Deirdre Crowley's mother, Ms Christine O'Sullivan, expressed relief that the court case in relation to the abduction of her child had come to an end.
"I am not a vindictive person," she told reporters after yesterday's hearing. "I don't take any joy in Regina Nelligan serving a prison sentence. However, anybody thinking of abducting a child or assisting somebody in abducting a child must realise that there are consequences."
The six-year-old's mother would not be drawn on whether she regarded the sentence as lenient. "I wanted to see justice done. I wanted to see the right decision made. In my emotional state, I am not the person to make that decision or to pass judgment on another individual.
"I am coming out of a difficult three years and this is another step in the process of climbing out of the pit."
Speaking about the 18-month sentence, Ms O'Sullivan said it wouldn't have mattered if Nelligan had been sentenced to 18 years. "It won't bring Deirdre back. You can't put a value on Deirdre's life. There isn't any sentence that would bring her back or justify her death - you can't make it worth any price."
Ms O'Sullivan said she "partly felt sorry" for the defendant because "what Chris Crowley did to her was absolutely inexcusable and appalling. He destroyed her life and then continued to destroy my life and Deirdre's life.
"At the same time, she was an adult. She made choices and she was given every opportunity to do the right thing and every time she chose not to do so. Now she has to suffer the consequences."
A largely composed Ms O'Sullivan said she was also angry that others had known of her daughter's whereabouts but never came forward. "If they had made the right decision, they could have saved Deirdre, Chris Crowley and indeed Regina Nelligan." She also said she thinks about her daughter all the time and misses her hugely, though she is hopeful of being reunited with her in heaven.
Ms Mary Banotti MEP, who was also in court for sentencing, said she hoped lessons could be learned from the case by all those concerned with the protection of children.
"I would be concerned that the message that would be received by parents who do not have custody of their children and who may be contemplating a similar breach of custody orders and those willing to assist them in such a breach is that the penalty for such abductions or facilitating such abductions is not that severe," she said.
Ms Banotti, the European Parliament's mediator for transnationally abducted children, said the decision of the court must be accepted. "My fear, however, is that the sanction imposed by the court in this case will not have the desired effect of buttressing the integrity of child custody orders in general," she added.
She said lessons could be learned from the case by those concerned with the protection of children, including the social services, gardaí and the courts.
"The importance of an immediate response when a child is abducted by the non-custodial parent cannot be underestimated," she said. "Even, as here, where the period of abduction by the non-custodial parent is prolonged, the case must not be treated as a mere 'marital dispute'."
She said Deirdre would "very likely be alive today" if those who knew the whereabouts of her father and suspected that he had a gun had had a sufficient sense of responsibility towards the child's welfare to help gardaí.
Mr Owen Keenan from the child care agency Barnardos said we have to examine how the courts treat both parents in custody matters as there was a perception that they discriminate against men. He said more neutral custody arrangements may be needed, whereby designated venues would be used for non-custodial parents to have children handed over to them and collected from them.