‘I’ve never felt pressure like it in my whole life’: Retired Limerick superintendent after not guilty verdict

KILTEELY-DROMKEEN parish native Eamon O’Neill, who rose through the ranks of An Garda Síochána to reach superintendent, says he had given “everything” to the organisation “but if they decide that you fall, you fall very heavy and they come after you”.

The retired superintendent spoke to reporters after he and his four co-accused were found not guilty of all 39 charges of  attempting to pervert the course of justice.

“This wasn't about my four co-accused. This is about me. I hope that the people that were involved in this  (investigation) think long and hard and when they get the opportunity to dwell on it, that they will be happy in their own lives with decisions they made throughout all this,” said Mr O’Neill.

His barrister Felix McEnroy SC  said during the trial that the jury had not been given a full picture of events and that it was one of the most “extraordinary” trials in the recent history of the State.

Mr McEnroy referred to Mr O’Neill’s statement to investigating gardaí in which he said that he believed that this criminal investigation was “solely motivated by the GNBCI to justify the appalling, invasive, inappropriate arrest of me on May 16, 2019”.

Mr McEnroy stressed that Mr O’Neill has always been “upfront and clear from the very start about how he saw this”. 

He added that his client was forthcoming with codes and passwords for devices, which were seized in that raid at his home in May 2019. There was never any prosecution as a result of this investigation.  

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Speaking outside Limerick Courthouse, Mr O’Neill said he had mixed emotions following the unanimous jury verdict.  

“I have never felt pressure like it in my whole life, but there’s relief now. I need time with my family to start a new chapter in our lives,” said Mr O’Neill, who thanked his legal team, the Garda Representative Association, defence witnesses and his supporters. 

“This happened many, many years ago and it was thrashed out in court,” he said, adding that he felt he was treated as “an outcast and a leper” by some within the force. 

He said he had felt like “a dead man walking”.

Mr O’Neill said “what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger” and he concluded by saying “shame on them” - a reference to  those who sanctioned the GNBCI investigation into him and his colleagues.

Daniel O’Gorman, solicitor for Mr O’Neill, read a statement to members of the media in attendance, saying: “So many lives ruined for years and years.

“Eamon O’Neill and the other defendants have been fully acquitted. Their families have been devastated. The State with all its power came after Eamon O’Neill and the other defendants. 

“The State said yes and the people have said no. The people speak and the State must and will listen. We are the people,” said  Mr O’Gorman.

The solicitor quoted comments made by Supreme Court Judge Peter Charleton in another Court: “The State say the accused are corrupt and the accused say the State is corrupt.” 

Mr O’Gorman said: “We know the accused are not corrupt. “Now it is time to see if the State has been corrupt. The newly-minted Commissioner, the Minister and the State must take steps immediately to restore the people’s confidence in the State. 

“There are immediate steps that he can take now and if Commissioner Justin Kelly doesn’t know what they are, he can call me,” concluded Mr O’Gorman with Mr O’Neill by his side.