Marie Carthy is being paid a five-figure sum by Hodder Headline to detail the build-up to the death of her brother on April 20, 2000. Carthy, 27, was shot dead by the garda’s emergency response unit outside the family home after a 25-hour siege at the house.
“I wanted to tell the story of who John was,” his sister said yesterday. “Not the depressed figure witnessed through media accounts — but the caring, loving, funny and intelligent man who, despite his depression, enjoyed his life, friends and family. He was a devoted son, who adored his mother.
“I want to tell the story of what we went through as a family in the aftermath of his death, and I want this book to do justice to John’s memory.”
Ciaran Mullooly, RTE’s Midlands correspondent, is said to be researching his account of the victim.
Marie Carthy’s book, to be published early next year, will include her mother’s account of what happened. “It will for the first time put into words from my mother’s perspective,” she said. “Rose Carthy is a quiet person and has never spoken publicly about what happened, but she wants to partake in the book to get across to people the true price of what happened so that no other mother will experience the loss of a child in the same way.”
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An inquiry into Carthy’s death identified errors in the garda handling of the siege, and said Carthy’s death was “avoidable”. The “negligence of those in command led to the tragedy”, it concluded.