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‘I hope that the next time I meet you, you’ll be dead’: Father of murdered son says he fears for his own safety

Father of a murdered son who was stabbed to death by an ex-boyfriend says he hopes the next meeting will bring a “very good outcome” for his son’s family.

The Rev Patrick Connolly has said he hopes that he and his son Michael, also aged 14, will meet in the “very, very near future” as they continue to recover from their ordeal in 2012.

“I’m very hopeful that there will be a very, very good outcome for my son’s parents and that I’ll be able to go out and see them one last time,” the retired priest told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.

“It’s not a normal thing for me to see my son and I have had many traumatic experiences, and I’m not the least bit sorry that I was stabbed.”

In April 2012, Michael Connolly was killed when he was stabbed repeatedly in the back by an unknown assailant in the village of Kildare, Co Tipperary.

The then 14-year-old was attacked by an unidentified man while walking home after a night out.

He suffered severe internal injuries and died two days later.

The man arrested and charged over the murder of his friend, Brendan Cooney, is now in custody.

In the wake of the killing, the family of the victim, Patrick Connolles said the “unusual circumstances” of the case were “disgraceful”.

“It was a very sad and sad situation that was not only devastating to the family but also to the community as a whole,” Father Connolly said.

“And that’s something that’s never been the norm.”

The victim’s father, Michael Cooney Sr., told the Irish Times in 2014 that he was angry at gardaí for failing to bring charges against the man in the murder case.

“The only reason we have charges against him is because the police were not following proper procedure,” he said.

“The garda’s not getting any evidence, they are not getting the right witness statements.”

That’s why the case was left open and we are now hoping that this case will be brought to a conclusion soon.

“In this case, the garda did not do their job and they failed the family.

We have had enough.”

The father said the family was in “shock” over the incident, adding that the case had “frightened the hell out of us”.

“We have never felt so alone as we do now.

This was a tragic loss, and we’re all very shaken up by it,” he added.

In 2016, the Cooney family launched a legal battle against the Irish State over the treatment of their son, alleging the alleged assault was racially motivated.

“He [the man] was treated like a criminal and we’ve been treated like criminals all our lives,” Brendan Coongys father said.

In his autobiography, “I am the Killer”, the victim’s mother, Mary Connolly, said that while her son had never been violent before, “he had never shown any signs of remorse for what had happened”.

“I do not believe that he’s mentally ill or even that he is violent, but I do believe that the abuse he suffered as a child was just a part of his life,” she wrote.

“Even though the case has been closed, I still believe he’s a murderer.”