Veronica Guerin

In 1990, at the age of 32, Dubliner Veronica "Ronnie" Guerin went from being a public relations expert to being an investigative journalist. Her commitment to detail and willingness to cross all lines to get the story soon made it possible for her to build close relationships with both the police and criminals throughout Ireland. When she began to cover the highly volatile world of drug dealing, however, she was warned time and again that she would not be allowed to live if she didn't stop what she was doing. On one occasion, she was even shot at point blank range in the leg at her own front door! But in-your-face woman that she was, she brushed aside the police escorts she was assigned and, on the evening of June 25, 1996, while driving home, she was shot six times by one of two men sitting on a motorcycle. Guerin was killed just two days before she was due to speak at a Freedom Forum conference in London. The title of her presentation? "Dying to Tell the Story: Journalists at Risk."