President to grant posthumous pardon to Tipperary man sentenced to death
President Michael D Higgins is to officially pardon a man who was sentenced to death for a murder 75 years ago.
Harry Gleeson will be pardoned after an independent review found that there were "deficiencies" in his conviction.
Mr Gleeson was put to death in 1941 for the murder, the previous year, of Mary McCarthy in Marlhill, Co Tipperary.
An independent review has found that Harry Gleeson had a reasonable alibi for the date on which Mary McCarthy died, and that crucial evidence was withheld from the jury.
The Government has now accepted the advice of the Attorney General that Mr Gleeson should be pardoned, and will ask the President to exercise that power under Article 13.6 of the Constitution.
"The Government deeply regrets that a man was convicted and executed in circumstances now found to be unsafe," a statement from the Department of Justice read.
"All that can be done now by way of remedy is to clear his name of the conviction, which this pardon will do, in the hope that this will be a proper tribute to his memory.
"Equally the Government regrets that this decision leaves unresolved the brutal murder of Ms. Mary McCarthy, whose children were deprived of their mother in terrible circumstances.
"The Government wishes to express its sympathy with both families and with all those affected by this crime and the subsequent conviction."
