The 45-year-old, from Kildysart Road in Ennis, has also been found guilty by unanimous verdict of hiring Egyptian Essam Eid to murder the three men.

Essam Eid has been convicted of extortion and handling stolen property, but the jury had not yet reached a verdict on the conspiracy charges against him this afternoon.

Sharon Collins sat in the dock with her two sons and stared ahead showing little emotion as the jury returned with unanimous verdicts at 3.05pm in respect of the conspiracy charges against her. Her sons Gary and David sat on either side of her unable to disguise their distress.

Less than an hour beforehand, the eight men and four women returned unanimous guilty verdicts on the three counts against the 45-year-old of soliciting Essam Eid to murder her partner PJ and his two sons.

Essam Eid has been convicted of demanding €100,000 From Robert Howard in September of 2006. He was also found guilty of handling stolen property from the Howard's business premises in Ennis.

The jury have been given the option to return a majority verdict in respect of the conspiracy charges against Eid.