Investigative Reporter Veronica Guerin | Exposing Dublin's Organized Crime

Dublin-born Veronica Guerin studied accounting at Trinity College before becoming a public relations professional. During the 1990s, she took on Dublin’s crime gangs as an investigative journalist for the “Sunday Independent.” Her accounting expertise helped her trace financial transactions, revealing the involvement of influential drug lords.

Guerin received death threats, but refused to back off. In October 1994, a man shot two bullets into her home following a story about the murder of crime boss Martin Cahill murder by the IRA. Guerin ignored it as a warning. When answering her doorbell in January 1995, a masked man pointed a pistol at her head, then shot her in the leg. The ballistics analysis showed that both attacks used the same weapon. 

The authorities believed that gang leader John Gilligan ordered her threats and murder in June 1996. His powerful South Dublin drug cartel imported over 20,000 kg of cannabis, worth about £180 million, between 1994 and 1996. When questioned about his wealth, Gilligan threatened to harm her and her son.

In 1996, Brian Mehan, a Gilligan gang member, murdered Guerin at a traffic light. Her death sparked major reforms. The Irish government established the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB). CAB could seize assets from suspected criminals without a prior conviction.

Veronica Guerin described “Ireland’s untouchables” as not a single syndicate, but a network of connected criminals, driven by shared interests in drug trafficking, money laundering, and violence.

Engraved on the memorial marker for Veronica Guerin at Dublin Castle

“Be Not Afraid. Greater justice was her ideal and it was her ultimate achievement. Her courage and sacrifice saved many from the scourge of drugs and other crime. Her death has not been in vain.”