‘Inga Maria was murdered near where I grew up. I’ve always been touched by that’
NI human rights lawyer Claire Mckeegan on a crime that still haunts a community, seeking justice for abuse victims... and exposing the crimes of a paedophile priest
CLAIRE Mckeegan admits to being “in and out of police stations a lot”, but this is no career criminal we are talking about.
Instead, it’s her reputation as a tireless human rights lawyer that has made her familiar to the forces of law and order.
Every day she deals with victims of serious crime; her clients include the family of murdered German backpacker Inga Maria Hauser and victims of institutional abuse in Northern Ireland.
“Rarely does someone go to see a solicitor to discuss something great,” the 34-year-old Co Antrim woman told the Belfast Telegraph.
“Usually they’re highly stressed, and as a last resort they come to me.”
The inclusion of Inga Maria’s relatives on that client list — almost 33 years after the teenager’s brutal murder near where Claire went to school — is indicative of the faith the Cushendun native has generated.
Inga Maria, an 18-year-old student, was last seen alive on a Larne-bound ferry in April 1988.
Her battered, lifeless body was found in Ballypatrick Forest two weeks later.
The savagery inflicted on the young victim shocked a 1980s Northern Ireland that, back then, was unfortunately well used to violent killings on our troubled streets, while the tranquil beauty of the scene brought a macabre juxtaposition to it all.
Despite numerous pleas for people with crucial information to come forward, the crime remains unsolved.
“I got instructed by Viktor Leibl (Inga’s nephew),” said Claire.
“That family has never had a legal team because they were told that it would be too expensive.
“They had very limited means and simply couldn’t afford it.
“It’s another travesty that they weren’t advised correctly at the time.
“The family has instructed us to seek an inquest — and I’m now asking the coroner for that.”
The past pupil of Cross and Passion College, Ballycastle, described it as a “cold-blooded murder”.
“She was so young, talented, beautiful, intelligent and had so much life to live,” she said.
“It’s important for people to realise the really cruel and violent way she was murdered.
“She must’ve been lonely and terrified.
“Her murderer left her in that forest, faced down with her belongings all strewn around her, it’s something that would touch anyone. It’s harrowing.
“I care deeply about that case and find it so distressing.
“It didn’t happen too far away from where I’m from.
“It’s something that local people have always been touched by, but they talk about the Inga case right across the world.
“Since the murder their lives have been ruined.
“Frederika [her sister] is now in poor health and her mother and father died without seeing any element of justice for this beautiful, talented young girl.”
Ms Mckeegan revealed that she had formally contacted the corner this week to request a first ever inquest.
“It should be provided with full police papers to establish what went wrong and what investigative steps need to be taken,” she said.
But she admitted: “The only chance is if somebody comes forward with critical evidence to the police.”
A first generation solicitor, Claire has now been in the profession for 11 years.
She is currently a director of Phoenix Law — a company she co-founded in 2018 with three other partners, Darragh Mackin, Ciaran Moynagh and Peter Corrigan.
Her familiarity with police stations is a legacy of the firm being on the Belfast Duty Solicitors rota.
To date, she has successfully handled a series of high-profile abuse cases — including that of notorious paedophile priest Fr Malachy Finnegan.
The former St Coleman’s College Newry teacher and president, who died in 2002, sexually abused dozens of children over a 10-year period.
“It was my case that exposed his crimes,” said Claire.
“I’d worked on that for four years; it ultimately went public in February 2018 [four months after the Church agreed a landmark financial settlement with one of his victims] and resulted in 35 survivors coming forward to tell their story.
“It also was the reason that former Bishop of Dromore John Mcareavey stepped aside,” she said.
Dr Mcareavey stood down from his post on March 1 2018 after coming under fire for his handling of the case.
It had emerged that he said Mass with Finnegan in 2000 and officiated over his funeral Mass two years later, despite being aware of allegations that had been made against the depraved priest.
He later apologised for what he called “an error of judgment”.
Claire, who is engaged, says
‘Clerical abuse has never been properly looked at here’
she loves her work but acknowledged that it is not for the faint-hearted.
Describing law as being “previously a profession that was very male dominated”, she said “it’s very good to see there has been some change”.
“There are now a lot more female partners, like myself, in offices and women in more senior roles in the law, but it’s happening very slowly and more must bedone.
“It’s important that we all take initiatives to try and empower others and I look forward to speaking at International Women’s Day (March 8).
“I’ve been asked to talk about social campaigning and my work on campaign litigation at a Women in the Media event in Belfast.”
