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The Court of Appeal has heard that an appeal by Tipperary farmer Patrick Quirke against his conviction last year for the murder of Bobby Ryan could last up to four days.
Lawyers for Quirke and the DPP appeared before a brief session of the Court of Appeal Tuesday to discuss the progress of the case.
The full appeal hearing is scheduled for a date in October.
The President of the Court of Appeal, Judge George Birmingham, expressed his hope that the parties would be able to carry out the appeal in a shorter time than currently foreseen in three or four days.
He deferred the matter to bring it up next week to allow both parties to consider each other’s submissions on appeal.
Quirke (50) of Breanshamore, Co Tipperary, had denied murdering Bobby Ryan (52), a part-time DJ called ‘Mr Moonlight’, who disappeared on June 3, 2011 after leaving his girlfriend’s house Mary Lowry approximately. 6.30 am.
Mr. Ryan’s body was later found in an underground runoff tank on Ms. Lowry’s farm owned and rented by Quirke in Fawnagown, 22 months later, in April 2013.
It was the prosecution’s case that Quirke murdered Mr. Ryan so that he could rekindle a love affair with Ms. Lowry and that he subsequently “arranged” the discovery of the DJ’s body after Ms. Lowry attempted to terminate her contract of leasing in Fawnagowan.
Quirke’s attorneys maintained that the prosecution was unable to prove his case beyond mere suspicion. They pointed out “inconsistencies” in Ms. Lowry’s evidence and claimed that she “was not a reliable witness.”
A Central Criminal Court jury found Quirke guilty of Ryan’s murder by a 10-2 majority verdict after deliberating for nearly 21 hours after a 13-week trial.
Judge Eileen Creedon imposed a mandatory life sentence on the farmer on May 1, 2019.
In evidence that was frequently interrupted by legal arguments, the jury learned that Quirke began farming in Fawnagowan after the death of Mrs. Lowry’s husband, Martin, in September 2007. Martin Lowry had been best man at the wedding. of Quirke.
In early 2008, Quirke and Ms. Lowry began a sexual relationship that she later described as “sordid” and “sordid” and something she regretted.
In August 2010, Lowry met Bobby Ryan at a dance, whom he described as “funny”, “funny” and “a breath of fresh air.”
When Quirke found out about their relationship, he was angry and hurt. He told her that Gardaí took Ms. Lowry’s phone and texted Mr. Ryan to tell him that he was in a relationship with Mary and that she had not been honest.
Then he called Mr. Ryan and said, “I am the man.”
On June 2, 2011, Bobby Ryan called Ms. Lowry’s home shortly after 9 pm. She stayed overnight and left around 6.30am. Ms. Lowry, who waited for her truck to cross the cattle grid at the end of her drive, told gardaí that it took her longer than usual to drive away. She was never seen alive again.
Quirke claimed that his romance with Ms. Lowry resumed in August 2011 and that the following month, they stayed at the Cliff House Hotel in Ardmore, Co Waterford, something that Ms. Lowry said she could not remember.
In December 2012, Ms. Lowry’s attorney sent a letter to Quirke requesting to terminate the lease at Fawnagowan. She agreed to leave that June.
In April, Quirke called his wife Imelda to tell her that he had found a body in a disused waste tank in Fawnagowan. He arrived shortly after and called Garda Tom Neville.
Quirke gave a voluntary statement to Gardaí and denied knowing how Ryan’s body ended up in the tank.
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