GARDAI are expected to conduct discreet surveillance of a wedding at Saggart, Co Dublin, this afternoon, when a daughter of the escaped Guinness kidnapper John Cunningham marries a local man.
Cunningham's daughter Caroline (22) is marrying Mr Jimmy Connolly (50), head of a security firm.
Gardai have been looking for Cunningham since he absconded from Shelton Abbey open prison in Wicklow on Monday. He had been given permission to attend the wedding but not the reception.
Last Sunday he was discovered with another prisoner and a prison officer drinking in a pub in Wicklow. He is understood to have feared that as a result, his permission to go to the wedding would be withdrawn and he would be transferred to Limerick Prison.
The prison officer has been suspended and the Department of Justice is investigating how Cunningham absconded. He had been serving a 17 year sentence for the 1986 kidnapping of Mrs Jennifer Guinness, who was held for eight days until the kidnappers were found at Waterloo Road in Dublin.
The Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, said yesterday she was very concerned at reports that a prison officer had been drinking in a pub with two prisoners. She ordered an immediate inquiry and a speedy report.
Security at open prisons was being reviewed, she said, but because of the nature of these low security institutions it was difficult to deter those determined to abscond.
Mrs Owen discounted suggestions that there had been a "rash" of escapes from open prisons. She said one 15 year old youth had escaped in the previous fortnight from a low security unit run by the Department of Education.
Cunningham had been moved to the open prison from Limerick high security prison on the advice of the Sentence Review Board which assessed him as a low risk, given that he had served 11 years and was due for release next year.
Cunningham has lost his privileges and, if apprehended, is almost certain to be returned to Limerick Prison, sources said. But the extenuating, emotional circumstances in this case would be taken into consideration. Apart from this incident, Cunningham had been a model prisoner.