A High Court judge has directed that €20,000 in rent payments, lodged in a credit union account for convicted murderer Catherine Nevin, be transferred to the executors of the estate of her murdered husband, publican Tom Nevin.
Mr Justice Frank Clarke also deferred, pending the outcome of other proceedings, an application for an injunction by the family of Mr Nevin aimed at restraining his jailed widow, who is serving a life sentence for his murder, from collecting any rental money from two Dublin properties.
He directed that some €20,000 in a credit union account collected on behalf of Nevin be transferred into the hands of the executors of Mr Nevin's estate - his brother Patrick Nevin, Nutgrove, Tynagh, Loughrea, Co Galway, and his sister Margaret Lavelle, Ballynagran, Craughwell, Co Galway.
Earlier, Teresa Pilkington for the executors said it appeared the €20,000 was only a fraction of the rent for a 10-year period.
Séamus Ó Tuathail SC, for Nevin, said an undertaking had already been given at an earlier hearing that no rents would be collected and he had no objection to that undertaking continuing.
The undertaking is to continue pending a hearing of separate proceedings under the Succession Act dealing with what entitlements she has to the estate of Mr Nevin.
Nevin (55) was convicted of murdering her husband at their pub, Jack White's Inn, near Brittas Bay, Co Wicklow, on March 19th, 1996.
She was jailed for life on that charge and also received a seven-year sentence for soliciting three men to kill her husband in 1989 and 1990, six years before the murder.
Mr Nevin died without making a will. The principal asset of his estate was the pub which was jointly owned by him and his wife. In late 1997, the pub was sold by Nevin for £620,000 (€787,000).
Mr Nevin also owned properties at Mayfield Road, Dublin, and Mountshannon Road, Dublin, and had a policy with Irish Life Assurance for almost £78,000. He also had a bank account of about £197,000.
Mr Nevin's mother Nora brought proceedings in 1997 challenging the pub sale and sought a declaration that Nevin was not entitled to any share of Mr Nevin's estate.
After her death, her son Patrick and sister Margaret continued the proceedings.