Court reaction:Pádraig Nally's acquittal was welcomed by his supporters in a statement outside the court.
Paddy Rock, spokesman for the Pádraig Nally Support Group in south Mayo, told reporters the verdict gives Minister for Justice Michael McDowell "a platform to bring in new legislation to protect homeowners' rights and help people in rural Ireland".
Mr Rock sat through this week's trial in the Central Criminal Court, along with a number of Mr Nally's friends and colleagues.
Asked how Mr Nally's supporters felt about the verdict, he said: "We're overjoyed with it I suppose. It's what we've always worked for. We're very pleased for the support for Pádraig nationwide. Mass cards have been sent to him and even e-mails. We're really thankful for it."
He believed the public would "say justice has prevailed . . . I don't think this is a Traveller issue, Traveller or settled, I think this is an issue where an intruder came into someone's home." He said Mr Nally's trial had "taken a toll on the community in Cross . . . Again now that they see justice has prevailed I think they will be reassured in their homes," he said. He added: "Our deepest sympathies would be with the Ward family for the loss."
Mr Rock asked that people would allow Mr Nally to get on with his life. "It's obviously taken quite a while but I think he can . . . get on with his life." He said the case had taken its toll on Mr Nally who was treated in St James's Hospital in Dublin after suffering chest pains last Thursday. Mr Rock said that stress "had been part of it".
He added: "We would like now and he would like to return to normal life which was disturbed on him about three years ago, through no doing of his own."