Paul Williams: State of Fear
Over two programmes investigative journalist Paul Williams will deliver a personal verdict on whether we are living in a ‘State of Fear’
In this two part series investigative journalist Paul Williams will go on a journey to assess the reverberations of the brutal killing of fellow journalist Veronica Guerin in 1996. Paul will give his personal reflection on mood of the nation in 1996 accordingly he will re-trace Veronica’s story remembering his own positioning around all events. On his journey he will assess the State’s response to tackling organised crime from Veronica’s murder up to the present day events around the Regency Hotel attack. Ultimately, over two programmes, Paul Williams will deliver a personal verdict on whether we are still living in a ‘State of Fear’.
BROADCASTERS & FUNDERS:
- TV3
On Wednesday 26th June 1996 investigative journalist for The Sunday Independent, Veronica Guerin was shot in cold-blood whilst driving into Dublin on the Naas road.
Her murder caused reverberations that are still felt today.
After years spent exposing the criminal underworld, Veronica was brutally silenced for revealing the amassed wealth of drug dealer John Gilligan & his gang. Now, 20 years on, Ireland’s leading crime journalist & Veronica’s old newspaper rival Paul Williams revisits their joint-past to give an unrivalled personal account of the weeks and events leading to her assassination. Two decades on, he challenges his own pre-conceptions visiting many of the sites, locations & incidents for the first time since 1996.
Paul will give his personal reflection on mood of the nation in 1996, a mood set by the collapsed cease-fire in Northern Ireland and the killing of Det Garda Jerry McCabe by the IRA in Adare, Co.Limerick. Paul will revisit both these events recalling how he covered them as a journalist twenty years go. Accordingly he will re-trace Veronica’ story remembering his own positioning around all events. He will revisit both Veronica’s and his own newspaper colleagues to explore their views on how investigative journalism has changed as a result of Veronica’s killing.
On his journey he will assess the State’s response to tackling organised crime from Veronica’s murder up to the present day events around the Regency Hotel attack. He charts the successes and failures of different law enforcement initiatives over the past two decades and speaks with the original members of the Lucan investigation team and the Criminal Assets Bureau. He will speak to former and current police professionals to get their view on where Ireland is in comparison with international police forces. He will look at the impact of the recession on funding of An Garda Siochana, recruitment of new members and the equipment and facilities available to them. Using his own perspective & history he will recall the relationship between press & police in 1996 & compare it to that in 2016.
Ultimately, over two programmes, Paul Williams will deliver a personal verdict on whether we are still living in a ‘State of Fear’.
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