Diarmuid Rossa Phelan

Diarmuid Rossa Phelan accused of murdering a father-of-four in shooting after altercation on farmland.

He has had a job and been a member of the bar since 1994 and a member of the inner bar since 2008. Mr O’Higgins said he was “genuinely struggling” to ascertain how the making of complaints against persons that one alleges are trespassing and damaging property on one’s land, in circumstances where it demonstrates a dependence on gardai, is “being spun” as “counts against you” and maybe committing a serious offence. “The man is 53 years of age and he doesn’t have a parking ticket to his name apparently,” he added. The accused, he said, comes with a lot of assets that other people attempting to get bail before the High Court don’t have. Mr Phelan, counsel said, had “laid bare the intricacies and privacies of his life and soul” and did not have to convince anyone of anything. Ms McGowan said the court had evidence of eye-witnesses who said the accused first shot the dog with his rifle before there was a verbal altercation of no more than two minutes between Mr Phelan and the deceased. “The gardai were not aware he was a US citizen until he gave that evidence,” she argued. Mr Phelan said he had a seven-figure mortgage commitment but told the court that it was “hard to make ends meet at the moment”. “They had no interest in anything but ammunition and guns at the time and said they weren’t there for anything else,” she replied. The judge asked Ms McGowan what her section 2 evidence [likely to commit further offences] was as she had given no evidence of that to date. “Is the company the owner or not?” asked the judge. Mr Phelan said the farms are held in trust for the benefit of his children.