Irish Examiner view: We need to focus on voice of victims

'Marú in ár Measc — the murder of Joyce Quinn' tonight on TG4 shines a light on the impact unprovoked murder cases have on families and communities

Ray Quinn, husband of Joyce, has called for his wife's killer to be banned from entering the county of Kildare. He is interviewed in 'Marú in ár Measc — the murder of Joyce Quinn' tonight on TG4.

In a documentary on TG4 tonight, Ray Quinn will repeat a call to have his wife’s killer banned from re-entering the county of Kildare when he is released. He has written to the Justice Minister and the Parole Board to ask that a county ban and tagging be made conditions of the release of Kenneth O’Reilly, now serving a life sentence for murdering Joyce Quinn in the Curragh Plains in Kildare in 1996.

The former member of the Defence Forces says it should be a condition not just in this case but for other families in a similar situation.

Kenneth O’Reilly, is serving a life sentence for murdering Joyce Quinn in the Curragh Plains in Kildare in 1996.

The voices of the families of victims are often overlooked in coverage of murder cases but the four-part series Marú inár Measc (Killer in our Midst), which finishes tonight, has taken a different view. It highlights the lasting suffering and pain a murder leaves on a family and the wider community. It also, rightly, puts the focus back on the personality of the victim, rather than the circumstances of their death.

Life sentences in Ireland do not mean life. A convicted murderer serves an average of about 20 years and is then given a “permanent, temporary release”, which can be revoked if parole conditions are contravened.

It does not seem unreasonable to include in those conditions a measure that would oblige a killer – who is still feared by the family he destroyed – to stay out of that family’s home county.