Joe Deacy’s family will ‘never give up’

SEEKING JUSTICE Family and friends of murder victim Joe Deacy held a memorial walk in his honour close to where his body was discovered in August 2017.

Uncle ‘fuming’ after conversation with local man

Anton McNulty

The conviction in the Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe murder trial gives the Deacy family hope that they too will get justice. Joe Deacy’s uncle now believes that someone who knows about his nephew’s murder will speak out.
Last Sunday, the third anniversary of Joe Deacy’s death was marked with a walk to the location where he was found unconscious on August 12, 2017, at Gortnasillagh, Swinford. The family have previously spoken of their hurt at the perceived ‘veil of silence’ in the local community and the unwillingness of people who know what happened to come forward.
Joe’s uncle, Paul Deacy, said that before the memorial walk he was told by a man outside Bohola Church that they will ‘never win’ in their quest for justice for Joe.
“A gentleman and his son walked up and had a general conversation. When I mentioned I was over here for the anniversary of my nephew who was murdered, he said, ‘Ah yes, Deacy’. I cannot remember the exact words he said next but it was like, ‘Will you ever give up on something you will never win?’. I was fuming, but I said calmly, ‘No we will never give up and will continue to fight for justice for what happened’,” Paul said to The Mayo News.
A murder investigation was opened into Joe’s death after the post mortem for the 21 year old found he suffered blunt-force trauma before he was found unconscious. He died a day later in Beaumont Hospital.
Joe’s grandparents were from Bohola and Swinford and he was on holidays in the area at the time from his home in St Alban’s, Hertfordshire. He had been socialising with friends before he was found unconscious and died a day later in Beaumont Hospital.
Despite a Garda investigation and arrests, nobody has been charged and the DPP has yet to decide on how to proceed. A file was sent to the DPP office 18 months ago.
Paul Deacy cannot understand the lack of support from some in the local community and believes what was said to him outside the church is how a lot of people feel.
“I have cousins living in Bohola, and they find it very hard with the amount of people ignoring what happened. The man outside the church didn’t say it in an aggressive manner and maybe did not mean to say it but it sums up how people are thinking … They see Joe as an outsider and he wasn’t one of them but he was one of them,” he said.
Paul’s says that last week’s conviction of Aaron Brady for the murder of Detective Adrian Donohoe in Co Louth gives Joe’s family some hope that someone will come forward with more information.
“That [investigation] took an awful long time and it does give us hope. There were people in that case who felt intimidated but there were some who spoke up, and justice was finally found.
“We are not going to go away not matter how many people think we should go away. We will win and the truth will come out. No matter how close people are, someone will say something at some stage. You cannot keep what happened [to Joe] quiet.”
Joe’s father Adrian has raised his son’s death with his local MP, Daisy Cooper who in turn has raised it with the Irish Ambassador to the UK, Adrian O’Neill. In correspondence to Ms Cooper, Mr O’Neill expressed his condolences to the Deacy family and has brought the matter to the attention of the relevant Irish authorities. Ms Cooper was also informed that the matter has also been brought to the attention of the Deputy Director of the Public Prosecution.