‘All our prayers have been answered’ – wife killer Brian Kearney refused parole

Siobhán Kearney’s family were informed of the news today, with her sister Aisling McLaughlin describing it as a huge relief.

Kearney strangled Siobhán (38) to death in a bedroom of their Goatstown home in 2006 while her young son played downstairs.

He was jailed for life in 2008 for the murder and became eligible for parole last year.

“The absolute relief, you feel it lifting in your chest,” Ms McLaughlin told the Irish Independent today.

“You don’t realise that you are carrying this uncertainty, this weight, until it’s lifted and you think, ‘oh my god, I never knew that was on me so badly’,” she added.

Ms Laughlin said she attended mass this morning and it wasn’t until she left that she saw the missed calls from the parole board.

“I had two missed calls on my phone and I could see it was from the parole board. You never know what to expect because we’ve been waiting such a long time.

“We went to our meeting last May and we’ve been waiting ever since,” Ms McLaughlins said.

Kearney used a flex from a vacuum cleaner to strangle Siobhán, which he then pulled over the door of the en-suite in their bedroom to make it look like a suicide.

The pathologist described Siobhán as being “throttled and garotted”.

Their young son, who was three at the time, was in the house when the murder happened.

His trial heard that Kearney killed his wife Siobhán because she was planning to leave him, which would have placed him under severe financial pressure.

Kearney, who has served 16 years of his life sentence, cannot now reapply again for parole until March 2026.

Siobhán’s family first learned of Kearney’s eligibility for parole in February 2023. Initially they were told it would take three to six months for a decision to come through.

“For me personally, I was ok waiting. That was it. But I had other family members who were very agitated and upset and angry and all of that because what we’ve been through,” Ms McLaughlin said today.

“There was a great deal of frustration within the family from certain people and then there was a certain amount of ‘lets just wait for this outcome and see where this goes’.

“Thankfully, all our prayers have been answered,” Ms McLaughlin said.

While the decision is good news for the family, Ms McLaughlin was critical of the process, as Mr Kearney will have the opportunity to reapply for parole in 2026.

“The fact that he is going to have another opportunity in March 2026 – this, for want of a better word, charade, circus – will start again and we will be put through this,” Ms McLaughlin said.

Ms McLaughlin said he has never shown remorse for her sister’s murder.

“What I want to address with (Justice Minister) Helen McEntee in this interim period up until then is why people, murderers, unrepentant murders, have opportunities to address the parole board when there has been no admission, remorse, contrition, nothing.

“And all of the families are dragged through this, to what end?,” she added.

For now, the news gives Siobhán’s family a moment to breathe until the process starts again.

“For us it’s just a pause, it’s a relief because we can take a moment to breathe.

“My son is getting married on Tuesday and I’m so excited and she adored him. But it gives us a pause and just regroup and gather and prepare and strengthen ourselves for the next one,” Ms McLaughlin said.