Scannal

Scannal revisits the shooting of widowed mother Annie Gillespie and her only daughter Anne by the daughter’s ex-boyfriend, John Gallagher in Sligo General Hospital’s car-park. Anne Gillespie from Ballybofey had ended her three year relationship with Lifford man John Gallagher. Unhappy with her decision, Gallagher’s behaviour became increasingly erratic in the weeks leading up to her death. Anne and Annie were in fear for their safety and Anne had confided in a teacher “If I don’t have police protection by this time next week you’ll be singing at my funeral.” These words would prove chilling and prophetic.

Scannal looks back at events leading up to the Boomtown Rats concert in Leixlip Castle in 1980. Why was the original gig really cancelled and what did the whole episode say about Ireland in 1980.

In the early hours of the 8th January 1979 a massive explosion rocked Bantry Bay and a lethal firestorm engulfed the French oil tanker, “Betelgeuse”, which was berthed at Whiddy Island oil terminal. Fifty people died in the inferno but only twenty seven bodies were ever recovered. In fact not one person aboard the ship nor any of the Gulf employees on the terminal jetty that night was saved. A Tribunal of Inquiry was established under High Court judge, Declan Costello. The Tribunal laid the blame for the disaster squarely on the shoulders of Total and Gulf Oil, the owners of the tanker and the oil terminal respectively. Some witnesses who gave evidence at the Tribunal were found to have lied. However the Tribunal was not able to establish in detail what transpired on the ship and jetty on that horrific night.

Tonight’s episode of SCANNAL looks back at the most famous horse-racing based lottery in the world which exploded with panache and prestige onto the stage of the Mansion House in 1930. Wall Street had crashed but the world’s eyes were on Dublin where two blind boys, with uniformed nurses and a Garda commissioner present, pulled tickets from a drum. But lurking beneath the wholesome scenes of pageantry and elaborate draws, there was something quite different. There was worldwide ticket smuggling, law enforcement problems, tickets sold abroad that never made it back to Ireland and tickets that never even made it into the drum. When the Sweepstakes ceased operations in 1987, their loyal and diligent work force of mostly women were left with tiny redundancy payments and weren’t properly compensated until 2000.