Tag Archives: Paul McGrath

RIP.

Paul McGrath heartbroken following death of his mother and ‘best friend’ Betty (irish Mirror)

The ‘Up To 90’ podcast

Hosts Emma Doran (top left) and Julie Jay (right) meet football legend Paul McGrath (centre).

Emma writes:

We chat to Paul about everything from nudist resorts to what he really thinks of the Apres Match lads and if Roy Keane is in fact a prick. Finalising papers at the moment so Paul can officially become our Uncle….

Up To 90 (Headstuff.org)

examiner

Cynthia

paulmcgrath

From top: Front page of today’s Irish Examiner; Cynthia Owen and Paul McGrath

In January, Cynthia Owen used Facebook to name people she said were among a paedophile ring operating in Dalkey, Co. Dublin – who abused her – in the 1970s.

One of those named was former Garda, founder of the Garda Representative Association and co-founder of Dalkey United football club, Frank Mullen.

Cynthia gave birth to a baby girl, Noleen, in 1973 when she was just 11 years old. It is unknown who fathered the child.

In 2007, an inquest jury found Cynthia was the mother of Noleen who was stabbed with a knitting needle over 40 times just after the birth. Noleen’s body was left in a lane way in Dun Laoghaire.

Cynthia told the inquest that her daughter had been conceived following rape by a number of men and that she had been murdered by Cynthia’s mother Josie Murphy shortly after birth.

Following the inquest, the then Justice Minister Michael McDowell appointed Patrick Gageby SC to review the Garda investigation into the death of Noleen. Mr Gageby found there was no reason for any more action to be taken on the matter.

Further to this, today’s Irish Examiner has published an article by Michael Clifford in which Mr Mullen says all of the allegations against him are false. The article can be read in full here.

Cynthia Owen writes:

I note the article in today’s Irish Examiner which is essentially an interview with Frank Mullen, who has identified himself as somebody who has been a suspect in this case and whose name the Gardaí have not cleared.

It is not for me to address every point Mr Mullen makes in his interview but, by his own admission, he has not been cleared of his involvement in the abuse I suffered and the murder of my daughter as a result of that abuse.

The HSE found me to be very credible, likewise the psychologist hired by the Gardaí to assess my mental health.

And also a jury of six men and six women in the inquest that identified Noleen Murphy as my daughter, who was born to me when I was 11 years old and murdered by my mother to protect the men who were abusing me and who could be her father.

I stand by every allegation I have made regarding the abuse I suffered as a child. My murdered baby girl still lies in a mass grave in Glasnevin, despite my efforts to have her returned to me for a dignified burial, her murder remains unsolved.

I have been calling for a sworn public inquiry and now repeat that call as otherwise the truth will not come out.

Michael Clifford: Frank Mullen: ‘I couldn’t leave a legacy like that behind me’ (Irish Examiner)

Previously: A Dalkey Archive

Why Didn’t They Exhume?

Meanwhile…

From The Examiner interview::

‘Last year, Mr Mullen’s long tenure with Dalkey United came to an end. He had been one of the founder members of the club more than 50 years ago. Among the players he mentored and remained friends with was Irish football legend Paul McGrath.’

Paul McGrath has since tweeted:

Comments are closed (broadsheet@broadsheet.ie).

Paul McGrath (above) was tweeting at the weekend about the game between Manchester United and Liverpool. His tweets included criticism of Liverpool defender Glen Johnson. McGrath was then sent a small number of tweets taunting him about his drink problem and this morning he went on Ryan Tubridy’s 2FM radio show to discuss the matter.

The interview in which McGrath apparently sounded drunk has been cut from RTE’s playback version of this morning’s show.

Tubridy told his audience:

Ryan Tubridy: “Lot of people inquiring after Paul McGrath. To be honest with you, I don’t know what the story is, other than, I wasn’t, he literally came on the phone, I thought we were going to have a bit of banter about what happened with Twitter yesterday. But lots of people want to wish him well and see how he is.
I don’t want to judge him or comment on what the story is, because I don’t know. But what I am gonna do is I’m gonna call him later on in my own time and see how he is, and see how he’s getting on.
Cause we spoke to him earlier on in the morning, you know, around 8-ish. And he was absolutely fine and we wouldn’t have put anyone on who wasn’t other than, maybe, in the mood to come on, shall we say.
We certainly got the impression that all was well in the world and that’s why he was put through. And, you know, I interviewed Paul on the Late Late Show last, I think it was last season. And he was, you know, you couldn’t meet a nicer, more gentle man. You know that expression ‘a gentleman’, he’s both a gentleman and a gentle man.
And he’s happy to chat away, as you know, on Twitter, no matter what they throw at him. And he’s, you know, he seems to be up for that. But he is loved by people in this country. He’s a national treasure, he’s an icon, he’s a hero.
And that’s why a lot of people are just wondering how he is, and I’ll get back to you on that as they say, and I’ll talk to him. But I’ve been looking at the texts and it’s almost like people a family relative needs to be asked after and that is what we’ll do. I’ll make that call later on.”

Listen here (59.54)

(Photocall Ireland)