Irish government apologises to family of hit-and-run victim

The Irish government has apologised to the family of a cyclist who was killed in a hit-and-run caused by a driver who should have been in jail.

Shane O'Farrell, 23, was struck by a car while cycling near his home in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, in 2011.

The driver, Zigimantas Gridziuska, had more than 40 convictions at the time, including some in Northern Ireland.

A formal apology was issued by the Republic of Ireland's justice minister Jim O'Callaghan.

The taoiseach (Ireland's prime minister) and tánaiste (Ireland's deputy prime minister) spoke in the chamber on Tuesday afternoon.

Speaking in the Dáil Éireann on Tuesday, tánaiste Simon Harris TD said: "We acknowledge failures in the Courts Service and the criminal justice system that exposed Shane to danger on the fateful day of his tragic death."

The O'Farrell family have campaigned for a public inquiry into their son's death.

The body of the law graduate was found nearly 60 yards (54m) from the point where he was hit by a car on 2 August 2011.

Gridziuska, a Lithuanian national, left the scene of the fatal crash but the following day he handed himself into gardaí (Irish police).

He had been a regular defendant in courts in Monaghan, Cavan and Louth in the years prior to the killing, according to RTÉ.

In the January, before the fatal crash, a ruling from Monaghan Circuit Court meant Gridziuska should have been in jail at the time of Mr O'Farrell's death.

Instead, he remained on bail.

Another prison sentence handed down in February 2011 was also not imposed.

The Court Services of Ireland previously said Gridziuska's prison sentences were never served because of what it described as an administrative error.

As part of their long-running campaign, the O'Farrell family have previously travelled to Belfast and Brussels to raise their case in Stormont and the European Parliament.

Harris hopes that the apology can "in some small way can start to heal the wounds left by Shane's untimely death".

"The harrowing events of that day in August 2011 were just the beginning of a living nightmare for the O'Farrell family," he said.

Harris added that the government has made "a number of decisions" which have been recommended by the minister and have risen from the campaign of the O'Farrell family.

He hopes these decisions will "bring about meaningful change" and said that Minister O'Callaghan will outline these decisions in more detail.

"As tánaiste, I fully endorse and support the apology."