No Govt cash for holiday death court case

The Government will not step in to help pay legal costs to the family of an Irish woman beaten to death while on holiday in Spain, it said today.

Celine Conroy (aged 26) was found dead in a pool of blood in a villa she was sharing with her partner, who is to stand trial in relation to the death, and their three young children, south of Alicante on August 28 last year.

The dead woman’s mother, Sandra Fitzsimmons, asked Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and the Department of Foreign Affairs to help her pay for a solicitor for the case, expected before the courts within the next few months.

Paul Hickey (aged 28) of Buttercup Park, Darndale, was remanded in custody on the Costa Blanca in connection with the violent death of the young mother-of-three.

The Government gave consular assistance to both families involved, including help in the repatriation of Celine’s remains and her children, now aged nine, six and two.

The Department of Foreign Affairs provided names of a number of Spanish lawyers, but said it can’t help with costs.

Ms Fitzsimmons, who is battling cancer, already has just under a third of the €10,000 needed but won’t be able to raise the rest before the case comes to court, she said.

“While the Department (of Foreign Affairs) is happy to assist citizens with the provision of information, it cannot involve itself in the substance of the court case. The issue of guilt or innocence will be decided by the courts,” a Government spokesman said.

“In regard to the request that the department hire a lawyer, apart from the prosecution, for Ms Conroy’s family, it must be pointed out that the Government does not provide separate lawyers for the families of victims, either abroad or in Ireland.

“The defendant in this case, Paul Hickey, is also an Irish citizen. He and his family have also requested consular assistance. The department will not be providing a lawyer for his defence,” he said.

Ms Fitzsimmons and her son now have joint custody of Celine’s children, a boy and two girls.

The children were in the villa in the south-eastern resort of San Fulgencio when their mother, from Dublin’s north inner city, suffered a violent death. The eldest two attend counselling twice a week.