Did State pay my sister's killer after conviction?
Mr Kilroy, a former park ranger with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), has been behind bars since beating, stabbing and strangling his wife to death in Kilbree Lower, Co. Mayo, in June 2019, while the couple's three children slept.
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After two collapsed trials, he was convicted of her murder last July, the jury rejecting his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.
Valerie French
However, Extra.ie received information in February this year that the Co. Meath native was still being paid by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, which oversees the NPWS.
When the reasons for this were queried in February by Extra, a spokesman for the department said on February 19: 'The matter is currently the subject of legal correspondence, however, the department does not comment on individual circumstances of existing or former members of staff.'
But that comment changed this week, with the department giving an outright denial anybody serving time for a serious offence like murder was on the State payroll.
The case around the brutal murder had already shone a light on the legal anomaly that has seen Mr Kilroy retain guardianship of the couple's three children after murdering their mother Valerie, a 41-year-old occupational therapist originally from Leap, Co. Cork.
Valerie French Kilroy.
Her brother David French, who is leading efforts to have this law changed and has recently published a book about his sister and the aftermath of her murder, has had three Freedom of Information (FOI) requests rejected since February in trying to establish if and when the State stopped paying Mr Kilroy a salary.
An initial FOI submission to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage was rejected on the grounds that specific personal information could not be shared.
A second request asking for a description of protocol when someone is convicted of a serious crime such as murder received the response that it 'would fall under the category of serious misconduct. It is the case that all serious misconduct cases are dealt with on a case-by-case basis having regard to the relevant guidelines and procedures and legal advice, as appropriate.'
A final request asked for the number of people on the payroll who have not presented to work in the past five years.
This was refused on the grounds that it 'would involve the disclosure of personal Information'.
Extra asked the department this week if it had any update to its comment in February.
A spokesman responded: '…you have raised a query about a conviction for a serious criminal offence (murder) and the department can confirm that there are no persons currently serving a prison sentence for such a conviction who are in receipt of any payments (whether by way of salary or otherwise) paid by the department, which includes the NPWS.'
Asked if that was true at the time of our initial queries in February, and what the 'legal correspondence' mentioned in the initial response referred to, a spokesman said the department 'won't be adding anything to the response' provided this week.
Mr French said it is 'hard to find words to describe the situation' of Mr Kilroy potentially receiving a salary over six months after his conviction and almost six years after being arrested for murder.
'From child guardianship to property ownership, the legal situation following a homicide needs serious reform,' he told Extra.ie.
People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger raised the issue in the Dáil this week, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin responding that he did 'not have the background in respect of the NPWS and how it is dealing with this, but I will find out'.
Ms Coppinger told Extra: 'It's very concerning someone who was very publicly tried and convicted for the murder of his wife could continue to be paid by the State.'
An employment law expert told Extra.ie they 'can think of no legal reason why somebody convicted would still be getting paid'.
'If somebody is arrested for a really serious charge, such as murder, I would expect that they would immediately be put on administrative – i.e. paid – leave, because they have the presumption of innocence.
'But on conviction, that ought to have been withdrawn and his employment terminated. And I suspect what has happened is simple human error, he wasn't removed from the payroll, because as far as they were concerned, he was still on 'special leave.''
The solicitor added the 'only other angle I could see' is that, 'perhaps on humanitarian grounds, they're placing his salary in trust for the kids, because he's not in a position to provide for them and the mother has passed away'.
But he further explained there was 'no legal authority' for such an arrangement.
A spokesman for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform told Extra.ie: 'In the event a civil servant is convicted and incarcerated for a serious offence, dismissal would be highly probable, subject to the specific circumstances and the application of internal disciplinary procedures.
'The reasons for warranting the sanction of dismissal are cited in Appendix A of the Civil Service Disciplinary Code which states that any serious misconduct is misconduct which is sufficiently serious to warrant dismissal or other serious sanction.'
A source in a union that represents civil servants said their experience aligns with the department's comments that judgments are made 'case by case' when someone is convicted of a crime.
'There's no one-size-fits-all process that I'm aware of,' they said.
'If you go down to the Four Courts and listen to a whole day's proceedings, there's no one-size-fits-all when it comes to criminal law.
'Criminal law is vast, and with good reason, because the nature of what transgresses the law varies widely. The law has different ways of dealing with cases of different individual criminal activity.'
Mr Kilroy's legal team, Thomas J Walsh Solicitors in Castlebar, Co. Mayo, did not respond to an approach for comment.
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