Cyclist (62) dies after collision with car in Armagh crash
Paddy McDonald (62), a cyclist from Co Monaghan, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.
The accident happened on Friday in Co Armagh. Stock photo
A man has died after an accident in Co Armagh yesterday.
Paddy McDonald (62), a cyclist from the Co Monaghan area, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The accident happened on Friday afternoon.
Inspector Cherith Adair, from the Collision Investigation Unit, said: 'Police received a report at around 2.20pm of a serious road traffic collision involving a car and a cyclist on the Monaghan Road in the Middletown area.
The accident happened on Friday in Co Armagh. Stock photo
News in 90 Seconds - May 17th
'Officers attended, alongside colleagues from our partner emergency services. A male cyclist was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
'He was 62-year-old Paddy McDonald from the Castleblayney area.
'The road was closed for a period of time as officers conducted enquiries, but has since re-opened.
'Collision Investigation Unit detectives are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the collision.'
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McKee said he was in his office when he got the call that there had been a shooting in H Block 6. 'You just know what to do, it's not a question of 'oh my God what next?' Your training takes over — you know what to do. 'People always asked me to tell the true story, but I don't know what the true story is, so I decided to write a thriller that was loosely based on the murder, giving possibilities that may account for state collusion,' he said. The coffin of Billy Wright. Photo: CRISPIN RODWELL Much of what is in the book is drawn from his imagination but unmistakably grounded in real events. 'I used Billy Wright's name but, under the Official Secrets Act, I couldn't use anything that was not in the public domain. 'The killing of Wright is a significant part of the book, but there are other incidents as well, including ones connected to the IRA's Nutting Squad, Stakeknife and the Disappeared.' He said he has shared the book with a number of former combatants who have given it their seal of approval on what was a decisive moment in our history. 'One combatant told me, 'Mate, that's not a novel, that's a true story'. I hope it goes some way to shedding some light on what may or may not have happened.' Billy McKee joined the Prison Service as a 22-year-old never intending it to be his career, but he quickly rose through the ranks, eventually finding himself governor at Maghaberry and the Maze. At the height of the Troubles the job was fraught with risk. He had to move house three times at short notice because of death threats. 'I'd get a call in the middle of the night from the security services telling me, 'Get out of the house now, they're on their way to kill you'. The police couldn't come in case it compromised an informant or agent. The government would move us to another house until it happened again.' The pressure was too much for his marriage, which collapsed. His mental health suffered. He recalls leaving Maghaberry in the back of an ambulance believing he had suffered a heart attack. It wasn't but it was a panic attack brought on by the pressures of dealing with a failing marriage, death threats and being head of one of the most notorious prisons in Europe. After a near 30-year career in the Prison Service, he retired on medical grounds but to this day struggles with PTSD. 'I've had 66 counselling sessions learning to live with what I call my 'black cloud' — some days it's there some days it's not. When I was in the Prison Service I was known as Billy, since I left I introduce myself as William, I'm trying to leave that person behind. 'Revisiting the Wright murder has been cathartic because as I've said the circumstances have festered with me for years.' These days William spends much of his time talking to youth groups and often to former combatants. 'It helps me, but I also think it helps young people and even those who went through it all in this country to listen to someone who stared it in the face.'
