A common sight on farmhouses across Ireland, this sign provides an indication of the fear Nally was living in before that fateful day two years ago when he shot John 'Frog' Ward dead.

Justice Paul Carney described Nally's trial as "the most socially divisive" he had ever presided over. Those divisions are still evident in Mayo in the wake of last Thursday's controversial decision to quash Nally's conviction.

Tom Ward, 'Frog' Ward's son, who was with his father at Nally's house on the day of the killing, told the Sunday Tribune it was the "biggest shock" of his life when he heard the courts "had let this man out to walk the streets.

I'd run for my life if I met him, and I am afraid to tell anyone where I am living in case he will come after me."

On Thursday night, however, a group of men sitting in a row along the bar in the Riverside Inn chuckled at the sight of the Sky News reporter explaining that it was nearly impossible to get a local to go in front of a camera and explain how they felt about Nally.

"It is great news that Padraig got out and we'll look forward to seeing him at mass on Saturday night, " said one of them, equally reluctant to give his name to a newspaper.

"He was a quiet man living on his own and the Travellers had him tormented. He was right to do what he did. He should never have done a day in jail. His biggest mistake was that he didn't have a double-barrelled shot gun so he wouldn't have had to stop to reload."

All of the customers in the Riverside Inn spoke fondly of Nally. While they rarely saw him in the local pubs at night, they said he was often be seen having a few drinks on mart days.

The Irish Farmers Association refused to make any comment about the quashing of Nally's conviction this weekend, but local people said they were looking forward to his return to the marts in the area soon.

Of the six people at the bar in O'Malley's, five said they were not from the area, an obvious attempt to remain tight-lipped about their support for Nally.

The woman behind the bar said: "Most people are reluctant to talk about the case but the general consensus is that people are happy that he is released."

In nearby Neale, Fianna Fail councillor Damien Ryan said that while "the whole thing has been a tragedy for both parties", there was huge public sympathy for Nally.

"Nally did not go looking for trouble. Trouble came looking for him. People feel that he has been punished enough and he should be left to live in Mayo."

In December 1981, a group of Travellers broke into the home of the elderly Gilmore brothers in Hollymount, less than 10 miles from Nally's farmhouse. Two of the brothers were dead within a week of the attack.

Independent councillor Harry Walsh maintains that the vicious attack on the Gilmore brothers has shaped the fraught relationship between Travellers and the settled community in Mayo for the past 25 years.

"People in Mayo can see how Padraig Nally was so afraid of being attacked by the Travellers as the attack on the Gilmore brothers still lives on in local memories, " Walsh said.

"Those people were the nicest people you could meet, the sort of people who would be on their knees saying the rosary in the evenings before they had their lives destroyed by the Travellers."

Meanwhile, Ann Costello of the Galway Traveller Support Group explained that the Travelling community was "very disappointed" that Padraig Nally had his sentence quashed.

"They are now wondering if justice will be done the second time around, " she said.

"Nobody should have to live in fear but Padraig Nally had irrational fears. After the incident, the Wards asked me if I believed Nally would come after them and that was an irrational fear as well. It is now up to people on both sides to try and break down these irrational fears."

Public opinion in Mayo this weekend showed that local people are overwhelmingly in favour of Nally's retrial being held in Castlebar.

One local man said: "Mayo people are the only people that understand what is going on here with the Travellers.

People in Dublin do not understand what is happening in rural Ireland with the Travellers."

Ryan believes a trial for a rural incident should take place in the area where the crime occurred.

Walsh added: "A Mayo jury would never decide what the outcome of a trial is for a case in Dublin so the retrial should be held in Castlebar."

Staff in the office of Nally's Ballinrobe solicitor, Sean Foy, said their client would not be making any public statement before the retrial . . . which will no doubt be as socially divisive as the first one.