‘Criminals can no longer hide behind hired gunmen’

Local politicians hailed the verdict, with Cllr John Gilligan — who was mayor of Limerick at the time of the murder in 2008 — saying crime leaders could “no longer hide behind hired gunmen”.
Fianna Fáil TD Willie O’Dea, then defence minister, said there had been a feeling “things were getting out of control” after the murder and said the verdict showed that “the representative of law and order are in control”.