Gilligan 'will not speak to media'

Drug trafficker John Gilligan has claimed that even an offer of €1m will not sway him to speak out when released from prison.

The convicted criminal is due to walk free from Portlaoise high security jail next week after spending more than 13 years behind bars.

A solicitor for the drugs baron said Gilligan is engaged in litigation with various authorities in the Republic of Ireland.

“For this, and other reasons, neither he, nor any member of his family, will be speaking to the media concerning any of his plans or intentions with regard to his future, nor any other subject,” Joanne Kangley said in a letter to media outlets.

“In particular, Mr Gilligan wishes to stress that offers of money or any other reward for media interviews or comments will not sway him from the position set out above.

“Mr Gilligan wishes it to be expressly known that even if each paper, magazine and or television station offered him €1m, he will not give an interview.

“Accordingly, representatives of the media in general are invited to desist from what is and will be a fruitless pursuit of Mr Gilligan and his family.”

Gilligan, 61, is one of Ireland’s most notorious criminals and was the one-time chief suspect in the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin in 1996.

He was acquitted of ordering her murder and cleared of firearms charges, but was convicted of possession of an estimated 200 tonnes of cannabis resin for sale and supply over two years.

He was sentenced to 28 years, which was later reduced on appeal to 20 years.

Jailed on March 15 2001, Gilligan was due for release two years ago but had been handed another two-year sentence in 2006 for assaulting a prison officer.

He has also been twice convicted for having a mobile phone in prison.

Detectives are now selling off Gilligan’s prized Jessbrook estate in Co Kildare, an Olympic-sized equestrian centre, after an epic 17-year battle to seize his assets.