DENIS HANRAHAN’S twin brother gave a victim impact statement to the court on behalf of his three sisters and himself. Their mother had died in 1996.
“Human life is sacred,” said Shane Hanrahan. “Murder causes chaos.”
He said words could never explain the pain his family felt the day their father and brother were brutally murdered.
He said the murders had done “an incalculable amount of damage”, and that the repercussions were immeasurable.
Even three years later, every day was still a struggle, he told the court. “We will never be able to comprehend what has happened. Denis was the best brother, son and friend anyone could ever ask for,” he said of his twin. “He was a hero to his sisters and myself.”
“Our father was quite simply a rock,” he said. “He raised all five of us entirely on his own. He was always there and could always be depended on.”
He described as excruciating the pain he and his sisters experienced knowing that their father wouldn’t be there when any of them got married or had children.
“He won’t be there to walk any of his daughters down the aisle,” he said.
Mr Hanrahan said occasions such as Christmas, birthdays and anniversaries were a cruel, harsh reminder of their intense pain.
“Dad’s and Denis’s murders have cast a dark shadow over our home on the hill,” he said, adding that there was no justification for what had been done.
“Words fail to capture the unique pain deep within our being,” he said. “It lives on. It is ongoing. There is no closure.
“Today is every day for us. We can’t forget about our beloved father and our beloved brother,” he concluded.
The Barrett family expressed their deepest sympathy to the Hanrahan family through defence counsel Patrick Marrinan, who said his client had asked him to express his regret. “His plea has brought finality in a legal context,” said Mr Marrinan. “It’s unusual, but that’s his decision and that of his family.”
Mr Justice Paul Carney imposed two life sentences on Thomas Barrett, to run concurrently.
Afterwards, Shane Hanrahan and his sisters left court without making any comment.