False statements provided in legal row over exhuming body of murdered IRA man
Counsel representing the Department for Communities claimed the misleading information related to the removal of a headstone at the grave of Kevin McGuigan
The Funeral of former IRA man Kevin McGuigan in 2015 (Photo: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker)
False statements were provided in a legal battle over attempts to exhume the body of a murdered ex-IRA prisoner, the High Court heard today.
Counsel representing the Department for Communities claimed the misleading information related to the removal of a headstone at the grave of Kevin McGuigan.
McGuigan, 53, was shot dead in front of his wife Dolores at their home in the Short Strand, east Belfast back in August 2015.
Republicans were suspected of sanctioning the father-of-nine's murder amid disputed claims he was involved in the killing of former IRA commander Gerard 'Jock' Davison in the Markets area of the city three months previously.
Kevin McGuigan
Today's News in 90 seconds - Thursday, May 1
McGuigan is currently buried in a plot owned by his mother at Belfast City Cemetery.
But his widow wants his remains exhumed for interment in the same grave as their late daughter.
In August 2021, the Department for Communities turned down a request to be allowed to move the body.
The decision was taken after the murder victim's mother refused to consent to the exhumation.
Revised policy guidance states that without agreement from the owner, a grave can only be opened in exceptional circumstances.
Mrs McGuigan, as her husband's nearest surviving relative, is seeking to judicially review the Department's determination.
She alleges that the refusal breaches her entitlement to private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
In one statement she described the 'devastating impact' of her husband's shooting and being unable to take part in the decision-making process about his burial.
The couple's terminally ill daughter made a request to her grandmother to be buried with her father before she died, it was alleged.
Mrs McGuigan has claimed a failure to properly balance her rights against the property rights of her mother-in-law.
But in court today Tony McGleenan KC, for the Department, argued that her case involved 'material misrepresentations' about who moved a headstone at the current burial site.
Based on further affidavits lodged as part of the challenge, he contended: 'There has been a breach in the duty of candour… it is beyond dispute that false statements have been presented to the court and the Department.'
In detailed submissions the barrister insisted the burial row should have been determined by the Chancery Court rather than subjected to a judicial review.
'The case has been brought forward on a false premise,' he said.
Part of the case centred on issues over who holds exclusive rights to the current plot.
Mr McGleenan suggested issues could be resolved if an 'incredibly elaborate factual account' of an alleged conversation about handing over ownership proved to be correct.
'If the applicant has exclusive rights of burial it unlocks the process, and if the council consents an exhumation would potentially be open under the policy,' he told the court.
Rejecting the alleged breach of Article 8, counsel stressed there was no absolute policy of refusing all bids to relocate bodies.
He added: 'The Department will look at it on a case by case basis, even where you don't have exclusive rights of burial.'
The hearing continues.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
Trump attacks Musk as public feud escalates over tax bill
US President Donald Trump has lashed out against Elon Musk, saying he was "disappointed" by the billionaire's public opposition to the sweeping tax-cut and spending bill that is at the heart of Mr Trump's agenda. "Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore," Mr Trump said in the Oval Office. "He said the most beautiful things about me, and he hasn't said bad about me personally, but I'm sure that'll be next. But I'm, I'm very disappointed in Elon. I've helped Elon a lot," he said. President Trump also asserted that Mr Musk's days of blistering attacks on the bill were motivated by the proposed elimination of consumer tax credits for electric vehicles. Mr Musk, the CEO of electric vehicle maker Tesla, has said he opposes the bill because it will increase federal deficits. Mr Trump suggested that Elon Musk, who received a praise-filled sendoff from the President last week after overseeing his federal bureaucracy cost-cutting campaign, was upset because he missed working for Mr Trump. "He's not the first," President Trump said. "People leave my administration ... then at some point they miss it so badly, and some of them embrace it and some of them actually become hostile," he added. As Mr Trump was speaking, Elon Musk wrote on X, "Slim Beautiful Bill for the win," a reference to the bill's official title, the "Big Beautiful Bill Act". Mr Musk followed that up with another post, saying he was fine with the cuts to electric vehicle credits as long as Republicans removed what he called a "mountain of disgusting pork" in wasteful spending from the bill. He also said the US President would have lost the election without his support. "Without me, Trump would have lost the election," Mr Musk said on X. "Such ingratitude," he added. Mr Musk came into the government with brash plans to cut $2 trillion out of the federal budget. He left last week having achieved far less than that, having cut about half of 1% of total spending. Mr Musk has been a powerful Trump ally, spending nearly $300 million to boost Republicans in the 2024 election and then overseeing President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency. His work eliminating thousands of federal jobs and cutting billions of dollars in foreign aid and other programmes caused disruption across federal agencies while prompting widespread protests at Tesla outlets in the US and Europe. Shares of Tesla extended losses after President Trump's criticism of Mr Musk.
