‘I still don’t know why these people came into my home that night’

By Mary Dennehy

IT’S been a decade since Tallaght father-of-five Michael Gallagher was brutally killed in his own home, with his partner Sally Rodgers continuing to live daily with the horror of his violent and unexplained death.

On January 18, Michael Gallagher (60) and his partner of five years, Sally Rodgers, had just finished their pasta dinner when somebody rang the front door bell of their Tymonville home.

Sally, who is a special needs assistant in St Joseph’s Special School in Balrothery, thought it was the milkman calling.

However, when she opened the door two men armed with a hammer and a knife forced their way into the house.

Sally was that night battered in her kitchen with a hammer while Michael was stabbed several times beside her in a frenzied knife attack, with Micheal later pronounced dead at Tallaght Hospital.

Working in general maintenance and an avid amateur photographer, Michael’s unprovoked death left his family, friends and neighbours in shock and disbelief, with gardai, who have yet to make any arrest, investigating the possibility that the attack was a case of mistaken identity.

Speaking with The Echo, ahead of Michael’s 10-year anniversary on Wednesday, January 18, Sally said: “I still don’t know why these people came into my home that night, and every day I ask myself why?

“No one has a reason to take anybody’s life, but there was absolutely no reason to take Micheal’s.

“I was attacked too that night, and I know I did nothing.”

She added: “Ten years down the road and I am still in that moment, still in my home when those men forced their way in.

“People think that over time things get better, but they don’t. I’ve just learned to live alongside the horror in my head.”

At the time of Michael’s death, himself and Sally were planning to move to Micheal’s home county of Leitrim to start a new life together.

Remembering back, Sally said: “Michael always wanted to return to Leitrim, but sadly when he returned it was to be buried in his family plot in a graveyard in Moyhill.

“I still have no answers as to why Michael is in that graveyard, all I have been left with is questions and horror.

“However, I will continue to keep what happened to us out there and on the 10th anniversary of Michael’s death, I am appealing for anybody with information to come forward.”

She added: “There may be somebody out there who has had a change of conscience or who maybe couldn’t come forward ten years ago but can talk now.

“I witnessed something that nobody should ever have to see, but I am holding myself together in the hope of finding answers.

“I will never get justice, Michael will always be gone, but I would like to know why those people came to my house that night.”

Anybody with information on the attack, which happened just after 10pm on January 18, 2007, is encouraged to contact Tallaght Garda Station on 6666000 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.

Crimestoppers, a joint initiative between the gardai and the business community, is also appealing for information on two males who were seen on the roadway near Michael’s house shortly after the incident ten years ago.

Visit www.crimestoppers.ie or call 1800 25 00 25.