"I want Mum to be remembered for the person she was, not how she died" - daughter of tragic Kildare shopkeeper

The still grief-stricken daughter of a Milltown shopkeeper killed over 25 years ago said she never wants to meet her mum's killer in the village.
Mum-of-three Joyce Quinn (44) was murdered on the Curragh Plains by butcher Kenneth O'Reilly on January 23, 1996.
A new TG4 documentary series featuring the crime by Midas Productions - Marú inár Measc (Murder Among Us) - speaks to family and friends of tragic Joyce including her husband Ray and daughter Nicole.
Killer O’Reilly (22) was arrested a week after the brutal killing and later given a life sentence in 1997 for the murder.
An emotional Nicole, who still lives in Milltown, tells the programme: "When somebody dies like that it takes away their personality. It takes away the goodness, the decency.
"And I want Mum to be remembered for the person she was, not how she died. And he took that away as well.
"It's not fair. It's just another insult.
She added: "He is going to get out at some stage. You have to accept logic but he [her father] does not want him in Kildare and he doesn’t want him bumping into any of us.”
Ray tenderly says on the programme that when he first set eyes on Joyce, he thought she was "the most beautiful woman in the world."
He added: "Joyce was as perfect as you can get in this world. And her family was everything to Joyce."
Ray also called for O'Reilly to be banned from Co Kildare and to wear an electronic tag after his release so gardaí can track his movements.
He told the programme: "Because of the fear among the community and among my own family, I am asking that if this man is released on parole, that he is kept out of Co Kildare. And that he must wear an electronic tag so we can be sure that he stays out of the community. When I think of the consequences for my family,
"When I think of the consequences for my family and the violence and terror of Joyce’s death…the mother of my children, the love of my life and her tossed into the gorse like rubbish when he was done with her. He’s a dangerous man. The community of Kildare are afraid of this man.” 

Retired detective Pat Donlon who investigated the murder, said that local gardaí worked very hard on the case as it affected the entire community.
He explained: "When a brutal attack like this occurs to a female, gardaí take it personally because we live in the community, we are part of the community, we have grandmothers, mothers, wives, sisters, daughters..."
Milltown-born journalist and broadcaster Noel Shannon said locals were shocked that not only was the victim from the community, but so was the killer.
He said: "I never thought that I would be covering a murder in the village where I grew up, where I lived, and where I would know the victim, and where I would ultimately as it turned out, know the perpetrator."
Friend Catherine Carey Walsh explained that Joyce didn't hesitate in offering a lift to O'Reilly who was hitchhiking on the road.  
She said: "Joyce wouldn't have let a stranger into the car, but she was such a kind, caring person - when she saw him on the side of the road  looking for a life, she would have given him a lift.
She added: "I would go to the grave and pass by the shop. I know it has been bought over, but it will always be Joyce's shop to me."
In the documentary, Ray recalled the moment he became concerned when Joyce didn’t arrive home. Fearing she had car trouble, he immediately began searching for her. Their son David joined him and together they travelled the route Joyce would have taken home from work.
The shop was closed when they arrived, there was no sign of Joyce. Ray soon reported his wife missing to Kildare Gardaí. 11 weeks prior to this, JoJo Dullard had disappeared, and Gardaí wasted little time in beginning a search. Less than 24 hours later Joyce’s body was found. She had been beaten, raped and stabbed with a boning knife.
As Gardaí tried to piece together the evidence, her killer, Milltown native, Kenneth O’Reilly continued life as normal and just after killing Joyce he had brought his girlfriend for a meal.
In the days after he visited a barbers and joined in on conversations speculating on the circumstance of Joyce’s death.
Crucial DNA and fingerprint evidence and multiple sightings left Gardaí in no doubt as to O’Reilly being responsible. And a year and a half after killing Joyce, O’Reilly was convicted of her murder.

Marú inár Measc - the murder of Joyce Quinn, airs at 9.30pm on Wednesday, 9th June on TG4