Family fights for justice over son’s shooting

THE father of an innocent man shot in the face in a gun attack has gone public in a bid to help the Garda investigation.

Terry Delany said his son Robert, 27, was shot at close range at his home in Tallaght, west Dublin, last October. He is now in a coma with “severe injuries” to his face and head.

Robert, a father-of-two, was not a criminal and was not known to gardaí.

“There’s an attitude out there that it’s scum killing scum, but my young lad was not a member of a gang.”

He said his son had tried to break up a fight outside a pub in Tallaght. It’s believed one of the parties may have targeted him afterwards.

The family organised a public meeting at the Plaza Hotel in Tallaght last Saturday, which was attended by around 200 people, including local political representatives and gardaí.

“The gardaí have done everything they could, but they are up against it in terms of witnesses,” said Terry. “You feel powerless, it’s hard to see nothing happen, hence the campaign.”

The family, helped by volunteers, distributed some 10,000 leaflets in the Tallaght area afterwards.

“Robert was at his home in Tallaght last October when he was the victim of a gun attack,” said Terry, a trade union official. “He took the full brunt of it in his face, that resulted in him being severely injured.

“People think that if someone is shot and if they don’t die, there’s an automatic assumption they’re alive and making a recovery, which is not the case and unfortunately with my lad is unlikely to be the case.”

Terry said he found it very hard to understand how someone could do what they did to his son, apparently over an exchange of words.

“It’s a nightmare, an absolute nightmare,” he said.

“He was a good, hard-working lad, never in trouble in his life. He worked as a postman here in Tallaght and lived with his partner and two children.”

Terry said the family did a lot of “soul searching” about going public, but “we’ve reached the stage of needing to do something to try and bring these guys to justice.”

Anyone with information can contact Tallaght Garda Station on 01-6666000 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111.