Aldy, Super six, up to seventy five percent of fresh fruit and veg this back to school gravitron this back to school for savings after savings after savings. Aldy Every day. Amazing. That pot Kenny show on Newstalk. It's been nine years since McKeyla McCreevy, the daughter of her own manager, Mickey Hart, was on honeymoon in Mauritius, that was in 2011. She was with, of course, her husband, John McGreavy. She was found strangled in the bathtub of her hotel room in 2012.

A jury of six men and three women found the two men accused of the murder of McKeyla not guilty. And since then, no one has been convicted of the murder of Bikila McGreavy. Mikaela's husband, John, has been fighting for justice for Mikhaela since her death. And John joins us now. John, good morning and welcome.

Good morning, Pat.

Now, the last time we spoke in December 19, you were making the podcast, which gave us chapter and verse in great detail as to what happened and how the whole thing unfolded. You're still fighting for justice for McKeyla. What is the status of the case now?

Is that at a standstill or are there any developments?

Yeah, there does appear to be developments and with everything and what I've learned and you have to take developments first with a pinch of salt. I do know that there is a new police investigator in charge of this case and apparently there is an inquiry ongoing into the state of the matter. And I and I haven't had any official updates, either personally or three myself, sir. So I can just go on what's my solicitor has been hearing. He has.

And as I say, I've been sort of given any official and sort of notification. But, you know, I do believe that there is an inquiry ongoing and this new police investigator is going to be, I guess, charged with trying to bring the case back up into the limelight to try to procure assets and whatever where the missing police think they can put the two former hotel workers who were charged and acquitted of the murder of McKeyla.

Do you know where are they now? Are they still living on the island? They are, they are, and I do I do know that and again, through my solicitor general's office, that there has been feeling quite nervous given the appointment of this new police investigator, because somebody in the air and he is one of the charged and he was on the radio around five weeks ago when there is and unknown to me, got that kind of sounds like he is nervous and fearful.

And that is a tactic that their defense team will have encouraged him to do to get online and get on to the radio and to talk about this as just about nothing to hide. But, yeah, there's the two the two guys have been in recess the whole time and continue, I guess, to to live normal lives. Hmm.

And presumably the advice from his lawyer, this chap, Sandip Munir, was to try and get ahead of the story and, you know, get out there.

I have nothing to hide the question of what is called double indemnity.

You know, you can't be tried for the same crime twice. It's a concept which did exist in some law, in some jurisdictions has been removed in others. What's the situation in Mauritius?

Yeah, well, in 2012, after the original acquittal and one of the very positive things that the immigration and judicial system did was to and allow an anarchist or and compiling evidence could be found that a case that had previously been tried could now be retried. And that was very positive because it gave us an avenue to continue to seek justice. Otherwise, everything that I would be doing would be futile and but not if that mechanism is there. And further than that, suppose it solidified just how much the Russian authorities were sort of certain that the two man that they had charged and were actually guilty.

And, you know, part of the reason for doing that, for going down this sort of long and lengthy sort of judicial route to change that, it was to ensure that they could show that they were the smarter. But unfortunately, from then to know, you know, there hasn't been significant progress made. And, you know, I sort of spoke about my frustrations in the past and about, you know, the lack of progress and the lack of of well, being me, really.

And I do think that my continued efforts to speak out publicly has had a positive impact in terms of getting them to do their job. So I'll continue to do that.

Do you think they should be even widening their line of inquiry or concentrating on the two who were charged and acquitted? Is that the right way to go?

I mean, are there any other third parties who may be relevant to all of this?

And relevant insofar as perhaps they could provide certain pieces of evidence or guidance to the investigation, but in terms of who is guilty, I mean, the how the team and there is no question about that. And, you know, the reason why myself, my sister Clara and Mark Hart launched that podcast back at the end of last year was to give people the public the details of why we believe that those men were guilty.

And we been under a lot of doubts about that, because I always felt that there was this and there was this feeling sort of certainly from the public over here that, you know, that there was confusion in the statute and who was responsible.

And, you know, I wouldn't be I mean, if at this stage, you know, nine years later that I didn't know who was responsible, then that would be very, very difficult for me to try to do anything. But because they know who is responsible and there is significant evidence there. That's why I'm so I'm so sort of I wouldn't use the word aggressive, but it certainly is sort of towards the Russian authorities to go ahead and make progress because, you know, I've spoken to people who've been involved in similar investigations and like there's everything is in place here and to ensure that justice is delivered.

But yet here we are still not.

Now, the podcast's, I think, is about a quarter of a million downloads of the podcast so far.

