"The search for Madeleine McCann, or any child, should be above politics"

by NickE 21.03.14 16:44

Clancy's craic: The search for Madeleine McCann, or any child, should be above politics

Little Madeleine McCann is a constant reminder for me around this time every year of how devastation can be brought to a family in an instant.
Her disappearance seven years ago remains a great mystery.
Who took the three-year-old from her holiday apartment in Portugal while her parents dined nearby?
Is she still alive and, if so, is she still under guard?
Does she remember who snatched her from her bed or has she now forgotten all that happened in the past to her?
Does she even still speak English or has she adapted to the foreign language of her captor?
Or is Madeline dead, killed by a captor who has hidden her body so that not a single policeman in Portugal, her home country Britain or her other holiday rendezvous in Donegal has been able to find one trace of what happened?
None of the questions I have raised has been answered.
Appalling though they are we must remember they are probably contemplated every day by her family.
I know they occur to me every year about this time. Why?
Because when Madeline disappeared in May 2007 from Praia da Luz in the Algarve I was soon afterwards involved in reporting an aspect of her story.
She holidayed in Donegal just a few weeks before she disappeared and a few days after she vanished I spoke to Joe Peoples for the first time.
I have spoken to him a number of times since, usually around the anniversary of Maddie's disappearance.
Joe and his family run a pub in St Johnston in East Donegal which is leased from Maddie's grandmother Eileen McCann.
Eileen and her late husband were Donegal natives and they loved returning to the county with their family, including her son Gerry and his wife Kate who are Maddie's parents.
They were on their way to Dungloe for Easter 2007 when they dropped into the pub in St Johnston.
I still remember the first words of Joe Peoples as he recalled after Maddie's disappearance what she was like.
He said: "She was the centre of attention when the family called in. She was a wee dote, running around everywhere and into everything."
I've just been speaking to Joe again. He still vividly remembers little Maddie in the bar on what was the family's last totally pleasurable visit to his pub.
He hasn't seen Maddie's granny for a few years now. But each year around this time he thinks of her, and Maddie, and Gerry and Kate.
Like everybody who knew them in Donegal, he probably wonders how the McCann family continues to cope with the hell visited upon them when Maddie was snatched. I know I do!
I know, also, that their suffering might have been eased at least marginally if the Portuguese police investigation had a proper cop in charge.
Instead, they put Goncalo Amaral in charge and he decided Maddie died accidentally and the McCanns invented the abduction scene.
He was later transferred and eventually resigned from the police. A book he wrote spurred a libel action which is still before the courts.
The Portuguese police shut down the case in 2008 but reopened it last year when they said a review had justified a new inquiry.
That was after Scotland Yard got on the case.
Now, two police forces are investigating, and Scotland Yard are operating with one hand tied behind their back and not a leg permanently on the ground where the crime happened.
In the last few months British investigators have sent three international letters of request to the Portuguese authorities without, apparently, any word for a go-ahead on the ground.
This week, the Yard's Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said he is frustrated at how slow the legal process has been.
He added: "We know what we want to do and we are ready to go with that. But the process is the process."
Does anybody at any senior level in the Portuguese police or the Portuguese government have a little girl that might remind them of Maddie McCann?
Do they wonder that if anything happened their little girl would two police forces act separately with one only able to operate at a fraction of its potential?
Do they ever think how much better it would be if red tape, both political and judicial, was sliced immediately without any frustrating delay?
The police in Britain, despite obstacles put in their way, have revealed a number of people who at least should be questioned, including one man who broke into British villas in the Algarve and sexually assaulted young girls in the years immediately prior to Maddie's disappearance.
It's time for everybody to remember they are trying to find out seven years later what happened to a little child. It's no time for politics.
If forces are joined even at this late stage you never know what might happen.
Even if Maddie remains missing at least her family will be able to say at last that the best endeavours have been used to find her.
That's an awful lot more than they have been able to say so far!

http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/news-opinion/paddy-clancy-search-madeleine-mccann-3268714

by whatliesbehindthesofa 21.03.14 16:49

Paddy Clancy, you do not have the moral authority to say anything on the subject until you've read through the available evidence.

by Woofer 21.03.14 17:04

The author obviously doesn`t know about the total lack of help the PJ got from the UK - in fact worse then that, they withheld vital information from the PJ.

by Monty Heck 21.03.14 17:25

When making these pronoucements Mr Clancy and the rest of his media ilk invariably ignore the joint investigative work done and the conclusions reached by Leicester Contstabulary and the PJ in 2007/2008.

