Seven brothers and sisters of the late Mr Tom Nevin, whose wife, Catherine, is on trial for his murder, yesterday testified that he was not a member of the IRA, had little interest in politics, and he and his family had not held republican sympathies .
The family were called to rebut the allegation made by Mrs Nevin that in 1979, three years into their marriage, Tom told her he was a member of the IRA.
Mr Nevin's first wife was also called to rebut the claim.
Insp. Peter Finn, who was attached to Arklow Garda station between 1972 and 1996, said that during that time he had received no information relating to IRA activity, suspect vehicles or any other subversive movements in or around Jack White's Inn.
The rebuttal evidence was called by the prosecution after the defence case closed at the Central Criminal Court trial. Mrs Nevin (49) has pleaded not guilty to the murder of her husband, Tom (54), on March 19th, 1996, in their home at Jack White's Inn, Ballinapark, Co Wicklow.
She also denies that she solicited others to kill him.
After legal argument in the absence of the jury, the final defence witness was called yesterday afternoon. The witness is to be referred to as Ms M, by order of the court. Earlier in the trial, the defence claimed that an alleged sexual assault by a garda in a patrol car on a distant relative of Catherine Nevin's led to bad blood between Arklow gardai and Jack White's Inn.
Yesterday Mr Peter Charleton SC, for the DPP, said he had been asked to check some documents by the defence and, having done that, he would formally admit that on July 13th, 1992, a complaint was made by Ms M against a member of the Garda alleging a sexual assault on or about August 8th, 1990, two years previously.
On the same day as Ms M - July 13th, 1992 - Mrs Nevin also made a statement to gardai in relation to the same matter, and on July 24th, 1992, Mr Nevin made a statement.
Ms M told Mr Patrick MacEntee SC, defending, that she worked in Jack White's Inn over holiday periods from July 1989 to June 1992. Then she worked full-time until December 1992. "Most of the gardai in Arklow Garda station stopped coming in after the time I made the complaint," she said.
If there was a falling off in Garda trade, was she sure it was because of her complaint? asked counsel. Could it have been because gardai believed Mrs Nevin was having an affair with Insp. Kennedy and some might have been "old-fashioned" about that, especially given that her husband was living on the premises?
"I don't know if Mrs Nevin and Mr Kennedy were having an affair. I knew they were friends," the witness said.
Mr Nevin's first wife, Ms June O'Flanagan, told prosecution counsel that she first met him in 1958 or 1959 when she was living and working in Dublin. They married in 1962. She and Tom worked in England for a time before returning to Dublin, where he worked in his uncle's pub in Dolphin's Barn.
Ms O'Flanagan said the breakdown of their marriage was "entirely my fault". She said she never heard Tom Nevin express any political views and he was not a member of the IRA.
Asked to describe him, she said: "A gentleman, a kind gentleman . . . His character was wonderful and his morals were wonderful . . .
"He was very hard-working, and wanted to own his own pub one day - that was his dream - and his own home."
Apart from that, his interests were "hurling and the GAA". During their eight years of marriage, she had never known him to be drunk. Asked about Tom's sexuality, she replied: "He was fine. He was just a normal man.
"My family absolutely loved him. They adored him", Ms O'Flanagan said. She said they called him "the gentle giant".
Ms O'Flanagan said that after the marriage broke up in 1970 she did not have any dealings with Tom, except to phone him in relation to their annulment.
Mr Nevin's four remaining brothers and three sisters, all originally from Tynagh, Co Galway, gave evidence that to their knowledge Tom was never a member of the IRA and had no republican sympathies.
Mr Sean Nevin, a self-employed carpenter, of Ballinasloe, Co Galway, said Tom never discussed politics with him, and there was "most certainly not" any family association with the IRA.
His brother, Mr Noel Nevin, a carpenter, of Loughrea, Co Galway, also said Tom and the family had no republican involvement, and while Tom could hold a conversation on "the politics of the day", it would have "definitely nothing to do with the IRA".
Ms Margaret Lavelle, Tom's youngest sister, also told Mr Tom O'Connell, prosecuting, that when she visited Tom and Catherine Nevin at their downstairs flat at Mayfield Road, off the South Circular Road, between 1976 and 1979, it was a one-bedroom flat.
In her evidence, Mrs Nevin had told the court that from the time they got married in 1976 she and Tom always occupied separate bedrooms.
Another of Mr Nevin's sisters, Ms Nora Finnerty, from near Loughrea, Co Galway, said that none of her family had anything to do with the IRA. Her sister, Ms Mary Glennon, from Loughrea, said to her knowledge Tom was not a member of the IRA, nor did he or her family hold republican sympathies. "Not at all, hard-working people", she told Mr MacEntee in cross-examination.
Mr Patsy Nevin, the second-eldest in the family, said Tom never mentioned the IRA or politics or anything to do with it. "He was mostly interested in business and hurling."
In cross-examination, Mr Nevin said that his father had died suddenly and had left no valid will. The family had got together and "sorted it out in a very short time". He said he was not aware of counsel's instructions that Tom was "a bit peeved" that he had to sign over his share of the estate. He said it was not true that it had led to what Mr MacEntee called "a bit of coolness" between Tom and the family.
Tom had visited his late mother and his brothers and sisters in Galway several times since then, said Mr Patsy Nevin. He said Catherine Nevin "wasn't down for 10 years, 12 years, maybe more where I lived".
The trial continues today before Miss Justice Carroll and a jury.