Anne Ryan's family has welcomed the news of Mr Hugh O'Flaherty's withdrawal. Her father, Mr Tommy Kirby, said justice had been done at last. Ms Ryan was killed in March 1996 when Philip Sheedy's car collided with hers at Glenview roundabout in Tallaght, Co Dublin. Sheedy's early release from prison led to Mr O'Flaherty's resignation from the Supreme Court and to this latest controversy.
Speaking on RTE radio yesterday, Mr Kirby said he did not think Mr O'Flaherty should have been proposed for the EIB post. "I'm glad to see that justice was done at long last," he said. "As it stands now, we're tired, the whole family is tired actually, of all these things, and we would like to be shut of it and that this be the last of it."
Mr Kirby said he didn't think Mr O'Flaherty would have resigned but he was happy that he had. "I don't think the Government should have put him forward in the first place and I think it's a big comedown for the Government." He said he believed the Government was forced to back down because of opposition to the nomination.
He said he believed the people of Ireland were behind him and his family on the issue.
