Three men arrested in
connection with the murder of Donna Cleary in 2006 are now in prison charged with other crimes.

Donna Cleary, a 22-year-old mother-of-one from Coolock, was shot at a house party in March 2006.

The main suspect in the case died from a brain haemorrhage in a garda cell after being questioned about his role in the young mother's murder.

The three other men with him when Cleary was shot dead are now in prison charged with different offences.

Gardaí had sent a file to the DPP about the involvement of the three in Donna Cleary's killing. But following the death of the main suspect, the DPP directed last year that no prosecutions be brought against the three men.

The young mother was killed when a man opened fire indiscriminately on a group of people attending a 40th birthday party at Adare Green, Coolock. She died after being shot in the chest by the gunman – who was one of a group of men who had earlier been refused entry to the party.

The men shattered the glass doors of the house with rocks and a flower pot after the owner told them they could not come in, an inquest into Cleary's death heard last September. The men then returned in a silver Volvo about 10 minutes later, at around 2.30am, and a gunman emerged from the back of the car and sprayed the house with bullets. He fired five shots from a Luger pistol, two of which entered the house and one of which fatally wounded the 22-year-old.

A jury at Cleary's inquest last year returned a verdict of unlawful killing and found that she died from shock and haemorrhage after she was shot in the chest. Garda Michael Leonard of Coolock garda station was the first garda to arrive on the scene shortly, where he discovered the young woman lying on the ground. "She was calling for her baby and she said she wanted to see her baby. I cleared the room as quickly as I could," he told the court.

A garda source confirmed that the three other suspects are in prison for "a latitude of offences".

In January, a 24-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm linked to the killing but was later released without charge. The DPP is currently considering a file in relation to her involvement but garda sources say it is unlikely that the woman will face charges.

"New evidence is required to bring the case forward but it remains open. There may be witnesses who have information. There is still potential for charges to be brought," a garda source added.

However, Donna's father Peter Cleary believes witnesses to his daughter's shooting are reluctant to come forward. He added that the family was at a loss as to why no one has ever been charged.

"Surely the three others could have been charged with malicious damage at the house where Donna was shot at the very least," he told the Sunday Tribune.

"Still no one has been held accountable for our daughter's death. Like everything else, what happened to her has been forgotten."