The Irish Sun
4 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Ex-Arsenal starlet jailed over ‘significant role' in plot to smuggle £600k of cannabis into UK from Thailand
A FORMER Arsenal starlet has been jailed over a plot to smuggle £600,000 worth of drugs in the UK. cannabis at Stansted Airport. 6 Ex-Arsenal star Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has been jailed Credit: Getty 6 He was involved in a plot to smuggle £600k of cannabis into the UK Credit: Unpixs 6 Emmanuel-Thomas pleaded guilty to his role Credit: PA The drugs, which weighed around 60kg, had arrived via flight from Bangkok in Thailand. It is believed he may have been the intermediary between drug pushers in the UK and suppliers in Thailand and was described as having a "significant role". Emmanuel-Thomas, 34, has now been jailed after he pleaded guilty to fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of cannabis. Judge Alexander Mills told him: "It is through your own actions you will no longer be known as a professional footballer. Read more news " "You will be known as a criminal. A professional footballer who threw it all away." Chelmsford Crown Court heard the drugs were brought into the UK by Emmanuel-Thomas' girlfriend Yasmin Piotrowska. She had flown business class to Stanstead Airport with Rosie Rowland to carry put the plot on September 2. Most read in Football Emmanuel-Thomas was linked to the discovery by numerous WhatsApp messages, voice notes and pictures. The court was told it was "apparent" he had recruited the women, who were cleared after prosecutors offered no evidence in their case. He used his influenced as a professional footballer to sway the two women - offering them £2,500 plus a free holiday to Thailand. After Piotrowska was stopped by border officials, Emmanuel-Thomas messaged Rowland to tell her to "delete everything from our chat if you can". The footballer then travelled to Stratford, East London, on September 5 and replaced his mobile. He was sacked by Scottish club Greenock Morton following his arrest last year. Emmanuel-Thomas is a former under-17 and under-19 international. He began his career at Arsenal before playing for various clubs - including The striker signed a six-month contract with Greenock Morton in July. David Philips, NCA senior investigating officer, said: "Organised crime groups make significant profits by trafficking and selling perceived high-quality cannabis legally grown in the US, Canada and Thailand illegally in the UK. "Organised criminals like Emmanuel-Thomas can be very persuasive and offer payment to couriers. But the risk of getting caught is very high and it simply isn't worth it." Emmanuel-Thomas is the latest Brit to be caught smuggling drugs. The Sun revealed how A Elsewhere, Brit Bella May Culley, 18, sparked a massive international search operation in early May after she was reported missing while holidaying in Thailand. However, it was later revealed that the teen, from Billingham, County Durham, had been 6 The footballer was arrested last September Credit: Instagram 6 NCA officers found the drugs in two suitcases Credit: Unpixs 6 Emmanuel-Thomas previously played for Aberdeen Credit: PA
Irish Examiner
6 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Pope meets child protection advisory board amid call for zero tolerance on abuse
Pope Leo XIV met with members of the Vatican's child protection advisory commission on Thursday for the first time amid questions about his past handling of clergy sex abuse cases. There are also demands from survivors that he enacts a true policy of zero tolerance for abuse across the Catholic Church. The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which is made up of religious and lay experts in fighting abuse as well as survivors, called the hour-ong audience a 'significant moment of reflection, dialogue, and renewal of the church's unwavering commitment to the safeguarding of children and vulnerable people'. The group said it updated history's first American pope on its activities, including an initiative to help church communities in poorer parts of the world prevent abuse and care for victims. The Vatican did not provide the text of Leo's remarks or make the audio of the audience available to reporters. Pope Francis created the commission early on in his pontificate to advise the church on best practices and placed a trusted official, Boston's then-archbishop, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, in charge. But as the abuse scandal spread globally during Francis' 12-year pontificate, the commission lost its influence its crowning recommendation — the creation of a tribunal to judge bishops who covered up for predator priests — went nowhere. After many years of reform and new members, it has become a place where victims can go to be heard and bishops can get advice on crafting guidelines to fight abuse. Cardinal O'Malley turned 80 last year and retired as archbishop of Boston, but he remains president of the commission and headed the delegation meeting with Leo in the Apostolic Palace. It has often fallen to Cardinal O'Malley to speak out on cases that have arrived at the Vatican, including one that remains on Leo's desk: The fate of the ex-Jesuit artist, the Rev Marko Rupnik, who has been accused by two dozen women of sexual, psychological and spiritual abuse over decades. After coming under criticism that a fellow Jesuit had apparently received preferential treatment, Francis in 2023 ordered the Vatican to waive the statute of limitations on the case and prosecute him canonically. But as recently as March, the Vatican still had not found judges to open the trial. Meanwhile, the victims are still waiting for justice and Rev Rupnik continues to minister, with his supporters defending him and denouncing a 'media lynching' campaign against him. Leo, the Chicago-born former Cardinal Robert Prevost, has been credited by victims of helping to dismantle an abusive Catholic movement in Peru, where he served as bishop for many years. But other survivors have asked him to account for other cases while he was a superior in the Augustinian religious order, bishop in Peru and head of the Vatican's bishops' office. The main US survivor group, Snap, has also called for Leo to adopt the US policy calling for any priest who has been credibly accused of abuse to be permanently removed from ministry.
