William McClean

William McClean was a witness in the murder trial of Wicklow publican Catherine Nevin. He has been accused of being a state informer and a suspect in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.

Nevin's lawyers contend that the documents, including Garda security files on witnesses Gerry Heapes, John Jones and William McClean, are relevant and would assist her in undermining their credibility and might also be relevant to the credibility of another State witness, Patrick Russell.

The material, the defence alleges, includes security files indicating that Mr McClean was a suspect in the Dublin/Monaghan bombings of 1974. Nevin claims that Mr McClean had during the trial denied that he had any paramilitary connections but that a Garda Special Branch file going back to 1974 would have an effect on his credibility in that regard.

Reference was made during Mrs Nevin's appeal to the Barron Report into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, which states:

General enquiries in Dublin brought to light a man who had stayed at the Four Courts Hotel from 10 to 16 May 1974. During that time he apparently made a number of phone calls and sent telegrams to Belfast and London. Suspicion focused on this man because of his known friendship with Joseph Stewart Young, an active member of the Mid-Ulster UVF, and the fact that he left the night before the 17 May without paying his bill. However, Garda enquiries failed to trace him, and attempts to follow up the various communications he had made led nowhere. In February 2000, the same man turned up as a witness in a murder trial in the State. He was traced and interviewed informally by Gardaí. Information received from that interview was conveyed to the Inquiry in a letter dated 30 September 2003. Garda inquiries are continuing.