During all of this Peter Mason shifted about in his seat and wrote furiously on his refill pad.

None of the boys mentioned the statements taken by Pat Kilroy. None of them mentioned We fucking showed that little cunt. None of them mentioned that Richard’s current girlfriend had once gone out with Conor Harris.

By this time Mick Conroy, the taxi driver against whose idling vehicle Laura Haines had slumped, had come forward offering to help the gardaí. Michael Feather supervised a line-up during which Mick Conroy identified Richard and Stephen as the boys who had been doing most of the kicking and punching outside Harry’s. Mick Conroy did not identify Barry Fox, who stood in the same line-up. This would be cited as a mitigating factor by Barry’s barrister at the trial, and would be one of the reasons that Barry’s sentence was eventually shortened on appeal.

When Barry’s first interrogation was over Gerald Clinch and Peter Mason spoke swiftly and privately in a corner of the busy station. Naturally they have never disclosed the substance of their conversation.

Then Richard and Stephen were questioned again. They confirmed certain minor details of Barry’s story but denied having kicked Conor or having become aggressive due to drink.

When these interrogations were over Michael Feather sat back and said to himself, ‘Well, I think we ha-ha-have them there.’

Of course the boys had been unable to confer with one another about the details of their stories. Richard and Stephen had trusted that Barry’s version of the night’s events would broadly concur with their own.

Barry had cried a good deal during his interrogation. When he went back to his cell he sat on the thin grey mattress of his cot and examined his feelings. For a moment he felt relieved, lightened of a burden. Then he remembered the statements that Pat Kilroy had taken and kept in his office safe. He realized that Richard and Stephen had probably not been compelled – by conscience or anxiety or fear – to confess. He saw what he had done. He saw Richard and Stephen and himself and their long shared future of whitewashed rooms and public failure.

He leaned back against the wall and said, ‘Fuck it.’

The arrests featured in most of the next day’s papers. The articles all said the same thing, more or less. They said this: ‘Three students appeared before the Dublin District Court today, charged with manslaughter and violent disorder. They are accused of killing Conor Harris, 21, outside Harry’s Niteclub in Blackrock, on August 31st. They replied “Not guilty” to the charges and were released on bail, to appear again in court at the end of the month.’

Time to go.

43

After the arrests, everything began to change. The boys had been about to begin their third year at UCD. Now they had to defer their places. Richard felt numb as he filled out the forms. He was sure – though he couldn’t have told you how he knew – that he would never go back to the university again.