This article is from page 5 of the 2006-02-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 5 JPG
THREE men arrested in connection with the murder of nightclub security man, Brian Fitzgerald, have been released without charge and a file sent to the DPP.
It is believed that while a Clare person is still being investigated in relation to the murder, this person was not one of those arrested during the past week.
Two of those arrested were held in Dublin and one in the Midlands under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.
James Martin Cahill from Birmingham and with family connections in West Clare is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of Mr Fitzgerald.
The 30-year-old has told gardaí that he will testify against his criminal associates.
Cahill was paid €10,000 to kill the father of two, three years ago, in one of the most notorious murders in Limerick city.
Mr Fitzgerald was shot outside his home in Corbally in the early hours of November 29, 2002.
The 34-year-old father was head of security at the former Doc’s nightclub in Limerick.
It is believed a crime gang targeted him when he refused to allow drugs to be traded in the club.
After pleading to the murder charge last November, Cahill told his sentencing hearing that he was willing to testify in any future cases.
“What I am trying to say is that I will testify against people. That is why I feel my life is in danger,” he told Mr Justice Paul Carney.
A decision by the Supreme Court made just two weeks after Cahill’s sentencing, to dismiss an appeal by Dublin Crime Boss John Gilligan against his 20-year conviction on drug trafficking charges, gave gardaí fresh hope of finding all of those involved in the Fitzgerald murder.
At the time Gilligan’s lawyers challenged the reliability of witnesses under the Witness Protection Programme.
The programme was put in place to protect those willing to turn State’s witness and give essential evidence against their criminal partners.
Gardaí said that the decision by the Supreme Court to give qualified support to the programme is of huge importance to further investigations into the murder of Brian Fitzgerald.