Parole Board made us feel heard, say parents of gangland murder victim Jonathan O'Reilly

Grieving dad says of one of his son's murderers: 'He gets days out for good behaviour; we get to visit a grave'

Frank and Dolores O’Reilly are among the first families to go before the new Parole Board over the life sentences of Brian Kenny and Thomas Hinchon who murdered their son Jonathan 19 years ago. Picture: Moya Nolan

The parents of a gangland murder victim who miss their son “every single day” say the new Parole Board process made them feel “actually heard” as they objected to their son’s killer being released.

Jonathan O’Reilly, aged 25, had recently completed a nine month sentence for possession of drugs when he was shot dead outside Cloverhill prison in Clondalkin, West Dublin on April 19, 2004.

Two men, Brian Kenny and Thomas Hinchon, are currently serving life sentences for his murder following evidence from state witness, Joseph O’Callaghan.

Mr O’Callaghan - who was just 20 years old - was then the youngest person ever to go into the state witness protection programme.

His story has since been made into an award-winning podcast, ‘The Witness: In His Own Words’ which has had more than two million downloads.

Last year, the CEO of the new parole board appealed for victims of serious crime and their families to contact her if they wanted to influence a life-sentence prisoner’s likelihood of being granted parole.

Parole Board CEO Ciairín de Buis: 'We want to hear what the victims want to say.' Picture: Moya Nolan

It is the first time in the history of the state that the Parole Board has made the decision to give those affected a voice in the process.

In the past week, Jonathan O’Reilly’s parents Frank and Dolores took the opportunity to speak directly to the board about their son’s killer Brian Kenny’s application for release.

Mrs O’Reilly told the Irish Examiner her family met officials after submitting a lengthy written submission.

She said: “It made us feel like someone actually heard us. It wasn’t just a letter left on the Minister for Justice’s table which would have been put to one side.

“I was very impressed with the Parole Board, and I felt it was very important to go to the meeting and to be heard. We got a call from one of the investigating detectives last year who asked us if we wanted to write to the parole board and we decided we would.”

The O’Reilly family are among around 300 victims in 100 cases who engaged with the process since 2022.

It comes following a change in legislation in the Parole Act 2019 which allows victims and their families to make a submission to the board.

In February, the new CEO of the Parole Board told the Irish Examiner that her team has interpreted the legislation as posing an obligation on the board to try to contact victims. Ciairín de Buis said: 

We don’t want to retraumatise anyone, so we will work with them. If there’s an area, they don’t want to talk about that’s fine. We want to hear what the victims want to say.

Prisoners such as Brian Kenny and Thomas Hinchon who are serving a life sentence for murder have the right to apply for parole after they have served more than 12 years in jail.

Brian Kenny has applied for parole on at least two occasions, but the O’Reilly family said they have never been notified of an application by Thomas Hinchon requesting he be released.

Life prisoners are eligible to go through the parole process several times and demonstrate meaningful progress in their rehabilitation.

The parole board views material on the prisoner and decides independently from the Minister for Justice if they should be released. The Minister has the power to sign off on the release. However, Frank O’Reilly said his son’s killers have “never shown remorse or apologised” and therefore should not be released.

He said:  "How can you be rehabilitated if you have never admitted what you have done? We have never been notified of any apology or admission. We would like to see a life sentence be a least 30 years mandatory behind bars. 

Brian Kenny murdered our son and keeps applying for parole and we keep objecting. He shouldn’t be given that chance in our view.

The O’Reilly family are also registered with the prison victim liaison office within the Irish Prison Service and have been notified of Mr Kenny’s day releases to meet with family and other appointments.

Frank said: “He gets days out for good behaviour; we get to visit a grave. Jonathan’s son Kyle was only a baby when his father was murdered. He is now the same age as his dad was when he was killed. How is any of that fair?”

Jonathan O’Reilly was a member of a rival gang. He died from gunshots wounds to the arm and chest in what gardaí believe was a drug turf war.

Both the O’Reillys say they have “no time for drugs” but had no control or say over their son’s actions.

Dolores said “I begged him to stop doing what he was doing but there was no talking to him. He told his father he would earn more in a day than what he was offering him as a painter and decorator in a week.

“When he died, I went into shock for years and I’ll never be able to accept it. I am always heartbroken for him. The submission is for me and my family who are innocent in all of this. We miss Jonathan every single day and we are the ones left suffering. We are Jonathan’s voice. That is why we went to the parole board; it is for us.”