In February 1997, Ian Bailey and his partner Jules Thomas were arrested in connection with the brutal murder of the French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier, in the isolated townland of Drinane, just a few miles outside Schull. The 39-year-old Frenchwoman was still in her night-clothes when her badly beaten body was found, near the laneway leading up to her holiday home. It was two days before Christmas.
The accusatory tone of the media coverage of the case seemed to leave little doubt: someone had decided that Bailey was the killer. However, with the passage of time, it became clear that the Garda’ had little or nothing in the way of evidence. The DPP ultimately refused to take him to trial. Ian Bailey was rearrested the following year, but again no charges were brought. In September 2000, Jules Thomas was arrested for a second time, along with her daughter, Fenella, but both were released without charge. In August of 2001, Bailey was arrested for physically assaulting Thomas at their home. He received a three-month suspended sentence at Skibbereen District Court.
Hot Press has followed his case with a keen eye over the years. Bailey has appeared in the Irish courts many times since. He took a libel action against seven newspapers in 2003 (winning against just two of them; many thought that the newspapers got away lightly). Then, in 2014, he took a High Court action for damages against the Minister for Justice and the Garda Commissioner. The case took 64 days, during the course of which some very disturbing behaviour by the Garda’ was disclosed (including the alleged bribing of witnesses and pressurising them to make completely false statements).

Earlier this year, Olaf Tyaransen travelled to Ian's home in West Cork to hear the story, as told by the man himself. The interview in question was conducted all the way back in March, but it wasn't allowed to be published until after the publication of an official report - known as the Fennelly Commission - into the Gardai's handling of the Plantier/Bailey case.

In the interview, Bailey reveals the initial shocking moments when he realised he was a suspect for the murder of the French director. "Eddie Cassidy of the Examiner rang me and gave me the basic details. But it was early 1997 when I started to pick up on the fact that I was being spoken about as a potential murderer. In fact, Helen Callanan, who was news editor of the Sunday Tribune, said it to me. I was using the name Eoin Bailey as my byline. And actually she says to me one day on the phone, 'Eoin, it's being said up here in Dublin that you're the murder.' My response was to say, 'Who is saying that?' And she says, 'I can't tell you.' So I knew there was something strange going on, but I had no idea I was going to be arrested."

In his conversation with Olaf, Bailey claims that, when he was first arrested, one of the arrested officers threatened to murder him. "He said, 'Yeah, if we don't pin this all on you it doesn't matter, because you will be found dead with a bullet in the back of your head.'"

From the first arrest followed a legal and political battle that has lasted over two decades. "1997 was a very dark year," says Ian. "1998 was a very dark year. And there were many dark years after. If you talk about every 20-year period, the first ten years were very, very tough and bad."

Over the six-page interview, Ian gives us an insight into his case, his character, and the dramatic, life-affecting journey he's been on to clear his name. For the full interview, see our Hot Press 40th Birthday Special issue on racks across Ireland now. You can also Buy 41-10: The 40th Birthday Special direct from hotpress.com, or download the iOS app for iPad.