was innocent of the country's most notorious unsolved murder. This is despite the fact that Bailey had been violent to her on several occasions; Ms Thomas was hospitalised on two occasions after drink-fuelled beatings, which she described as 'lashing out, which he deeply regretted afterwards'. She said Bailey was consumed by the need to prove his innocence in the unsolved murder, which she says she knew 'he had nothing to do with'. Ms Thomas said: 'They had not a shred of evidence that we had anything to do with that terrible murder.' Whilst the private get-together to say goodbye to Ian Bailey 18 months after his death, involving poetry, music and some prayers, took place on Friday, Ms Thomas returned to her remote cottage and extensive gardens outside Schull here she busily potted plants to sell along with her evocative west Cork oils and prints at Schull market today. Despite her leukaemia diagnosis, the artist says she feels well and is full of hope her name will eventually be cleared 'once and for all'. She added: 'I just want the truth, and nothing more, after so many falsehoods to come out at last. I want that above all. 'I am not thinking much about my illness; something has to get you in the end. Our luck runs out at some time, and our bodies give up, and I think it's best not to dwell on that and keep going.'
Irish Independent
13 hours ago
- Irish Independent
‘He was a great big brother' – Ian Bailey's sister pays tribute as his ashes are scattered off a secluded pier in West Cork
Stories shared by friends and family at memorial in west Cork a long way from media portrayal of suspect Today at 21:30 As Ian Bailey's loved ones scattered his ashes from a secluded pier in west Cork on Friday, filmmaker Jim Sheridan and investigative journalist Donal MacIntyre were there to record the final goodbye. Bailey's 'deepest wish' before he died was to clear his name of any involvement in the murder of French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier and some are still determined to do so now, 17 months after his death.