But never mind that, if only UK police could get a foot on the ground now in Portugal they would have this solved toute de suite. This level of belief in an Irishman that a UK police force with a less than fragrant reputation can simply step in and sort out "the mess" made by the Portuguese oafs (it's third world, you know, as the Algarve ex pats are wont to say), is astounding.

by Guest 21.03.14 17:29

What a dreadful article - even down to the nonsense that Eileen McCann still owns a pub she moved away from in 1967.

Can any of our Irish members tell us if this "journalist" is usually this bad?

by Tangled Web 21.03.14 18:32

Wonder how much he got for that.

by Mirage 21.03.14 18:48

From the above article: http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/news-opinion/paddy-clancy-search-madeleine-mccann-3268714

'Or is Madeline dead, killed by a captor who has hidden her body so that not a single policeman in Portugal, her home country Britain or her other holiday rendezvous in Donegal has been able to find one trace of what happened?'

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I'm confused. I didn't know about this.

by tiny 21.03.14 18:53

Woofer wrote:The author obviously doesn`t know about the total lack of help the PJ got from the UK - in fact worse then that, they withheld vital information from the PJ.

the author obviously doesn,t know about the lack of help the PJ got from the mccanns. dreadfull piece of writing.

by Monty Heck 21.03.14 18:56

No Fate Worse Than De'Ath wrote:What a dreadful article - even down to the nonsense that Eileen McCann still owns a pub she moved away from in 1967.

Can any of our Irish members tell us if this "journalist" is usually this bad?

Says above the pub is leased so not impossible still owned by EMcC despite moving away in 1967?

by View-from-Ireland 21.03.14 19:14

No Fate Worse Than De'Ath wrote:What a dreadful article - even down to the nonsense that Eileen McCann still owns a pub she moved away from in 1967.

Can any of our Irish members tell us if this "journalist" is usually this bad?

A rag is a rag, Britain or Ireland. I have never even heard of this writer and I am a news junkie.

by tasprin 21.03.14 19:20

8 May 2007
The Sun
Paddy Clancy
Family spent Easter week in Donegal

Kidnapped Madeleine McCann enjoyed an idyllic holiday in Ireland before being snatched in Portugal. She and her family spent a week in a B&B in Dungloe, Co Donegal, it was revealed last night.
Parents Gerry and Kate with Maddie and two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie were accompanied by the kids' great uncle Hughie and gran Ellen McCann, who was born in the area.It's been a regular Easter trip for them for years. Pub owner Joe Peoples, of St Johnstown, near Derry, who knows them well, said: "Maddie really enjoyed herself. She's a beautiful child. I'm praying she'll be found safe."
http://newsoutlines.blogspot.co.uk/2007/05/maddies-irish-holiday.html

19 March 2008
The Sun
Paddy Clancy

Raiders ram Maddie gran's pub

Callous thieves have wrecked a pub owned by missing tot Maddie McCann's distraught Irish gran Eileen. The thugs used a car to smash their way into the bar on St Patrick's Day -just hours after Eileen had paid a visit. She leases the village pub in St Johnston, Co Donegal, to pal Joe Peoples.
Eileen inherited the pub premises from late hubby Johnny and was in the area for his anniversary Mass last Saturday.
She visited the pub before her departure back to England on Sunday. She will spend Easter with Maddie's parents -her son Gerry and his wife Kate.
http://newsoutlines.blogspot.co.uk/2008/03/thieves-wreck-bar-owned-by-mccanns.html

by mariola 21.03.14 19:31

he says eileen mccann was a donegal native.i read on this forum that she was born frances ellen ferry in glasgow c.1937!

by ultimaThule 21.03.14 19:41

Mirage wrote:From the above article: http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/news-opinion/paddy-clancy-search-madeleine-mccann-3268714

'Or is Madeline dead, killed by a captor who has hidden her body so that not a single policeman in Portugal, her home country Britain or her other holiday rendezvous in Donegal has been able to find one trace of what happened?'

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I'm confused. I didn't know about this.

I'm also confused by Clancy's earlier question, Mirage. In saying 'Is she still alive and, if so, is she still under guard?" Clancy appears to be implying that, after being 'taken' from her bed in Portugal, Madeleine was taken to a place where she was kept 'under guard'.

Why, in particular, would anyone expect any policeman from Donegal, 'her other holiday rendezvous', to be in on a search to find 'one trace of what happened'?

