A 30-year-old man has denied one murder and two attempted murders at a funeral in Sligo almost three years ago.
As his trial opened in the Central Criminal Court in Dublin yesterday, Mr Martin McDonagh (30), formerly of Cherry Lane, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Patrick "Deuce" Ward (38) at a funeral in Ballymote, Co Sligo, on May 10th, 1999.
He also pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of Mr Patrick "Jaws" Ward snr and Mr "Jaws" Patrick Ward jnr at the funeral on the same date.
The trial jury was told the shots were fired outside the graveyard in Ballymote around 2 p.m. Members of the Ward and McDonagh Travelling families were attending the funeral of Mr Patrick "Skillet" Ward, who had died on May 8th, 1999.
Opening the prosecution case, Mr Denis Vaughan Buckley SC said that witnesses would give evidence that when members of Mr Patrick "Deuce" Ward's family arrived in a van at the graveyard, a crowd came from behind and threw stones and rocks at the van.
When members of Mr Patrick "Jaws" Ward's family approached the cemetery, stones were thrown at them. Then the crowd "opened up" and six men appeared, at least five of whom had guns in their hands. All six men were named in court. The prosecution alleges one of them was the accused.
Words were exchanged between Mr Patrick "Jaws" Ward and another man, who then allegedly directed the six to "shoot them, shoot them".
Mr Vaughan Buckley said gardaí were at the funeral to ensure there was no trouble. One of the gardaí would give evidence that after shots were fired, he saw the accused man, Mr Martin McDonagh, discarding a pistol in a ditch outside the graveyard.
The accused was arrested on May 14th, after receiving treatment in Sligo General Hospital for a gunshot wound to the leg.
The prosecution counsel said discharged cartridges were found on the road outside the graveyard. He said that a Garda ballistics officer would give evidence that a number of those cartridges were discharged from the pistol the accused threw in the ditch.
Mr Vaughan Buckley said although the fatal bullet did not come from the discarded gun, the prosecution alleged Mr Martin McDonagh was part of a common design or joint enterprise.
The trial continues today.