Family of cyclist killed in hit and run to meet TDs ahead of call for public inquiry into his death

Shane O'Farrell was cycling home when he was struck by a car driven by Zigimantas Gridziuska near Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan.

The family of hit-and-run victim Shane O'Farrell will meet with TDs in Leinster House on Tuesday ahead of an opposition motion seeking a public inquiry into his 2011 death.

On the evening of August 2, 2011, the 23-year-old was cycling home when he was struck by a car driven by Zigimantas Gridziuska near Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan in a hit and run.

The following day, the Lithuanian surrendered himself to gardaí. However, the O’Farrell family feel he should never have been at liberty to kill Shane.

On a number of occasions in the two years before the incident, he had been granted conditional bail but it had not been revoked despite broken conditions.

At the time of Mr O'Farrell’s death, Gridziuska was on bail in connection with a number of separate incidents.

The O'Farrell family has sought a public inquiry to establish how Zigimantas Gridziuska was not in jail on the day of their son's death.

Two separate Gsoc examinations of different elements of the case were carried out but a public inquiry has never taken place.

Mr O'Farrell’s mother Lucia and other members of the family will meet with TDs in Leinster House at 3pm for a presentation on the case. File picture: Courtpix

A scoping exercise of the case carried out by retired judge Gerard Haughton was published last July, and a key finding was an inquiry was unwarranted.

On Tuesday evening, Sinn Féin, Labour, and Independent TDs Carol Nolan, Thomas Pringle, Violet Anne Wynne and Joan Collins will bring a private members motion calling for the immediate establishment of “an independent public inquiry into the death of Shane O'Farrell and the actions of State agencies before and after his death in respect of this case”.

The motion says there were multiple failures which led to Gridziuska being at liberty on the date of Shane O’Farrell’s death. It adds it is “now necessary to have the actions of An Garda Síochána, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Gsoc, and the Courts Service examined in order to establish how such failures took place, including the information sharing systems between those agencies”.

Mr O'Farrell’s mother Lucia and other members of the family will meet with TDs in Leinster House at 3pm for a presentation on the case.

She said the family would be interested to see what Fianna Fáil’s reaction to the motion would be. She said the party brought a similar motion in 2018 seeking an inquiry into his death, when Fianna Fáil was in opposition. On that occasion, the motion was passed, although the then government opposed it on the grounds a Gsoc investigation into the death was continuing.

An inquiry was not held.

According to the Department of Justice, the scoping inquiry laid out recommendations in relation to a number of areas, including suspended sentences, and “implementation of those recommendations has commenced, where appropriate”.