Padraig Nally: ‘I fear for safety 10 years after shooting’

Padraig Nally still fears for his safety more than a decade after killing a man for trespassing on his property.

The Mayo farmer was the centre of a national debate on the right to defend one’s property after he shot dead John Ward for trespassing on his land. Mr Nally, 70, said he had acted in self-defence at all times.

Following a trial in 2005, Mr Nally was acquitted of murder but convicted of manslaughter. It was the first murder trial in Mayo in nearly a century. A retrial took place in December 2006, where Mr Nally was acquitted of manslaughter. In total, he served 11 months in jail. During the trial, he was praised by many rural homeowners and farmers who argued they should have the right to protect themselves using force if necessary.

Speaking to RTÉ radio almost 10 years after the shooting, Mr Nally said he still feared for his safety. “You’re still fearful that there could be a repercussion at any time,” he said. “That’s the worry that I have at the moment. You have to expect the worst. People that were raided once, they usually come back again second time and it’s nearly always old people they are targeting.”

The farmer, who still lives alone on the farm where the shooting took place, said he was in fear of his life when he fired the shot at Mr Ward.

“I was scared. There was a man behind me and a man in front of me and I didn’t know if there was two men gone in here or not,” he said. “I couldn’t be sure so I ran in here to the door and he ran out. He turned over and he made for me and put his two hands around my neck. He was going then and I caught him by the neck and pulled him back. We had a struggle then for about five minutes outside the door there. He ran towards me three times with one intention: Thinking he would get the better of me.

“I said I couldn’t stand for it any longer so I made for the shed for more cartridges. So I saw him moving out the road then and I followed him out the road and I fired a shot, thinking it would pass him out to frighten him away, but instead it hit him. He fell at the side of the roads then at that.”

Mr Nally said he was not in shock after the incident because his “mind had gone from fear” and he had been “expecting something to happen all week”.

Mr Nally said he was surprised he was jailed but that he got used to life in Portlaoise prison, where he received around 10,000 cards from well-wishers all around the country. “It was awful severe. I was in court before that twice. It was worse being through this. It was awful hard to put up with it and I couldn’t believe it that they could come out with a verdict like that.

“It was all right when I got used to it. It was rough enough with other prisoners shouting at me and abusing me.”

Mr Nally said he went against the advice of friends in returning to his farm after his release, because he wanted to return to his home. “Where else could you go? It was your home and where you were living and where you were brought up, so it was very hard to leave it.”

He also said he had sympathy for the family of Mr Ward, but that he had to protect his life and property. “I had to protect my own life in the day in question,” said Mr Nally. “I had no choice.

“You have to feel sorry for the family, like, losing a father and a husband. You have to offer your sympathies to them as well on account of that. But he was on an errand that he shouldn’t have been on.”

Not gun shy 

Eight-out-of-10 farmers say they should be allowed to own a gun to protect themselves and their property.

The Behaviour and Attitudes survey carried out before the 2013 Ploughing Championships found support for gun ownership was highest among male farmers, with younger farmers under the age of 35 least supportive. However, support for the right to own a gun was well over 70% in all age groups and regardless of sex.

During the trial of Pádraig Nally, the Mayo farmer became the face of a national debate in rural Ireland, where many farmers felt they should be afforded the right to protect themselves and their property with use of force if necessary. The issue returned to focus last year after the Government took the highly contentious decision to close 100 rural Garda stations.

ICMSA president John Comer said that while he was wary of anybody using a firearm to protect themselves and their property, it was understandable given that criminals were targeting isolated rural farmers.

“The broader point here arises from the feeling widespread in... rural Ireland that the State, our State is slowly disengaging from people’s lives. In that context, the fact that many farmers feel they need a firearm to protect themselves should surprise nobody,” he said.

By Connal O' Fatharta