Claire is currently campaigning for an independent investigation into clerical abuse in Northern Ireland, adding: “It’s something that hasn’t been examined here, yet there have been six inquiries in the south.”
Her work with lobby group Savia (Survivors and Victims of Institutional Abuse) has also been a success, specifically a case brought on behalf of an abuse victim and identified only as ‘JR80’.
In November 2019, Parliament approved a bill offering redress to victims of historic abuse at residential institutions in Northern Ireland, including the notorious Kincora boys home in east Belfast.
Survivors had campaigned for years for a public apology and compensation and an inquiry, led by the late Sir Anthony Hart, looked into allegations of abuse in various homes from 1922 until 1995.
It subsequently found, in 2017, that the abuse was “widespread”, with Sir Anthony saying that victims should receive compensation and an apology.
But the laws necessary for such a redress scheme had never been introduced and, with no power-sharing government at Stormont, the victims were forced to look to Westminster for action.
After MPS approved the bill, Savia leader Margaret Mcguckin said: “We have to commend Claire Mckeegan and Phoenix Law for standing by us and JR80, a Savia member, who put himself forward as an elderly gentleman.”
For Claire, however, it has not ended there.
“Why has there not been a public apology for these survivors and victims?” she asked.
“Why do they have to ask for that? Sir Anthony Hart’s report was published in January 2017.
“I started working on that case in 2012 and it took until 2019 for that bill to get through.
“I’m still pushing for the public apology that still hasn’t been done and calling on government and church officials to do that.
“The redress judicial review was a wonderful victory for all of those campaigners, and I must mention the tireless campaigners of Savia and Margaret Mcguckin who didn’t stop campaigning for what they were all entitled to.
“Hundreds of people who felt the obvious injustice that they haven’t been believed or that they didn’t deserve the recognition that they were promised,” she added.
Referring to the “vile” abuse exposed at Muckamore Abbey Hospital in Co Antrim, it was Claire’s work, in conjunction with the group Action for Muckamore, that resulted in Health Minister Robin Swann calling for a public inquiry in September of last year.
Allegations of physical and mental abuse of patients began to emerge in 2017 and Mr Swann said there had been a “sustained failure of care” at the hospital, which provides facilities for adults with severe learning disabilities and mental health needs and is run by the Belfast Health Trust.
The first arrests were made in October 2019 and there have been over 60 precautionary suspensions of staff.
Police have also reviewed thousands of hours of CCTV footage as part of their ongoing investigation.
“The individuals in that hospital are amongst the most vulnerable in society and they’ve suffered systemic abuse and brutality in a hospital setting when they should have been protected,” said Claire.
“It’s difficult to imagine having to receive that phone call that your child has been physically abused on hundreds of occasions in the hospital that’s allegedly looking after them.
“It was only after hundreds of FOIS (Freedom of Information requests) and correspondence with the Trust and the hospital did they finally admit that there was CCTV footage, which of course resulted in the original Trust investigation and then ultimately the current ongoing police investigation.
“I was instructed to seek a public inquiry, we initiated judicial review proceedings on the failure of the Department to implement that, and the Health Minister did indeed call for a public inquiry after several years of work.”
Inga Maria Hauser, victims of historical, institutional abuse, inquiries, ongoing campaigns... it’s clear that Claire has a lot on her plate at the moment.
“I’m dealing with issues that I feel strongly about every day and I have a real opportunity to make a positive change for people,” she said.
Claire is currently working alongside Birth Mothers and their Children for Justice NI group, which has come to the fore after the recent 500-page report on mother and baby homes and Magdalene Laundries
The shocking report depicted the experiences of women, children and staff from 1922-1990 and was peppered with accounts of abuse, labour and forced adoptions.
At least 10,500 women and girls were admitted to the homes in Northern Ireland between 1922 and 1990, and an alarming number of babies born to these mothers died in infancy.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin has described fresh revelations about illegal adoptions in Ireland as “shocking”.
He said “what happened was wrong” and “completely unacceptable”, after an RTE documentary reported that for decades thousands of babies born to unmarried mothers were illegally adopted.
Many only recently found out they were adopted, believing until then that the mother and father they grew up with were their natural parents.
Some also discovered they had been celebrating their birthday on the wrong date for decades, because their birth certificates had been falsified.
Claire described it as “a project I’m involved in and feel very strongly about also. It’s something that impacts one in five families here.”
Despite her massive in-tray, Claire still finds some time to relax.
“I enjoy getting out of the city and getting home to see my family,” she said.
“I love the coast and I do a bit of sea swimming.”
A bit like her day job — often swimming against the tide in the fight for justice for some of society’s forgotten souls.