Second man jailed for life for murdering mum-of-three Irene White

A 47-year-old man from Riverstown, County Louth was sentenced to life imprisonment in July 2019 after pleading guilty to murder at the Central Criminal Court. Niall Power admitted his involvement in the killing of Irene White, a 43-year-old mother of three, at her home on Demesne Road, Dundalk on 6 April 2005. Power's role differed from that of his co-accused. Rather than carrying out the attack himself, he functioned as an intermediary in the commission of the offence. He conveyed a request from an unnamed individual seeking to have Ms White killed, and subsequently introduced that person to Anthony Lambe, who executed the fatal assault. Power presented himself to gardaí following Lambe's conviction and sentencing to life in January 2018. The victim was discovered by her 79-year-old mother bearing 34 stab wounds and a cut throat. The case had remained dormant for years until a 2012 television appeal prompted an anonymous call from a woman in Australia, reporting that Lambe had confessed to the killing. Lambe, who was studying for a doctoral degree in history at the time of his arrest in January 2017, subsequently admitted he had been paid to carry out the murder by an individual acting on behalf of another party. During Power's sentencing hearing, the court heard victim impact statements from Ms White's sister, described as terminally ill, and her daughter, both outlining the enduring harm inflicted on the family. Following sentencing, Ms White's sister's solicitor called on the Director of Public Prosecutions to pursue the third person believed to be responsible for orchestrating the killing, asserting that sufficient evidence existed against the alleged mastermind. The investigation into that individual remained ongoing. Since his 2019 conviction, Power has pursued an appeal, with proceedings ongoing as of early 2025 concerning grounds related to his mental health at the time of his guilty plea.