‘I am going to be with Deirdre... nobody will ever part us again’
“I think about Deirdre all the time. Every single day, I think about her. I miss her so much. I just ache without her. I’m just longing to see her again. And I know I will see her again. I am going to be with Deirdre and nobody will ever, ever part us again,” she said yesterday.
Her comments came after Regina Nelligan, aged 33, was sentenced to two years in prison for the abduction of little Deirdre Crowley in December 1999. The final six months of the term was suspended.
Deirdre's father, Christopher Crowley, murdered her in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, on August 30, 2001, before taking his own life. He had been on the run with his daughter since December, 1999.
“Through all of this, it has absolutely been God who has upheld me and who has given me the strength to continue every day and he will continue to do so for the future. He is the one who is going to bring me and Deirdre back together again.”
She praised the gardaí for their relentless efforts during the 20-month hunt.
“Some of the criticism of the gardaí was unfair. I believe they did their best. Deirdre died, not because the gardaí did not do their job. She died because people told lies.
“There are many people out there who have knowledge of crimes, who have knowledge the gardaí would use. Those people do not have the right to make a judgment, to decide if the information they have is appropriate or not. If someone has information, it is their moral and civic duty to inform the gardaí. In doing so, you may be saving someone.
“The sentence does not actually matter. It doesn’t matter if she got 18 years. It won’t bring Deirdre back. You can’t put a value on Deirdre’s life. There is no sentence which would bring her back or justify her death or make it worth anything. The evidence quite clearly points to the fact that from day one, he intended to kill her. She had been a prisoner for so long.
"She had access to only one person who clearly was not in his right senses. She didn’t have access to the normal recreational facilities. She could not speak to people and had no choice whatsoever in the decisions in her life. She was without the love of her mother, of her friends and family. There was nothing real anymore about Deirdre’s life and she was probably filled with fear.
“I have no idea what he told her happened to me. I believe he told her I sent her away because I didn’t love her anymore or that I was dead. I don’t hate him. I have no thoughts whatsoever about him. He’s gone. I don’t know where he is now, but he made decisions as well.”
Justice has been served, she added.
“It has been very traumatic, a very difficult few years. Today is just another step in the process of climbing up out of the pit. I’m going to do my best now to try to put this behind me.”
Asked what she would say to others who helped Mr Crowley, she said: “I just wonder can they sleep at night. How can they, in all fairness, have this on their conscience. Every one of these individuals were also approached and asked for help. And they knew that Deirdre was just a small, innocent little child. They did nothing and, in fact, they obstructed the gardaí.
“I would imagine the gardaí need sufficient evidence to bring a conviction, not just a prosecution. I don’t know what will happen in the future. Perhaps it may come to that, I really don’t know.”
Passing sentence yesterday, Judge Michael O’Shea said he had to take into account that Nelligan did co-operate fully with the gardaí once the bodies of Christopher Crowley and his daughter had been recovered. She had also pleaded guilty to the charge at an early stage, saving the state considerable cost and cutting out the need for Christine O’Sullivan to give evidence and be cross-examined in the course of a full trial. Nelligan also had no previous convictions.
The 18-month sentence began from yesterday.
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