THOMAS MCNALLY FROM LONGFORD JAILED FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY OFFENSES

In October 2011, a Longford-based businessman named Thomas McNally was sentenced to 18 months in prison after being found guilty of possessing child pornography. The conviction was handed down by Sligo Circuit Court following a thorough investigation and a jury verdict that unanimously convicted McNally on two counts of unlawfully possessing indecent images of children.

Thomas McNally, aged 51 and residing at Foynes Court in Longford, faced serious health issues at the time of sentencing. Judge Michael White acknowledged McNally’s medical condition, specifically advanced colon cancer, which posed a significant risk of recurrence. While the judge expressed that he would have imposed a three-year sentence under normal circumstances, he decided to reduce it due to McNally’s health prognosis.

The court heard that a total of 676 images depicting child pornography were discovered during the investigation. These images had been downloaded onto sheets of A4 paper. The authorities uncovered the material at two separate locations: one was a field outside Longford where a safe, stolen from McNally’s home, had been discarded, and the other was in a large shopping bag found in the boot of a car owned by McNally’s daughter, parked in the driveway of his residence.

The investigation was initiated after the safe was stolen from McNally’s home, which contained over €21,000 in cash and jewelry. The discovery of the safe and the images, along with the safe’s location, prompted the Gardaí to launch a detailed inquiry. During the trial, it was revealed that some of the images bore handwriting, with some featuring the handwriting of two different individuals. Evidence suggested that McNally had shared these images with his daughter, Tanya Mulryan, which was considered a breach of trust and a serious violation of societal norms.

In April of the same year, a jury at Longford Circuit Court found McNally guilty of two charges under the 1998 Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, relating to the possession of child pornography on February 6th and 7th, 2006. During the sentencing hearing, Judge White emphasized the damaging impact of such material, stating that when adults use children for sexual gratification by viewing images or videos, it results in the degradation of children and the destruction of their innocence.

The court also heard that handwriting was present on all the images, with some notes indicating they were addressed to McNally’s father, such as “To Dad, thanks for the pics.” Gardaí confirmed through expert analysis that the handwriting on some sheets was indeed McNally’s. The investigation also uncovered that McNally had not reported the theft of his safe, which contained significant cash and valuables, nor did he report the theft of passports belonging to himself and his daughter. Instead, he explained to Gardaí that he chose not to report the safe’s theft to avoid embarrassment, despite the evidence linking him to the images and the stolen safe.

Throughout the proceedings, McNally’s legal representative, senior counsel Pádraig Dwyer, requested the court to consider the social opprobrium and media attention that McNally had endured since his conviction. The fallout had forced him to step away from the Mass card business he operated, which was established by his father, highlighting the personal toll of the case on his reputation and livelihood.