The Hot Press Chatroom was packed on Saturday afternoon as, in his first public appearance since the High Court refused to order his extradition to France in relation to the death of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, Ian Bailey was publicly interviewed by HP’s Olaf Tyaransen.

The man in question was, for reasons which remain obscure, the key suspect in one of the most high-profile murder cases in Irish history when, in 1996, the French film director, Sophie Toscan du Plantier, was murdered just outside the small town of Schull, in West Cork. Twenty years on, no one has any idea what happened on that fateful night. What we do know is that someone in the Gardaí decided that Ian Bailey – a journalist from Manchester who had moved to West Cork six years previously – was the prime suspect. What followed was a tale of incompetence, corruption, abuse of due process, and perversion of the course of justice – plunging Ian Bailey into a never-ending, Kafka-esque nightmare.

Appearing relaxed and chatty in the Hot Press chatroom, the 60-year-old Englishman spoke about the 21-year battle to clear his name.

He also read several poems from his self-published debut collection of poetry, The West Cork Way.

On the memory of his arrest:
“It was pretty horrific and if I want to think about it, it was pretty traumatic. I’ve learned over the years not to go there too much. It was shocking, it was surprising, and it was aggressive. And I’ve been doing everything I can since to clear my name. As long as I’ve got life in me I will fight to clear my name."

On being under Gardai suspicion:
“The first ten years were very dark, I didn’t really handle them very well. In 2007 I went up to UCC and I was there for five years studying law and that helped. I’m doing better now. It’s a very bizarre situation to be in where you know you have nothing to do with it and the very people you go to when you suffer an injustice are those who are perpetuating the attempted injustice against you. Nightmare wouldn’t adequately describe it.”

On his attempted suicide:
“I felt as though I’d had enough and wanted to end it.”

On his renewed respect for the Gardai:
“I’ve got the greatest respect for the guards. I’ve gotten great respect from the younger guards, and also we’ve had quite a lot of approaches from people who have been very supportive and I think maybe they see what I’m doing and what my legal team is doing as a changing of the old guards from younger guards.”

On overcoming fear:
“Fear is a funny thing, isn’t it? It’s very subjective. I don’t have a fear. I think if it doesn’t kill you it makes you stronger. I’m probably stronger than I ever wanted to be, in a way.”

On the help that politicians have given him:
“I’ve had help from two in particular: Clare Daly and Mick Wallace were very helpful. I’ve not really had much political support, but that’s okay."

On support from the community:
"There have been huge amounts, and it has been growing. There’s always been a core of people - going on twenty years - who believe I had nothing to do with it. More and more people are sending cards, and best wishes and miracle medals.”

On his belief in God:
“I don’t know if I believe in God but I believe in a force of nature. I believe in Jesus, so I think that Jesus was God’s rolling stone, but I was brought up in a sort of Christian culture.”

The full, unexpurgated Hot Press interview telling the story of Ian Bailey's brutal treatment at the hands of the State can be read here.

Video of Ian Bailey’s Hot Press Chatroom Interview will be available soon from hotpress.com