Families of Kilkenny murder victims welcome new parole board
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The families of murder victims in Kilkenny have welcomed the establishment of a new independent parole board.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee recently announced that the board is to be established and fully operational by July 2021. Ronan Quinn’s mother Christine was murdered in her home Greenfields in Kilkenny City in 2002. Mark Costigan was convicted her murder and is currently serving a life sentence. Costigan has never admitted to the murder or apologised or shown any remorse to his victim’s family.
Ronan Quinn, along with family members, has tirelessly campaigned for changes to the parole system.
Brian Hennessy
Postman Hennessy was handed three consecutive life terms after being convicted of all three murders in 2009, but the sentences were softened to run concurrently following a successful appeal.
In the wake of the appeal, Sharon’s bother John set up the Sentencing and Victim Equality (SAVE) group.
The group campaigns for a minimum tariff on life sentences before a murderer can be paroled and for convicted murderers to be automatically placed on the sex offenders’ list if there is a sexual element to the crime.
Speaking with the Sunday World in the lead up to this year’s anniversary, John told us: “I made a promise to Sharon and the children the day his (Hennessy’s) sentences were adjusted in the Court of Appeal to allow him serve all three life sentences at once.