Lurgan woman Rosemary Nelson was just 40-years-old when she was murdered. The solicitor died after a bomb exploded under her car on the 15th March, 1999 – almost a year after the Good Friday Agreement.
The mother of three had long known she had been under threat; In the year before her death, Rosemary Nelson claimed she had received abuse and death threats from members of the RUC – but she was never offered police protection.
The high-profile clients she represented, including well-known IRA man Colin Duffy, the family of loyalist murder victim Robert Hamill, and the Garvaghy Road Resident’s association, made her a target of sectarian hatred.
The loyalist group – the Red Hand defenders – took responsibility for the murder, but those close to her maintained there was collusion with the security forces.
An inquiry later revealed that there were omissions on the Northern Ireland Office and RUC’s part – and that left her more vulnerable, but there were no findings of collusion.
Ciarán Dunbar is joined by co-author of the book, ‘Who Killed Rosemary Nelson?’ Neil Root and Sunday Life editor Martin Breen, who worked on the story at the time.
Rosemary Nelson: “There were some rogue police officers who would have been quite happy for her not to be around”
