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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
John Kierans

'The situation is causing me severe anxiety' - Ian Bailey to be evicted from west Cork home

Ian Bailey is to be evicted from his west Cork home, we can reveal.

The journalist and poet who was questioned twice but never charged over the murder of French beauty Sophie Toscan du Plantier, received notice to quit before Christmas.

However, he was able to remain in the one-bedroom apartment in Bantry, West Cork due to the eviction ban.

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But since the ban was lifted by the Government last week he has now been told he has to leave his rented accommodation by the beginning of May.

It is understood that the landlord wants to sell the property.

Mr Bailey said: "After all I have been through I do not know what I am going to do. It is extremely worrying and stressful.

"I have been given until May 1 to vacate and I am trying to find alternative accommodation in West Cork where I have lived for 30 years.

"But any form of accommodation in Ireland at the moment is rarer than hen's teeth.

"The situation is causing me severe anxiety, fear and apprehension."

The 64-year-old Englishman became homeless in 2020 when he was evicted from the house he shared with his former long-term partner, artist Jules Thomas. She owned the property.

He found temporary emergency accommodation provided by Cork County Council before finding a small flat near Bantry.

Gardai say Mr Bailey has kept a low profile in Bantry since arriving there and occasionally appears at west Cork markets selling his poetry.

Mr Bailey regards himself as a former suspect in the Sophie case following the launch of a Garda cold case review into the high-profile 1996 murder last year.

The Gardai now privately classify him as a "person of interest" in the case.

He has so far not been interviewed as part of the cold case review.

It is understood detectives are following up new leads from west Cork to Britain and France. Garda officers are expected to fly to Paris later this year to follow up enquiries there.

Ian Bailey always denied killing Sophie and maintains to this day that he never knew her.

The film director Jim Sheridan, who spent seven years investigating the case, strongly believes Bailey is innocent and that the killer came from France.

Bailey was convicted of murder in absentia by a French court over three years ago and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Mr Bailey never showed up for the trial which was branded a "kangaroo court " by his lawyers and included hear-say evidence that would never be admissible in an Irish court of law.

The Irish judiciary have refused to extradite him due to severe doubts over the French conviction.

Tragic Sophie's family are convinced he did it.

The Irish Government has refused to intervene and are leaving it up to the gardaí to solve.

Two documentaries, one by Sky which was produced and directed by Jim Sheridan, and the other by Netflix, have created huge interest in the case worldwide.

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