Yeah, yeah, I just checked last night and there's three hundred and three thousand downloads. So it was certainly something that caught people's attention and we were glad about that. And because it's important for us that people understand and, you know that, that the people that were charged and our eyes are definitely the ones responsible, I suppose. And B, just to give people an idea of what it's like and what it has been like to deal with something of this magnitude, I guess, for the past nine years.

And and, you know, I always feel that if we can continue to keep people aware of this situation, then that will help us sort of blood pressure and on the Russian authorities to do the right thing.

Now, have you managed to marshal political pressure from either side of the border to keep the pressure on the Malaysian government? I have and will, shortly after the podcast was released, I did reach out to political representatives of both north and South and we did actually arrange meetings. But then unfortunately, covid-19 sort of changed all that for a while. But I was fortunate that I could meet with Michelle O'Neill here and about four or five weeks ago and had a very positive meeting with Michelle was definitely infused by her support, the ideas that she had, and sort of bringing this, you know, on further.

And because I can't do this by myself and my solicitor and my office always said, you know, you're going to need the support of your government in order to sort of make things change. You know, he's you know, he's he's a man of Merisotis. He knows the island. He knows how things work. And but definitely I feel very encouraged by Michelle, donate his words and for her to to go ahead and to write a letter with Arlene Foster, which was a very important and significant thing for me to do, that it wasn't just coming from one person who was actually coming from the Northern Ireland executive and directly now to the prime minister of ministers and of, you know, request for an update on the state of affairs.

And that isn't going to be a one off thing. We talked about numerous different avenues that we could explore and just know, one, that there's going to be more of a sustained effort. It's something that I'm encouraged by because I mean, like in the past part, we have won three different political representatives and we've sort of there's been sort of like a one hit wonder on maybe a letter has been sent and maybe something that's been repaid, but then there's no momentum.

And but I certainly feel this time that, you know, with a range of of measures that we can the whole point of all this is for the people in the government and to say, look, this is not going away. So it's the best thing to try to deal with that. And if, you know, if they do try and, you know, they think that there is no way forward, then they need to save us because simply saying nothing is not good enough, you know, and until they actually formally address what is happening, then I will continue to pursue this.

Now, many people north and south of the border have honeymooned in Mauritius, you know, it is a beautiful place and people continue to use Mauritius as a honeymoon destination, not obviously in the covid situation, but before us. And I'm sure many people will return. Liverpool Football Club have made a commercial deal with the Mauritius Tourist Board to lure people to attract people to the island. How did you react to that and to the continuing support of the economy of Mauritius by Irish honeymooning couples?

And yeah, I had met whenever I first seen it, and it made me feel particularly on the whale, and I guess it signified for me that, you know, nothing is going to get in the way of this sort of, you know, the tourism sort of and the commercial realities.

You know that. And I understand that that company has to do what they need to do. And the tourism is I don't know if it's the number one industry, but certainly one of those top industries. So I understand that. And but it did make me feel on. Well, that's something that was particularly close to home, which was Liverpool Football Club has huge allegiances to Ireland.

And the fact that they would be actively promoting Mauritius as a tourism location. It did just it made me actually feel physically sick. And that was my initial reaction.

And I chose to share how I felt about that because of the fact that it was Liverpool Football Club. And there there has to be wealth and justice for their own people, their own fans. It just did not sit well.

And I as I say, I chose to to speak about that.

And then I went ahead on a route to Liverpool Football Club. And thankfully, that did respond to me, which showed some courtesy. But, you know, really, you know, what I did say was that which I thought was was quite ironic that, you know, the long and short of it was that they said that will continue to sort of pursue and the deal that they had, they had and it did, but that they don't get involved in judicial matters, which I just thought was hugely contradictory.

On every single Liverpool Football Club jersey, you will see a logo on the back, which says after nine six, which is justice for the 96 victims of the Hillsborough tragedy. So how can they say, well, you know, we don't get involved in judicial matters, but this is a huge judicial matter. So is it simply a case of, well, don't get involved in judicial matters that don't involve us? No. All I wanted to do was to write to them and to highlight that, you know, this has happened to me in this country.

I wasn't aware if they were aware of the situation that involved McKeyla. And obviously it's up to them. You know, it's their prerogative to do what they wish. And I'm well aware of commercial realities of football clubs. But because it was Liverpool and because of their history, as I spoke about, I just felt that it was a little bit different. And, yeah, it was disappointing for me. But, you know, I'm led to believe now through the latter as well, that what you will see is just some nearly the same boards along the side and they coming in the coming year.

And so that's that's difficult for me. And, you know, I don't you know, people seem to think whenever I say something around, it's just, you know, I'm supporting their country and I'm certainly not doing that. And I expressed that in my letter to Liverpool as well. I mean, I don't have an issue with anybody and restless, but I do have an issue with the government not carrying out their duties. And, you know, I think people should be able to understand that, you know, and accept that, you know, I will I will always talk up about the situation whenever it is left completely unresolved.

