Jason Keating pleads not guilty to Noel Kirwan murder

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Jason Keating has pleaded not guilty to murdering Noel ‘Duck Egg’ Kirwan. The proceedings at the Special Criminal Court were reported on 3 October 2018.

Mr Kirwan was sitting in his car at St Ronan’s Drive, Clondalkin, Dublin 22, on 22 December 2016 when a gunman shot him six times with a Makarov handgun, which was later recovered.

His partner, Bernadette Roe, told the court that she was in the passenger seat of his Ford Mondeo during the attack. She said she ran from the car and saw the gunman jump into the side of a white van as it drove away.

Sergeant Damien Gannon said he found a Gotek tracking device beneath the Mondeo after it was transferred to Ballyfermot Garda Station on 23 December. The prosecution’s case was that the device had been placed under the car in the weeks before the killing and that items including a manual for the same device linked Mr Keating to the attack.

The trial was continuing before presiding judge Mr Justice Tony Hunt, sitting with Judge Sinead Ni Chualachain and Judge Cormac Dunne.