Protest against sale of book

Relatives and friends of a Dublin postman, who was left in a vegetative state after being shot two years ago, held a protest …

Relatives and friends of a Dublin postman, who was left in a vegetative state after being shot two years ago, held a protest today outside Eason's bookshop in Dublin's O'Connell Street.

The demonstration, organised by the Justice for Robert Delany Campaign, targeted the bookshop over its sale of a book entitled Never Ending Justice by John Noonan.

Robert, a 29-year-old father of two girls, was shot hit in the face with pellets from a shotgun blast at his home in Tallaght on the morning of Wednesday, October 22nd 2008.

Mr Delany was never involved in crime. Gardaí believe he was shot because he had intervened in a pub row. He struck a man whose father is a former member of the Provisional IRA who was among three arrested in connection with the shooting last month.

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Nine people have been arrested in realtion to the shooting but nobody has been charged.

Mr Delaney lies in a hospital bed in need of 24-hour care in a permanent vegetative state, the only gun crime victim in Ireland in that condition.

Robert's father Terry Delany said today's protest was against Eason stocking the book.

He said: "We contacted Eason and pleaded with them not to allow the book go on sale particularly given the title of the book and not to accommodate this individual in promoting his own image.

"Sadly from our point of view Eason have written to us to confirm they intend to allow the book go on sale.”

The book is not currently available at the O’Connell Street store but Eason have said they do intend to stock it.

In a statement, the company said it has a “responsibility” to stock a wide and varied range of books to meet public demand and they will be stocking a small quantity of the title.

“The company will not however be undertaking any activity to promote the book, such as hosting a launch event, signings or in-store promotions,” it added.

The book is the sequel to the crime fiction novel Street Justice by the same author.

Luke Cassidy

Luke Cassidy

Luke Cassidy is Digital Production Editor of The Irish Times