So. And would you caution Irish people generally against going to Mauritius? Well, I guess, you know, 99 percent of people will go to destinations such as Mauritius, I'm sure will have that not a daily experience, but they're paid good money for that. And like that, they're selling paradise and a lot of people will get tired. The problem with a lot of these locations is that you will go and you will spend all their time on a resort in an enclosed environment.

And so you don't actually get to see anything around the country. And many of these locations are advised not to leave the resort. The problem, obviously, I think the worst possible case was that when something went wrong, that there was a complete lack of professionalism and a complete lack of support available to me at a time when I needed the most. So the relief that I could have expected when someone was murdered in a hotel room was that the culprits would be apprehended, brought to justice.

And at least then, you know, you can just you can try to move forward with your life just dealing with the loss as opposed to have to deal with all, you know, the lack of justice. So, you know, I would I would I would always I would always say to people, you know, do a bit of background research, you know, because when something goes wrong, you know, it will go wrong very, very much so.

People over the years have reached out to me and said that they were interested just maybe that they'd spent time in the hotel that we had and they had them. They had situations where things were stolen and, you know, nothing really ever came of it.

And which is obviously how this whole tragedy transpired, you know, began with petty theft and ended up in murder. And but I was just I would always urge caution, of course. But ultimately, people people will do whatever they're comfortable.

Now, you talk about moving forward. You're fighting this fight and will continue to fight the fight until you get some resolution from the Mauritian authorities. But you have moved forward with your life.

Are you still, by the way, playing football? I'm trying to play a softball that's getting set, it's getting a bit harder as the years go by. You could yeah, no, I was like many people, isolated that that we could salvage some sort of G.S. season. So we have a plan, although what do you think? This will probably be my last year. They got very busy and work and life gets busy as you get older.

But no, definitely football has always been a huge part of my life and it always will be in some capacity. But yeah, I still enjoy the G- like thousands of others around Ireland.

Yeah. And your wife Atara, how does she cope with all the attention that you get I'm sure the pair of you get when you're out and about. Guess, I guess, over the years that she's sort of learned to navigate that we've both had to sort of learn what that was like as a couple. I know that isn't a big problem. I mean, I'm someone that doesn't, you know, to pay particular attention to what other people are doing or sandrone me.

And I just I'm just not all that concerned, really. I've got enough to be concerned about in my own mind, but at times been excellent.

And and, you know, she's just fiercely protective of me. So, you know, all she ever wants to know is that I am OK. And it has been a journey like, you know, that the two of us have had to sort of travel over the past number of years. But, you know, we're very comfortable with each other and we're very secure in each other. And we're sort of I guess we give ourselves up a bit of a bubble.

We're very sort of close to a close group of family and friends. And really, that's all that matters. And so, yes, it's been great, sitting great.

And that family and friends group is going to expand by one very important person very soon.

That is that is yeah, so thankfully, the south tower will be we'll be having a little baby next month.

So it's a wonderful, wonderful time for us, something that we're really excited about. And, yeah, just hugely grateful for. You know, I think people at times think that whenever you suffer, whether that I have suffered and that maybe you just have to continue to be clouded by, you know, negative energy and you have to live your life a certain way, almost in victim mode. But, you know, the reality is that that life has been very good to me.

I was able to find Tara. I know you know, we've had a beautiful relationship and now we're about to have, you know, in addition to our to our family. And, you know, it's just something that I cannot feel. And, you know, I just I just feel so grateful for and I'm just so excited by the. Well, we wish you all the very best for this expansion of your family, yourself and Antara, and I know, you know, Mickey Hart is still part of your family.

He you are part of his family, too. So he has, I suppose, been following your journey and trying to get justice for Mikhaila very closely to.

We have and, you know, I've always I've always said, you know, once maybe you don't hear, you know, as vocal arranger, you know, he's always been a huge supporter of everything that I am doing and always on Mickey side and on the heart say, you know, Mark McKay song has been with us every step of the way here, has been out and resonates with me personally, you know, three times. No, you deserve whenever, you know, this tragedy occurred because there in 2012 and came back out with my sister and I in twenty seventeen.

So he is always sort of kind of taking up that mantle and, you know, inspired keep up with guy and doing that.

But yeah, I mean they're they're fully behind everything that we do and everything that I am sort of doing is in behalf of our families. And so yeah, it's always good to always have that support and that bond is always there. It's never going to be pretty. And, you know. John, thank you very much for joining us on the program, and we wish you well for the happy event forthcoming and indeed for all your endeavors into the future.

John McGreavy, thank. Thank you for.

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