27-05-2025
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
O'Farrell family left with ‘unanswered questions' after minister's apology
The family of a Monaghan cyclist who was killed in a hit-and-run crash almost 14 years ago said they still have 'unanswered' questions' following an apology from the Minister for Justice.
On August 2 2011, law graduate Shane O'Farrell, 23, was cycling home when he was struck by a car in the Carrickmacross area of Co Monaghan.
On Tuesday, Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan announced a review into bail and suspended sentences after he apologised to the family for failures in the criminal justice system that exposed Mr O'Farrell to danger.
The driver of the car, Zigimantas Gridziuska, failed to remain at the scene.
The Lithuanian national had a number of previous convictions including for theft and drugs offences.
The Dail heard that the day he struck Mr O'Farrell, Gridziuska should have been in jail for breaches of bail conditions that were applied to him at the time.
In one instance, the late Judge John O'Hagan had told him that he would be 'going to prison' if he got in trouble again after January 11 2011.
He received multiple convictions after that date, for which he lodged appeals.
He was also serving a number of suspended sentences and there had been numerous warrants for his arrest which had not been executed.
In addition, the Garda Drug Squad stopped the car approximately one hour before the collision and the Dail has previously heard it was observed to be in a dangerous, defective condition, but allowed to continue with Gridziuska as the driver.
Gridziuska was prosecuted in February 2013 for dangerous driving causing Mr O'Farrell's death.
He was acquitted of that charge by direction of the trial judge and, under the law at the time, a lesser charge of careless driving was not open to the jury.
The Dail heard that he has returned to Lithuania.
Mr O'Farrell's family have been calling for a public inquiry into the circumstances of his death and why Gridziuska had not been in jail.
That call was supported by Fianna Fail TD Mr O'Callaghan while he was in opposition.
Mr O'Callaghan, who has since become Minister for Justice, told the Dail in March that he cannot now ignore that a scoping exercise into Mr O'Farrell's death recommended that there should be no further public inquiry.
Delivering an apology to the O'Farrell family in the Dail on Tuesday, he said he did not need a public inquiry to establish the facts in the case or address failings that led to the fatal incident.
He acknowledged that the Dail and Seanad had previously voted to support an inquiry, but added that he did not need one to confront those failings or issue the apology.
Mr O'Callaghan said Mr O'Farrell had his 'whole life ahead of him' and that his 'loss was incalculable'.
He said he could not alleviate the pain felt by the family and added: 'It is incumbent on me as Minister for Justice to apologise to Shane O'Farrell and the O'Farrell family for the fact that the criminal justice system did not protect him as it should have.'
Mr O'Callaghan announced a range of reforms including a review of bail laws and suspended sentences, as well as an amendment to road traffic laws to allow juries to consider a lesser charge of careless driving in instances where a trial judge has directed the acquittal of a person on dangerous driving.
'The legitimate questions that the O'Farrell family have asked are why the persistent breaches of bail conditions by Gridziuska, through the commission of further offences, did not trigger a response under our criminal justice code, and why were consecutive sentences not imposed in respect of the offences he committed whilst on bail, and why warrants that were issued were not executed.'
He added: 'The broader question that needs to be answered is how our criminal justice system should respond to a recidivist offender who persistently breaks summary laws and whether, even if the theft offences had been brought back to the attention of Judge O'Hagan, the Judge would have had the jurisdiction through statutory power to remand Gridziuska in custody.'
The minister also announced plans to memorialise Mr O'Farrell with a Department of Justice-funded scholarship that will be awarded to a student who distinguishes him or herself in the Masters in Law degree at University College Dublin every year.
In a statement, the family said it welcomes the 'long overdue State apology' for the 'catalogue of systemic failures' that led to his death.
His sister Gemma O'Farrell said: 'Today's State apology is significant, and a solemn recognition of the systemic failure that 'exposed Shane to a threat to which he should not have been exposed' and which cost him his life.'
Speaking to reporters outside Leinster House, Shane's sister Hannah said the family is still left with 'unanswered questions' about the circumstances around how Gridziuska was at large at time of the incident.
Shane's mother Lucia O'Farrell said they are still seeking the publication of reports into the matter by the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission which have been refused to them, as well as a file on Gridziuska with the Garda National Crime and Security Intelligence Service.
She said: 'Our child lies in a grave – we should be given the answers.
'An apology, yes, it goes so far but we do need answers to our questions – and that doesn't have to be through a long process of an inquiry.'
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said the apology was a vindication of the 'courageous and relentless pursuit of truth and justice' by the O'Farrell family.
However, Ms McDonald said no answers had been provided to 'credible allegations' that Gridziuska 'had been operating as a garda informer'.
She also said that the 'bereft family' had been 'forced to battle for more than a decade against a State and a system that should have their backs'.
Ms McDonald said: 'This person was routinely able to flout bail, court orders and custodial sentences.
'He hit and killed a young man with his car – at a time when he should have been in jail.
'The big unanswered question is this: why he was at liberty on the night that he fatally struck Shane with this car?'
Prior to the apology, Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Tanaiste Simon Harris also acknowledged the deep pain, trauma and sense of loss suffered by the family and commended their bravery.
