IRELAND'S most high-profile killer, Wayne O'Donoghue, was freed from Portlaoise Prison last week after serving three years of a four-year sentence for the manslaughter of his 11-year-old neighbor Robert Holohan in Midleton, Co. Cork in January of 2005 -- and within hours the focus had switched to tabloid newspaper coverage of the story.O'Donoghue, 24, who didn't give evidence at his trial, faced massive pressure for his version of what happened and why, after killing the child in a headlock, he added to the agony of his victim's family for more than a week by remaining silent when a massive search was conducted for what was hoped at the time was a missing person.The trial jury accepted that death was unintended when O'Donoghue gripped the child in a headlock during a dispute. They acquitted him of murder and found him guilty of the lesser offence of manslaughter.But there was outrage when, in a victim impact statement in court, Holohan's mother, Majella Holohan, suggested the attack had a sinister motive. She bemoaned the fact that the prosecution did not present evidence of semen on her son's body.The prosecution later said the evidence could not be adduced because it was impossible to establish that the faint trace of semen was O'Donoghue'sThe case divided the media and the people of Ireland. Although an Appeal Court upheld the verdict of the jury and the sentence, there was still outrage in some quarters, led mainly by the tabloids, that O'Donoghue had been punished lightly.Others, including eminent legal experts, held the view that Majella Holohan had abused her privilege when giving her impact statement.The Irish Independent's legal affairs correspondent Dearbhail McDonald said Mrs. Holohan's grief was understandable, but she crossed the line when she made an accusation against O'Donoghue that the state could not - that her son had been murdered by a pedophile.McDonald said that even though there was no evidence that Robert Holohan had been sexually abused, the lynchpin in the murder case was the semen found on his hand.A new DNA-testing technique, known as Low Copy Number profiling, was carried out in a British forensic lab. Low Copy Number DNA allows genetic profiles of offenders to be created from samples as tiny as a millionth the size of a grain of salt.But the Republic's Director of Public Prosecutions wasn't satisfied of the merit of the process and refused to use its results in evidence. His decision was proved right when the entire science was cast into doubt following the recent collapse of the Omagh bomb trial after a High Court judge agreed with suspected bomber Sean Hoey that the technique was invalidated and discredited.When O'Donoghue emerged at 7 a.m. from prison there was a pack of more than 40 reporters and cameramen waiting at the gate.O'Donoghue, who was flanked by his father Ray and solicitor Frank Buttimer, read from a prepared statement in which he apologized to Mark and Majella Holohan for causing the death of their son, an apology later rejected by the Holohan family.O'Donoghue said he fully accepted responsibility for the pain he had caused the Holohans, not just through causing the death of Robert but through his actions afterwards in failing to come forward for days and tell them what had happened."I realize and accept that nothing which I may do or say will ever ease their suffering. I feel and carry the burden of guilt for my actions each day," he said. He said he also regretted the hurt and distress he had caused the wider community.He ignored some shouted questions from reporters as he returned to a car that took him away from the prison.In a successful attempt to escape from pursuing media he switched cars a few miles up the road. When tabloid reporters called to his family's rented home at Carrigtowhill, Co. Cork, his father told them, "He's gone. You're never going to see him again."O'Donoghue dumped young Holohan's body at Inch Strand, 12 miles from where he died close to their neighboring homes in Midleton, Co. Cork, in January 2005, and was involved in the massive search afterwards. He was arrested on January 16, the day after Holohan's funeral, when he confessed his part in the killing to his father who then called police.The O'Donoghue family has since moved house a number of times to escape tensions in Midleton.Last week there were signs that the tension has eased. Local town councilor and solicitor Ken Murray said frustration about the relentless media coverage was growing."This is a horror story - a neighbor killing a neighbor. But his release is not a subject of contention in the town. There are different viewpoints, but people won't fall out over it," Murray said."If people don't want to see Wayne on the streets, and don't accept his apology, then they'll turn their backs on him. They'll walk away and leave him alone. People just want to maintain a dignified silence. Nothing can be said or done to undo what Wayne did."His opinions were echoed in the town where most people said O'Donoghue should be left alone to get on with life.