“I will contest it”: Daughter of slain Mr Moonlight vows to block killer’s bid for freedom

Every time June 3 comes around, Michelle Ryan marks the anniversary of her father’s death in her own private way. She stays away from his grave.

For Michelle, her dad simply isn’t there.

On that summer morning in 2011, 52-year-old Bobby Ryan, a quarry worker and part-time DJ known by the stage name ‘Mr Moonlight’, vanished from rural Tipperary without a trace.

Almost two years later, his body was discovered in an underground run-off tank near the farmhouse where he was last seen.

The trial that followed was one of the longest in the history of the Irish State. By its conclusion, a love rivalry would be publicly exposed, a man would be jailed, and another man long buried.

In May 2019, Patrick Quirke (then 50) was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. He continues to deny any involvement in Mr Ryan’s death.

On this episode of The Indo Daily, host Tessa Fleming is joined by Irish Independent special correspondent Catherine Fegan to review the case, and by Michelle Ryan, daughter of Bobby Ryan, who speaks about the experience of losing her father and her vow to contest any potential release of his killer.

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