Longford brothers jailed following outbreak of violence outside funeral home

Two Longford brothers involved in a violent affray, which took place at a funeral home in Galway in January 2019, have been jailed, while another two have been given suspended prison sentences at a sitting of Longford Circuit Court.

Tommy Hannifin (46), of Dublin Road, Longford, Denis Hannifin (44), of Curry, Athlone Road, Longford, Robert Hannifin (49), of Corboy, Edgeworthstown, Co Longford, and Patrick Hannifin (48), of Dublin Road, Longford, were initially charged with violent disorder, and three assault causing harm charges each.

Denis and Robert Hannifin were also each charged with possession of a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence.

All four men entered guilty pleas to the lesser charges of affray last month just ahead of the empanelment of a jury in a trial that was expected to last five weeks. Denis Hannifin also pleaded guilty to a charge of assault causing harm. The remaining charges were withdrawn by the state.

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The incident on January 13, 2019, occurred at The Holy Family Church, Mervue, Galway, where the four accused had attended to pay their respects to the late Maureen Stokes

Detective Garda Ronan Leonard, giving evidence in court, outlined to Shane Geraghty BL, for the state, that the Hannifin and McGinley families had travelled to Galway to attend the funeral.

When the McGinley’s arrived at 3.20pm, they were met by their first cousins, the Hannifins, who came towards them from the funeral home, shouting.

Robert Hannifin had a plastic bottle of clear liquid, which he sprayed at Denis McGinley, the court heard. The liquid was hydrochloric acid, which Det Gda Leonard said had “melted” Denis McGinley’s jacket and left “white stuff” all over his clothes. The liquid had hit Mr McGinley in the face, causing his eye to burn. 

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Patrick Hannifin was seen with another plastic bottle of clear liquid, which was thrown at the McGinleys. It was the state’s case that plastic bottles held by Patrick and Tommy Hannifin were filled with water.

As the incident escalated, bangs were heard, with John McGinley receiving a gunshot wound to his right thigh.

Meanwhile, Patrick McGinley, having heard a bang, turned to run but was grabbed by his hair and felt a pain in his left shoulder. When he turned around, he saw Robbie Hannifin and said “don’t”, before Mr Hannifin stabbed him a second time in the shoulder.

He ran to the jeep and grabbed a hurley and stood by the jeep. Other members of the McGinley family also ran towards their vehicles, and pulled out implements.

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CCTV footage from directly over the door of the funeral home showed a large gathering of people who were “clearly frightened” as the affray spilled out onto the street.

Det Gda Leonard was one of the first Gardaí to arrive on the scene. He travelled to University Hospital Galway later that day to speak to members of the McGinley family who had been injured.

“John McGinley showed me his right thigh. Patrick McGinley showed me two stab wounds. Denis McGinley had an injury to his right eye, which was discoloured and irritated,” he said.

In his victim impact statement, John McGinley said he was “always looking over his shoulder” and “afraid of being in the wrong place at the wrong time”.

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“Since that day, I felt like a prisoner in my own home. That kind of fear seeps into everything,” he said, stating that he had turned down invitations to family events, and that the incident had affected his sleep and the way he parented his children.

“No child should have to grow up wondering if their father will be attacked,” he said. He stressed that every time he heard a vehicle slowing down outside his house, he wondered if it was someone coming to attack him.

“I didn’t ask for this and I didn’t cause it,” he said.

Denis McGinley also furnished a victim impact statement to the court, stating that “since that day, everything has fallen apart” and that it has been “a very stressful time” for him.

Both injured parties stated that there had been no show of remorse from the Hannifins, save for an apology from Patrick Hannifin.

Det Gda Leonard told the court that the feud stemmed from an incident among younger members of the families in November 2018 at a bowling alley.

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Denis Hannifin also received a 52 month prison sentence, with the final eight months suspended in May 2022, for a stabbing incident at Longford Shopping Centre, which caused serious harm to Denis McGinley in December 2018. He was on bail for that offence when this incident occurred.

In mitigation, Dara Foynes SC, for Denis Hannifin, pointed out that a guilty plea to the charge of affray saved the state a considerable amount in expenses, resources and time, as the trial would have taken five weeks.

“Feuding in Traveller families is unfortunate, but it is a legacy situation where males in travelling families are somewhat encouraged to continue the feud,” she said.

However, she stressed that her client’s previous spell in prison had taken him away from his wife of 26 years and their nine children. He also missed his daughter’s wedding while incarcerated.

“He won’t be involving himself in anything like this. This comes from his 52 months of reflecting on his behaviour. He’s very sorry for his actions. He knows he can’t turn back the clock. He came out of prison with skills he can put to use,” said Ms Foynes.

Niall Flynn BL, for Robert Hannifin, told the court that his client came from a large family of 11 children. Both his parents are still alive and in their 70s, but his father injured his hip and Robert is of great assistance to him. He is also the primary breadwinner for his own family.

“He is apologetic and remorseful to the Stokes family too, who were attending the funeral of a loved one,” said Mr Flynn.

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Vincent Heneghan SC, for Thomas Hannifin, pointed out that “the extent of what he is seen doing is throwing water”. Mr Hannifin “accepts that he was there”, but “there is no evidence he took a weapon - all he appeared to have was water”.

Finally, for Patrick Hannifin, Patrick O’Sullivan BL, said his client is “ashamed of himself” and his actions were “completely out of character”, but his involvement was “throwing water from a bottle”.

He also stressed that, in both victim impact statements, it was said that Patrick Hannifin was the only one to apologise to the McGinley family.

Judge Jonathan Dunphy, having taken time to consider all the evidence, noted the seriousness of the incident, which occurred “in broad daylight at a funeral home in the presence of a large crowd of members of the public”.

The guilty plea earned some mitigation, considering a trial would have lasted up to five weeks, but in the case of Denis and Robert Hannifin, he said “given the severity, this case has met the threshold for a custodial sentence”.

He proceeded to sentence Denis Hannifin to concurrent sentences of three years in prison on each of the two charges against him with the final 12 months suspended for a period of two years.

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For Robert Hannifin, he imposed a sentence of three years with the final 20 months suspended for two years.

For both men, he said there was “no legal justification to suspend any further amount”. However, he gave credit for time already served in custody between February 21 and March 13, 2020.

For Thomas and Patrick Hannifin, he imposed a 27 month sentence each, which he suspended in full for a period of two years on the conditions that both men enter into a bond of €500 to keep the peace and be of good behaviour, and that they submit themselves to the supervision of the probation service.

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