£25,000 offered for information on Galway killing

A £25,000 reward has been pledged for information concerning the murder of Galway taxi-driver Ms Eileen Costello-O'Shaughnessy…

A £25,000 reward has been pledged for information concerning the murder of Galway taxi-driver Ms Eileen Costello-O'Shaughnessy, who was found battered to death more than two months ago.

Taxi companies and other businesses in the city have proposed the reward, which the murdered woman's family hopes will lead to information identifying her killer.

Taxi-plate owners and co-drivers in the city are among those funding the reward. Three Galway taxi companies have also offered to contribute to the fund.

Mr Martin Costello, the murdered woman's brother, said there had been no definite line of inquiry in the case.

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"The killer is still out there and he has to be caught. Hopefully this reward will be the key to that. Somebody knows who the killer is and I don't know how they can live with that," he said.

The body of Ms Costello-O'Shaughnessy (47), a mother of two, was discovered on an isolated farm road off Tinker's Lane, Knockdoemore, just before noon on December 1st last. The taxi she had been driving was found four miles away, on the outskirts of Galway city.

Gardai are trying to trace the blonde woman who was seen walking along the N17, close to the Mystical Rose Nursing Home, at approximately 8.30 p.m. on the night of the murder. She is described as being in her mid-20s, about 5 ft 6 ins tall and of medium build. She was wearing a black jacket and blue jeans.

They also want to speak to a woman seen talking to Ms Costello-O'Shaughnessy through the window of her taxi outside Supermacs, at the junction of Mainguard Street and Cross Street in Galway city, at 8 p.m. She is described as being in her mid-30s, with dark shoulder-length hair.

An appeal for information has also been issued regarding a red car which was seen speeding away from Tinker's Lane at 2.20 a.m. on the night of the murder. The car had no lights on and was travelling towards Galway.

The owner of a key-ring which was found in the taxi has now been identified and has been eliminated from the murder investigation.

The murder weapon, believed to have been a blunt instrument, has not yet been found.