BY DECLAN VARLEY
The bizarre scenario of the GUBU scandal that engulfed Irish politics in 1982 will be discussed in Galway next week when Galway-native journalist Harry McGee will be interviewed on stage in front of a live audience.
The event at Kennys Bookshop on Thursday, June 1 will hear McGee, the Irish Times Political Correspondent in conversation with Connacht Tribune Editor Dave O’Connell, as they discuss Harry’s new book, The Murderer and the Taoiseach.
In the book, Harry McGee has retraced the happenings of Summer 1982, when two innocent young people - Bridie Gargan and Dónal Dunne - were murdered by aristocrat Malcolm Macarthur.
Macarthur was captured in the home of the State’s top law officer, Attorney General Patrick Connolly, and the scandal attracted worldwide headlines and resulted in untold damage to Taoiseach Charles Haughey.
McGee recounts the tracking down of an unpredictable killer and Macarthur’s extraordinary capture, he considers both the life and psyche of a murderer, and that of the leading political figure of the time – a man similarly driven by greed, status and a sense of himself as existing above the law.
The book also includes previously unknown aspects of the trial and interaction with Malcolm Macarthur himself.
Harry McGee is the political correspondent with The Irish Times. He is an award-winning journalist and the creator of the GUBU podcast. From Salthill in Co. Galway, he has previously worked with the Irish Examiner, Sunday Tribune, Connacht Tribune and RTÉ.
The event will take place at Kennys Bookshop in Liosbán at 6pm on Thursday, June 1st and all are welcome. Copies of the book will be available to purchase in Kennys on the night. You can book a free ticket at www.kennys.ie/events
