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EPILOGUE

Tyrone Meehan’s body was found by the Garda Síochána on Thursday, 5 April 2007, at three in the afternoon. He was lying on his belly, in the living room, in front of the fireplace. He was probably on his way back from the woods. There were branches scattered all around him. He was wearing his jacket and his scarf. His cap was on the ground.

His assassins forced the door open with a sledgehammer. He was shot three times with a 12-calibre buckshot rifle, a weapon used to hunt big game. The first blew off his left hand around the wrist, as if he’d tried to protect himself. The second hit him in the neck, taking off his right cheek and part of his shoulder. The third hit him in the abdomen.

The IRA immediately denied all responsibility for Tyrone Meehan’s death. And it was four years later, at Easter 2011, that a Republican group opposed to the peace process claimed responsibility for his ‘execution for treason’.

— He didn’t seem surprised to see us, recounted the two killers in balaclavas. He didn’t cry out, didn’t beg. He tried to run towards the bedroom, he slipped and fell. He was on the ground when we carried out the sentence.

Tyrone Meehan was buried on 14 April 2007 in Belfast City Cemetery, attended only by his family.

Today, Jack emigrated to New Zealand. He works in an Irish pub in Christchurch. And Sheila still lives at 16 Harrow Drive, Belfast.