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Murdered man’s friend recalls last
phone call
19.01.12
by Linda McGrory
ONE of William McKeeney’s best friends has recalled
their last phone call some nine hours before the
Malin Head man was beaten to death on a Glasgow
street.
Joe 'Henry' McLaughlin (71) said Mr McKeeney, a
friend of 30 years, often rang him from Scotland to
catch up on the news back at home.
"He rang me about 4 O'Clock on the Saturday to find
out if there was anything going on at home. His
phone was running low so he said he would call me
back on Sunday evening. He liked to keep up with the
news and phoned me often."
Mr McLaughlin, a retired haulage company boss from
Malin, was told of his friend’s brutal killing on
Sunday morning by one of his daughters.
"I've been in a kind of trance since I heard about
Willie's murder. I can hardly believe it," he said.
Mr McKeeney (57) worked as a lorry driver for his
friend for a number of years on and off. |
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The late Willie McKeeney, right,
enjoys a joke with long-time pal, Joe Henry
McLaughlin when their pair last met up, in Glasgow,
in November. |
"He drove all over the
place for me. He drove fish from Greencastle to
Dublin; he drove crab from Malin Head to France for
me and he often took spuds to Dublin or Cork. Willie
could turn his hand to anything. He was an all-round
man and a real character,” added Mr McLaughlin. The
father of Co Donegal sister folk act ‘The Henry
Girls’, Mr McLaughlin fondly recalled Willie
McKeeney’s love of singing and entertainment.
"He loved music and was great at recitations. He
liked to do a recitation about a builder and barrel
of bricks.”
The men last met up in November, when the retired
haulier and his Scottish-born wife, Kathleen,
attended a family wedding in Glasgow. The last photo
of the friends together was taken by one of ‘The
Henry Girls’ in a bar in Glasgow's Old Fruit Market.
That night, Willie joined the popular sister group
for an impromptu music session. Lead singer, Lorna
McLaughlin, yesterday described Mr McKeeney as “so
kind”. “He taught me a bit of welding one time when
I had to make a musical instrument for a college
project.”
Police in Glasgow are following several lines of
inquiry into the Malin Head man's brutal killing in
the early hours of last Sunday. Some 60 officers are
working on the case and detectives want to interview
two men described as Asian.
Willie McKeeney and his long-term partner Anne Marie
(48), who witnessed the horrific killing, moved to
her native Glasgow four years ago from Malin Head
where she had worked as a cook at the Seaview
Tavern.
Seaview Tavern owner, Michael Doherty, said: "Willie
would call in to the pub quite a lot to collect Anne
Marie from work. He was a grand lad. This is a
shocking tragedy.”
The deceased man’s siblings, nieces and nephews are
in regular touch with Strathclyde Police. Some
relatives have already travelled to Scotland. It is
not yet confirmed when the victim’s remains will be
released to the family for burial. The funeral is to
take place in Malin Head. |
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