Special Report: Act now on parole, urge families of murder victims

Liz Dunphy speaks with four families whose loved one's killers are eligible for a parole hearing this year.

Sinead O’Leary pictured at her home in Cork with a picture of her best friend Nichola Sweeney who was killed in a knife attack in Rochestown, Cork in 2002. Picture: Dan Linehan

Families whose loved ones were brutally murdered are calling on the new Justice Minister Helen McEntee to urgently commence a parole act which was passed into Irish law last July but is still not functioning more than 12 months later.

Under the act, the minimum term of a life sentence would be extended from seven to 12 years.