McDowell insists ‘no deal’ over MacArthur murder

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell insisted there was no deal between the State and Malcolm MacArthur’s legal team to prevent MacArthur being tried for the murder of Offaly farmer Donal Dunne in 1982.

MacArthur, 59, is serving a life sentence for the murder of Meath-born nurse Bridie Gargan in Dublin’s Phoenix Park on July 22 that year. He was also charged with killing Mr Dunne three days later, but the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) decided not to pursue that case.

During a visit to a school in Edenderry, Co Offaly, yesterday, Mr McDowell was unexpectedly asked by a sixth-year student about the failure to try MacArthur for the murder of Mr Dunne.

In response, Mr McDowell said he was limited in what he could say about the case because he had served on MacArthur’s defence team as a junior counsel.

However, he sympathised with the Dunne family, saying he understood their “lack of sense of closure”.

Speaking to reporters later, Mr McDowell indicated the DPP’s decision not to prosecute was related to the evidence available.

“No deal was done. It was just simply a matter of, from my recollection, the evidence that was available (to the DPP) at the time,” Mr McDowell said.

MacArthur has served almost 25 years in prison, and is regarded as the most high-profile “lifer”, given the political storm that surrounded his arrest in 1982.

He was arrested in the home of the then Attorney General Patrick Connolly, causing a major headache for then Taoiseach Charles Haughey, who described the events as “grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented” — which led to the coining of the phrase “GUBU”.

In 2004, the Government ignored a recommendation by the Parole Board that MacArthur be freed from prison. The decision was made by Defence Minister Willie O’Dea. Although it is within the Justice Minister’s remit to decide when a life prisoner be released, Mr McDowell removed himself from the decision-making process in this case, given his previous involvement.

MacArthur subsequently initiated legal proceedings to have the courts direct the Government to order his release. The case is before the High Court.