Sounds like Paddy Clancy had a good craic with Joe Peoples, the multi-talented tenant landlord of Eileen McCann's pub who also acts as local undertaker, and maybe he was inspired by the Guinness when he wrote his article.

by **tigger** 21.03.14 19:41

tasprin wrote:8 May 2007
The Sun
Paddy Clancy
Family spent Easter week in Donegal

Kidnapped Madeleine McCann enjoyed an idyllic holiday in Ireland before being snatched in Portugal. She and her family spent a week in a B&B in Dungloe, Co Donegal, it was revealed last night.
Parents Gerry and Kate with Maddie and two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie were accompanied by the kids' great uncle Hughie and gran Ellen McCann, who was born in the area.It's been a regular Easter trip for them for years. Pub owner Joe Peoples, of St Johnstown, near Derry, who knows them well, said: "Maddie really enjoyed herself. She's a beautiful child. I'm praying she'll be found safe."
http://newsoutlines.blogspot.co.uk/2007/05/maddies-irish-holiday.html

According to the book, it was Kate and Gerry's first visit!

See the Donegal topic. There were allegedly also some 27 to 49 friends and relatives although they seem to have missed the photo opportunities.

by ultimaThule 21.03.14 19:54

The mass gathering of the McCanns in Donegal at Easter 2007 made memorable by Madeleine insisting on plunging into the ice cold waters off Donegal without her waterwings, enjoying a 'Mr Whuppy' with her cousins and the twins, and livening up her paternal granny's pub, is the stuff of legends, not least because another bar owner claims he saw 5 of the family on a beach in the Algarve that every same weekend.

What amazing talents the McCanns possess. Growing children who can shrink in size and age whenever a photo opportunity arises, and the ability to be in two places at once? Some may think they aren't human. roll

by Guest 21.03.14 22:17

I see that Paddy was one of the people who reported the miraculous attendance of great-uncle Hughie on that Easter visit to Donegal in 2007 - quite an achievement for a man who died in 1999.

by Guest 22.03.14 0:20

Never heard of him but a mirror 'journalist' is just that.

by Irisheyes 22.03.14 0:26

Yes i have heard of him and read some of his articles in the past. To say they lack depth is an understatement.

by Doug D 22.03.14 9:47

Lazzeri dissects Clancy line by line if you can be bothered to read it all!

http://l-azzeri-lies-in-the-sun.com/Clancy_s_craic_-_Reply.html

by Guest 22.03.14 10:21

[quote="Mirage"]From the above article: http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/news-opinion/paddy-clancy-search-madeleine-mccann-3268714

'[b]Or is Madeline dead, killed by a captor who has hidden her body so that not a single policeman in Portugal, her home country Britain or her other holiday rendezvous in Donegal has been able to find one trace of what happened?' End quote

Yes, that struck me too: why would mr Clancy suppose the police in Donegal would be in a position to retrieve the little childs' body?
He seems to know so much, where would he have gotten this innovative idea?

Do we know anyone who might have taken her -the child, the body- to Donegal?

Two quid for the right answer!
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by Guest 22.03.14 10:36

Apparently Paddy is in his early 70s and has had a long career in journalism. He's certainly not the first experienced writer to be reduced to the level of green as the grass newbie by the McCanns.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/the-tabloid-life-and-times-of-paddy-clancy-26233435.html

I remember the story of the attack victim Michelle Booth - 1978 I think.

by Mirage 22.03.14 11:03

Portia wrote:
Mirage wrote:From the above article: http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/news-opinion/paddy-clancy-search-madeleine-mccann-3268714

'Or is Madeline dead, killed by a captor who has hidden her body so that not a single policeman in Portugal, her home country Britain or her other holiday rendezvous in Donegal has been able to find one trace of what happened?'

Yes, that struck me too: why would mr Clancy suppose the police in Donegal would be in a position to retrieve the little childs' body?
He seems to know so much, where would he have gotten this innovative idea?

Do we know anyone who might have taken her -the child, the body- to Donegal?

Two quid for the right answer!
---------------------------------
I'm confused. I didn't know about this.

Hi Portia could you edit your post please. Your comment looks attributable to me as it is slap in the middle of my comment box. I have put your comment in blue bold in case you are out of edit time.

by Guest 22.03.14 11:13

I've edited Portia's post to sort out the confusion, Mirage.

by Mirage 22.03.14 11:28

No Fate Worse Than De'Ath wrote:I've edited Portia's post to sort out the confusion, Mirage.

Thank you NFWTD. roses

by Mirage 22.03.14 11:55

I have only thing to add to the excellent dissection of the Clancy's Craic article by Lazzeri-lies-in-the-sun:

Clancy's Craic:
'I know, also, that their suffering might have been eased at least marginally if the Portuguese police investigation had a proper cop in charge.'

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Reply: So, the McCanns are seeking 1,2 million euros damages for this notional and unquantifiable nevertheless possible marginal extra suffering on top of the self-inflicted variety brought on by mislaying their own child through reckless abandonment. Proper cop eh? And not a pip about proper parenting.

The hallmark of this type of commentary is that the writer is in possession of values that equate to moveable feasts. The article is shot through with images of someone wandering a moral wasteland in search of a scruple whilst dropping unintentional clangers.