The following is a statement issued by Mr Christy Dunne following last night's Prime Time programme
I can issue the following statement on behalf of the Dunne family.
Having a family member brutally murdered, and having to go to the procedure of identifying the body, is a very traumatic experience for any family and really changes peoples' lives forever.
Apparently the rational behind McArthur's actions were as follows.
He beat nurse Gargan to death with a lump hammer in order to take her car.
His plan was to use the car to travel to Edenderry to get a gun, which he would use to rob money. He shot my brother at very close range, blowing his face away.
In summary, his mindset was to get the gun to commit a robbery and to achieve this he brutally murdered two people. This shows what this man is capable of and we can see no reason why he should be either released or moved to an open prison which is almost the same as being released.
It is difficult to describe the pain and anguish felt by families in coping with the aftermath of crime. In our case we received no support whatsoever from the State. For example, we were not aware that the State were not going to proceed with Donal's case until the judge announced it in court that morning.
Afterwards we were given no real explanation and only found out by default.
We were very disappointed that McArthur was not convicted of Donal's murder but are satisfied that the overwhelming evidence in the case proves that McArthur murdered our brother.
I am of the view that a plea bargain was agreed on the nurse Gargan charge.
This allowed the State the facility not to proceed with Donal's case and obviously stopped what would have been an embarrassing case for the government of the day.
My family have confidence in the new Minister for Justice and expect he will think long and hard before making a decision relating to McArthur's release or transfer to open prison.
Finally, we are of the view that this man poses a threat to society and indeed our family and will be expressing these concerns to the Minister.