Landmark decision - A pyrrhic victory?

Yesterday’s High Court ruling that awarded over €750,000 in damages to the widow of a victim of hired killers is a victory for tenacity and most of all justice.

In the landmark case, Margaret Madden sued four men involved in the murder of her husband Terence. Legal history was made by the action, which is the first of its kind where damages were sought by the family of the victim of a contract killing.

The murder had its origins in the most banal of circumstances — jealousy over a bed and breakfast business — and it must be hoped that the ruling does not prove to be a pyrrhic victory.

Three of the men involved are in jail and the other has died, so the question is, will the damages be paid and if so when?