Veronica Guerin is the protagonist of the 2003 Irish biopic film of the same name. She is based on the real life late Irish journalist of the same name. She was portrayed by Cate Blanchett who also played Galadriel (Middle-earth).
Biography[]
In the mid 1990s, Dublin was considered a war zone with a few drug lords battling over control over the area. As a result, this greatly affected the slum areas of Dublin causing addiction amongst the poor people living there. Guerin was outraged by the effect organised crime was having on the poor people of Dublin and was determined to expose the source of the drug dealing.
By 1994, Guerin's articles had attracted the attention of the drug lords, particularly John Gilligan. As a warning, a gunman fired a shot through the front window of Guerin's house. A few months later, Guerin was confronted by a gunman at her front door who shot her in the leg.
Undeterred by these attacks, Guerin continued writing for the Sunday Independent while meeting with Gilligan's right hand man for information. This information was usually misleading by Traynor to keep Guerin away from Gilligan.
In September 1995, Guerin visited Gilligan's equestrian centre on her own, determined to speak to Gilligan. However, a furious Gilligan responded by savagely beating Guerin and ripping open her top to see if she was wearing a wire. Gilligan ordered Guerin off his property. Later that night, Guerin was in bed recovering from her injuries when she received a phone call from Gilligan. The nature of the call was very threatening and Gilligan explicitly warned Guerin if she ever wrote anything about him, he would kidnap Guerin's son and rape him as well as killing Guerin.
Gilligan met with Traynor who offered Gilligan money not to press charges against Gilligan. As this would go against her principles, Guerin continued with pressing charges, but when the case went to court, the case was deferred.
Despite this, Guerin continued with her journalism. Tragically, in 1996, Guerin was eventually assassinated a gunman while in her car. Following on from her murder, the Irish parliament established the Criminal Assets Bureau which allowed for the authorities to seize the assets of suspected criminals. Brian Meehan was convicted of Guerin's murder, while Gilligan was sentenced to a lengthy term for drug trafficking.