Veronica Guerin (1959-1996) is an emblematic figure of Irish journalism, known for sacrificing her life for the truth. Here’s a look back at his life, and his fight for press freedom and against drugs.
Veronica Guerin was born in Dublin, and grew up peacefully with her family and four siblings… She soon excelled in sports such as athletics and camogie, a typically Gaelic sport.
After attending Catholic schools, Veronica studied accountancy at Trinity College Dublin to follow in the footsteps of her father, himself an accountant… After graduating, her father hired her in his public relations company, but he died in 1983, at which point Veronica Guerin decided to change direction…
She became a journalist in 1990, initially working for the Sunday Business Post. He liked the work, and his style was rather incisive, which attracted the attention of City’s Sunday Tribune, another Irish newspaper, which offered him a position.
It wasn’t until 1994 that she joined the staff of the Sunday Independent, a mass-circulation newspaper. She made a real name for herself in the Irish journalistic world, thanks to the virulence of her articles denouncing crooks, organized crime and the drug trade. A woman of the field, she has no qualms about infiltrating dangerous circles, neglecting her own safety and not hesitating to visit the homes of the bigwigs of the Irish underworld in order to pull the wool over their eyes.
Her investigation into the drug scene began to attract serious threats. As soon as the first article about drug trafficking in Ireland was published in ’94, two bullets were fired at his home. But there’s no stopping the journalist, who’s determined to shake up the major players in the drug trade…
In January, a man knocked on her door, assaulted her at gunpoint and finally shot her in the thigh at point-blank range.
Barely recovered from her attack, her husband took her to the home of several alleged perpetrators of her attack to demand a confession. An alarm is installed, and a police escort accompanies him wherever he goes. Aware that the presence of the police at her side was detrimental to her investigative work, she asked for the measure to be lifted.
September 1995: his investigation into the Dublin drug cartel leads him to the home of a certain John Gilligan. She looks him in the eye and asks him where his income comes from, enabling him to maintain such a large equestrian center. The owner immediately beat her up, tearing off her clothes in search of microphones. He then threatens to rape her son and kill her if a single article referring to him is published. Scared and traumatized, she nevertheless refuses to stop her investigations.
In December 1995, she received the “Press freedom award” for her bravery.
Exasperated by the journalist’s interference in their dirty work, an order is given by the Irish underworld for her elimination. His murder took place on the afternoon of June 26, 1996. At an intersection, stopped at a red light, she telephones a friend. The passenger opened fire 5 times at point-blank range, killing the young woman instantly.
His funeral was attended by thousands of people. The President and members of the government follow the procession.
Charles Bowden, who became Ireland’s first “repentant”, led to the arrest of the main culprits. In October 1996, police arrested heroin dealer Paul Ward (Gilligan’s right-hand man) for involvement in the murder of Veronica Guerin. He had supplied the gun and motorcycle, and was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Dublin Special Criminal Court.
On July 29, 1999, Brian Meehan, arrested in the Netherlands in October 1997, was also found guilty of involvement in the murder and charged with 17 other counts. Extradited from Great Britain, John Gilligan, who was never able (or willing) to prove his direct involvement in the murder, was charged with money laundering and trafficking in cannabis, and sentenced to 28 years in prison. Subsequently, the Irish government added a law to its constitution allowing the seizure of the assets of criminals guilty of laundering drug money.
The citizens of Dublin’s drug-infected districts rose up and made life impossible for the dealers. On March 15, 2001 John Gilligan was acquitted of the journalist’s murder and is serving his sentence in Portlaoise prison for cannabis trafficking.
