Shane O'Farrell: Irish PM to meet family of County Monaghan hit-and-run victim

Shane O'Farrell was killed while cycling near his home in Carrickmacross

The family of a 23-year-old who was killed in a hit-and-run, by a driver who should have been in jail at the time, will meet the taoiseach (Irish PM) later to urge for a public inquiry into his death.

Shane O'Farrell, a law graduate, was hit by a car when he was cycling near his home in Carrickmacross, in County Monaghan, in 2011.

Driver Zigimantas Gridziuska - a Lithuanian national - left the scene but later handed himself into gardaí (Irish police).

He had more than 40 convictions, including some in Northern Ireland.

A ruling from Monaghan Circuit Court the January before his death meant the he should have been in jail at the time of Mr O'Farrell's death.

Instead, he remained on bail.

Another prison sentence handed down in February 2011 was also not imposed.

Prison sentences were never served because of what the Court Services of Ireland said was an administrative error.

He then received an eight-month jail sentence that was suspended on condition that he left the country.

The O'Farrell family have been campaigning ever since for a public inquiry into the circumstances leading to the death.

They say reviews by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC), the Independent Review Mechanism and the Courts Service did not go far enough.

Shane's parents, Lucia and Jim, and his four sisters will meet Micheál Martin and Irish Minister for Justice Helen McEntee on Wednesday.

They have previously travelled to Brussels to raise their case in the European Parliament and Stormont in Belfast.

"This case remains live and will continue to remain live until its addressed fully," Mrs O'Farrell told RTÉ’s Drivetime programme.

"We've recently discovered more failings and that's very unfair, 11 years on, that we're still learning things," she added.

In 2018, the Dáil (Irish parliament) passed a Fianna Fáil motion calling on the government to establish a commission of investigation into the death of Mr O'Farrell.

Mr Martin, then opposition leader, told the Dáil how the case revealed "shocking malpractice and dysfunction within our criminal justice system at all levels - an inquiry should be established".

"We would ask them to honour their commitment to our family but also to the people of Ireland as the government have a duty to address very serious public policy issues and there are very serious issues in this case," said Mrs O'Farrell.

"I hope Micheál Martin would honour and deliver on his promise to us and to Shane, who's silent in all this," she added.

"Shane lay on a cold road that night. He is an Irish citizen who was killed by somebody who shouldn't have been on the road that night. And if they think they are things that should not be looked into, that's a very damning indictment," said Shane's sister Gemma.

In 2019, the Irish government ordered a scoping exercise review to examine whether a public inquiry was necessary and, if so, to determine its terms of reference.

Judge Haughton completed his work on 1 June.

The family and justice minister have been given an advance copy.

She will discuss the report with the family at the meeting.

An Irish government spokesperson said the taoiseach would meet the family to discuss the judge’s report but it would be inappropriate to comment further.