Malcolm MacArthur affair
Irish politics acronym ("grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented")
The Malcolm MacArthur affair was a double-murder and political scandal in Ireland in 1982. On 22 July, MacArthur fatally attacked a young nurse, Bridie Gargan, in Phoenix Park, Dublin. Three days later he killed a farmer, Dónal Dunne, at Edenderry in County Offaly.
A major manhunt ensued, and on 13 August, MacArthur was apprehended by Gardaí at the home of the Attorney General, Patrick Connolly, in Dalkey in south Dublin. Connolly was an acquaintance of MacArthur. Although Connolly was not involved in the killings, the incident created a political scandal, and led to Connolly's resignation. A speech by the Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, in which he described the incident as "a bizarre happening, an unprecedented situation, a grotesque situation, an almost unbelievable mischance" was paraphrased as "grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented", leading Conor Cruise O'Brien to coin the acronym "GUBU", which came to characterise Haughey's 1982 government.
MacArthur pleaded guilty to the murder of Gargan and was sentenced to life in prison in January 1983. He was not tried for the killing of Dunne. He was released in 2012.
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