‘It’s terrible someone would do that because it’s what Matt wanted’
impairment, popped the question to his best friend, Mr O’Sullivan, who is Mr Murphy’s unofficial carer, as he wanted to leave him his two-bedroom home in Dublin’s Stoneybatter, which is believed to be worth in the region of €300,000.
The unusual union by two heterosexual males was first revealed on RTÉ’s Liveline just over a week ago, and has gone on to make headlines around the world.
Now Mr O’Sullivan has revealed to the Irish Mail on Sunday that there was a lastminute effort by two individuals to block the wedding and, in effect, prevent the bequest of the house to him. The identity of the complainants have not been disclosed to them but Mr O’Sullivan and Mr Murphy have brought the matter to the attention of An Garda Síochána, though they have not filed a written complaint.
Less than 24 hours before the men made
their way to the registry office, two evaluation officers with the HSE travelled to Stoneybatter to interview Mr Murphy, 82, privately and assess whether he had full control of his faculties, before allowing them to go ahead with the union.
‘It’s just terrible that someone would do this, because this was what Matt wanted,’ said Mr O’Sullivan, a divorced father of three, who slept in his car before Mr Murphy offered him ‘a roof over his head’.
‘We were both really annoyed and upset by this,’ he said. ‘But Matt agreed to meet them. He was interviewed alone, and they could see that his mental faculties are fine. But we have a right to know who these people are.
‘I’m not inheriting a five-bed mansion,’ he continued. ‘It’s sad that some people still think that my ulterior motive is to get Matt’s money – it’s not.’
Mr Murphy added: ‘Some people are classing Michael the same as a robber, and think that I’m loaded, with endless money dripping out of my pocket. Neither is true.
‘Do people really think I’m that much of a fool to be taken in?’
When queried about the case, a HSE spokesperson told the MoS that it ‘does not comment on individual cases’.
To change his will and leave his house to Mr O’Sullivan, legal representatives have told Mr Murphy he will have to pass a medical assessment. He will leave a property he owns in Tipperary to a relative.
The men’s civil ceremony in Dublin on Friday was attended by a few close friends, with Mr O’Sullivan admitting that some friends do not support the union, and have called him ‘a leech’ and a ‘golddigger’.
Nearly eight years ago, Mr Murphy was robbed of all his life savings by a former ‘friend’ and trusted carer. John McDonald, 58, was jailed for 18 months in 2015 for withdrawing almost €10,000 from Mr Murphy’s bank account.