Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)

A mother's unwavering love for her son, a family's courageous determination to overcome the obstacles, denials, bureaucratic indifference and outright hostility to own up to the wrong perpetrated on Shane has brought us to this day. The last email I received from Shane's mother, Lucia, was in July after I co-signed a Private Members' motion calling for action and justice for Shane. Lucia has always been a model of the fiercely protective love that Irish mothers are known for. She is a model to us all of the value of persistence and the pursuit of justice. Her beloved son, Shane, never left her heart before or after the moment of his tragic and unlawful death brought about by a reckless cowardly criminal.

We are here today to honour Shane and his family, his sisters and his dad, Jim. Nothing we can do can return Shane to his family but we can take action to ensure no family ever has to endure this kind of brutalising treatment at the hands of the State, including the courts and other authorities, again. I hope today is a small step in that direction.

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