The remains of a man killed in violent, and unsolved, circumstances in Co Clare 40 years ago were due to be exhumed on Tuesday as part of a renewed Garda investigation into his death.
Patrick Nugent was aged 23 when he died of crush injuries while working as banqueting manager at a party in Bunratty Castle in 1984.
His family, from Sixmilebridge, Co Clare, have long campaigned for justice as they believe he was murdered and that his killing was covered up. Mr Nugent’s remains were due to be exhumed from a family grave in Co Clare from early morning in a bid to establish exactly how he died and extent of his injuries at the time.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee two years ago told Mr Nugent’s family that Garda Commissioner Drew Harris had ordered a fresh investigation into certain matters raised by retired District Court judge Patrick Clyne, who completed a report into the original investigation.
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And now arising from that report, and a fresh Garda inquiry after the Attorney General reviewed the findings of the report, the remains are due to be exhumed. The move has been welcomed by the dead man’s brothers, John and Martin, and their solicitor, Kevin Winters of KRW LAW Human Rights lawyers.
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“After having some initial misgivings about the worthiness of any new investigation we want to put on record our appreciation of the work gardaí have undertaken over the last few years,” John and Martin Nugent said in a statement.
They said their decision to agree to their brother’s remains being exhumed “wasn’t taken lightly”. But they were hopeful the process “might just get a breakthrough”.
“It’s really very poignant for us as a family to experience the disinterment of our brother’s remains especially given the proximity of the grave to our family home. We accept that it’s for the best if the results can shed some additional light on what we already know.”
Mr Winters said the family had been through many investigative processes and reviews over the decades yet nobody had been brought to justice. He was hopeful an examination of Mr Nugent’s bones may challenge some of the narratives that have taken hold around the case.
Around 60 guests attended the party in Bunratty on the night. They were served with a buffet meal in a function room known as ‘the barn’. By around 4am, there were about a dozen people remaining when they heard noises coming from a courtyard and found Mr Nugent with crush injuries, from which he later died .
William Ryan, a chef at nearby Shannon Airport who was celebrating his wedding anniversary that night, was charged with Mr Nugent’s manslaughter but was later acquitted.
It emerged in court that Mr Ryan gave three different statements to gardaí about what happened that night. Two off-duty gardaí were at the party.
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