Repeat of tensions feared in Nally retrial

IT was one of the most high-profile cases in recent legal history and its potential to expose tensions, between Traveller and settled communities, are set to be repeated.

The near-muted reaction to the Court of Criminal Appeal’s decision to order a retrial of Co Mayo farmer, Padraig Nally for the unlawful killing of Traveller John Ward provided a good barometer of the general dread among all sides of having to relive the harrowing experience of the original trial.

The case is unlikely to come before the Central Criminal Court again until next spring, but already there are indications that it will provoke further controversy. Traveller groups have voiced concern that justice will only be served if the new trial, unlike the original one, is held outside Co Mayo.