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14 Aug 2012, 1:23 am
Bio from Answers.com (I know, it's not brief):
Quote:
On June 26, 1996, a tough investigative reporter named Veronica Guerin became the twenty-fourth journalist that year to die in the line of duty, according to figures compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists. She was a relative newcomer to the field, having only practiced her craft for some six years. Yet she was already one of its brightest stars, celebrated worldwide for her willingness to track down and publish the kind of information that certain people preferred to keep quiet. And when she died at the hands of a professional killer, presumably to ensure her silence, Guerin was elevated to the status of a national heroine.
Guerin, who acquired the nickname "Ronnie" during her childhood, was one of five children born to a Dublin-based accountant and his wife. She received her education in the Catholic schools of Dublin's north side, where she became an accomplished athlete in camogie (a game similar to lacrosse), soccer, and basketball. Soccer, in fact, remained a lifelong passion of Guerin's; she was a fanatic supporter of England's Manchester United professional soccer team.
Switched Careers from Accounting to Journalism
After studying accounting at Trinity College, Guerin joined her father's firm but left upon his death in 1983 to form her own public-relations company. Seven years later, she took up journalism, first as a business writer for Dublin's Sunday Business Post and then as a news reporter for the city's Sunday Tribune. In 1994, Guerin became an investigative reporter for the Sunday Independent, the largest-circulation weekend newspaper in Ireland.
As a member of the Sunday Independent staff, Guerin specialized in crime stories. She soon made a name for herself in international journalism circles for hard-hitting pieces that sought to expose the truth about Dublin's burgeoning drug trade and the part that increasingly violent and ruthless organized gangs played in it. Guerin was outraged by the mob activity she documented and frustrated by the inability of the police to bring the crime bosses to justice, so she launched a virtual one-woman crusade to bring down the gangs. "She had no basic training [as a reporter]," an editor at the Sunday Business Post later recalled. "She just had a very simple philosophy that she wanted to get the truth."
... ...
Investigative Reporting Proved Dangerous
In October 1994, Guerin experienced the first serious repercussions from one of her stories when two bullets were fired through the window of her home as she played with her young son. The incident occurred only a month after she had written an article on the life of a high-living Dublin drug kingpin known as "The General" who had been found shot to death in his car.
... ...
Guerin's Death Affects Nation
On the afternoon of June 26, 1996, Guerin was alone in her car when she stopped at a traffic light in suburban Dublin and made a quick call to a friend on her cellular phone. Two men on a motorcycle pulled up alongside her car. One of them opened fire, shooting Guerin five times in the neck and chest, killing her almost instantly. The men then sped off into traffic and escaped before anyone nearby had even had a chance to react.
... ...
From the very beginning, there was little doubt that Guerin had been the victim of a professional hit, most likely ordered by one of the criminals she had already written about or planned to write about. Police immediately launched a full-scale investigation of the crime but admitted that they expected it would be quite some time before anyone was apprehended if ever. In October 1996, however, Irish police charged a man named Paul Ward with conspiracy to murder in the death of Veronica Guerin. His was the first in what law enforcement officials hoped would be a series of arrests in the case.
Guerin, who acquired the nickname "Ronnie" during her childhood, was one of five children born to a Dublin-based accountant and his wife. She received her education in the Catholic schools of Dublin's north side, where she became an accomplished athlete in camogie (a game similar to lacrosse), soccer, and basketball. Soccer, in fact, remained a lifelong passion of Guerin's; she was a fanatic supporter of England's Manchester United professional soccer team.
Switched Careers from Accounting to Journalism
After studying accounting at Trinity College, Guerin joined her father's firm but left upon his death in 1983 to form her own public-relations company. Seven years later, she took up journalism, first as a business writer for Dublin's Sunday Business Post and then as a news reporter for the city's Sunday Tribune. In 1994, Guerin became an investigative reporter for the Sunday Independent, the largest-circulation weekend newspaper in Ireland.
As a member of the Sunday Independent staff, Guerin specialized in crime stories. She soon made a name for herself in international journalism circles for hard-hitting pieces that sought to expose the truth about Dublin's burgeoning drug trade and the part that increasingly violent and ruthless organized gangs played in it. Guerin was outraged by the mob activity she documented and frustrated by the inability of the police to bring the crime bosses to justice, so she launched a virtual one-woman crusade to bring down the gangs. "She had no basic training [as a reporter]," an editor at the Sunday Business Post later recalled. "She just had a very simple philosophy that she wanted to get the truth."
... ...
Investigative Reporting Proved Dangerous
In October 1994, Guerin experienced the first serious repercussions from one of her stories when two bullets were fired through the window of her home as she played with her young son. The incident occurred only a month after she had written an article on the life of a high-living Dublin drug kingpin known as "The General" who had been found shot to death in his car.
... ...
Guerin's Death Affects Nation
On the afternoon of June 26, 1996, Guerin was alone in her car when she stopped at a traffic light in suburban Dublin and made a quick call to a friend on her cellular phone. Two men on a motorcycle pulled up alongside her car. One of them opened fire, shooting Guerin five times in the neck and chest, killing her almost instantly. The men then sped off into traffic and escaped before anyone nearby had even had a chance to react.
... ...
From the very beginning, there was little doubt that Guerin had been the victim of a professional hit, most likely ordered by one of the criminals she had already written about or planned to write about. Police immediately launched a full-scale investigation of the crime but admitted that they expected it would be quite some time before anyone was apprehended if ever. In October 1996, however, Irish police charged a man named Paul Ward with conspiracy to murder in the death of Veronica Guerin. His was the first in what law enforcement officials hoped would be a series of arrests in the case.
Link: http://www.answers.com/topic/veronica-guerin
Anyway, I had been wanting to do a thread on the real woman for some time but wasn't sure if it'd seem redundant and/or stupid as I've already made a thread about the film. But I was wanting to know if there were any WPers who had heard about her prior to its release and, if so, your overall opinion(s) on what happened. Personally, while I don't quite agree with her political stance on the drug issue, I still admire her for her courage to write about the mob like that and feel sad that she died because of it.
RIP Veronica "Ronnie" Guerin. 1958 - 1996.
[edit: truncated further by moderator]
Last edited by LiberalJustice on 15 Aug 2012, 9:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.
14 Aug 2012, 2:14 am
14 Aug 2012, 3:15 am
14 Aug 2012, 5:44 am
I live in Southern California.
The drug cartels in Mexico are killing groups of people, killing whole families because one member MAY have talked, there are headless bodies found in the streets daily.
Mutilated corpses, videos of executions using saws and machetes are on the internet to warn people off,and last year, a twelve year old who killed people for a gang was caught.
She was brave, and wonderful, but these people kill. It is what they do.
With their guns, their knives, and the drugs themselves.
The truly surprising thing is that her family was not hurt, or worse, as a warning.
If she had tried any of this in Mexico, in 2012, she would not have lived for a week, if that.
I suppose that the true martyr knows that the end is inevitable, and feels that the cause is worth the sacrifice of a life.
She must have know how it would end.
R.I.P., Veronica
Sylkat 
