1 .6 NEWS DECEMBER 10, 2006 THE SUNDAY TIMES

n Colin Coyle

Bono won the Meteor award, which rewards ‘people who change lives’ with a ¤100,000 cheque

‘ The awardrecognisespeople whochange lives.We hope togive it to Mikenext year ’

n Nicola Tallant

AND the winner of the MeteorHumanitarian Award for 2007is . . . not Mike Meegan.The prestigious award, previ-

ously won by Bono, Elton Johnand the aid worker Adi Roche,was to have been bestowed nextFebruary on Meegan, an inter-national director of Icross, adeveloping-world charity.But organisers have told the

aid worker that he will not begiven the prize, which comeswith a ¤100,000 cheque, at nextyear’s Meteor Music Awards. Hemay be given it in 2008 instead.Organisers say they changed

their minds due to concerns thatMeegan is about to part com-pany with the aid agency hefounded. But the charity bosswas also embroiled in contro-versy earlier this year when itemerged he overstated his aca-demic qualifications in anattempt to win a ¤2m grant fromthe US National Institutes ofHealth, for a study into homecare for Aids sufferers.Justin Green of MCD, the

music-promotion company thatorganises the awards, hasdenied Meegan was passed overfor the award because of the con-troversy. “The award recognisespeople who change lives, notpeople with postgraduatedegrees. It didn’t have an influ-ence. We hope to be able to giveMike the award next year,”Green said.MCD confirmed that a differ-

ent winner has now been chosenfor the show on February 1.Meegan said he was disap-

pointed that Icross’s infant mor-tality and child survival pro-gramme won’t benefit from theaward, but vowed to continuehis work. “I was delighted to beconsidered, but we are not inAfrica for awards,” he said.Rebecca Burrell, a director of

Icross, confirmed that the charityis currently restructuring. “We

are a small charity and ¤100,000is a huge donation, but theaward is given in a personalcapacity, not to a particular char-ity,” she said.Meegan, who is based in the

remote village of Majiwa in west-ern Kenya, confirmed he is con-sidering his future role in Icrossafter an organisational review.The charity boss hopes to play agreater role in lobbying politi-cians. “We want to Africanise theadministration,” he said.Meegan’s work in East Africa

earned him an International Per-son of the Year Award in 2003and an honorary degree fromNUI Galway earlier this year. AnRTE documentary, When YouSay 4,000 Goodbyes, chronicleshis efforts to fight Aids in Kenyaand Tanzania. It has picked upawards in America.The Royal College of Sur-

geons in Ireland has collabo-rated on a number of Icross’sAfrican projects, saying it wasimpressed by Meegan’s “low-tech, evidence-based, sustaina-ble solutions”.But his reputation was dealt a

blow in the summer, when it

emerged that Meegan, who islisted with the title doctor onIcross’s website, had received hisdoctorate from KnightsbridgeUniversity, which trades from apost-box address in Denmarkand is not recognised by theDanish government.An official bio prepared for a

US conference also claimed thatMeegan had a PhD from TrinityCollege, Dublin in medicalanthropology, although the uni-versity confirmed last week itcould find no record of his place

on the course. He eventually lostthe American grant over con-cerns about his academicachievements.The charity boss now says he

has a masters in communityhealth from Trinity College andconfirms that he pursued a corre-spondence course with Knights-bridge. “I was in the remotebush in rural Africa with nophones or electricity. It was donein good faith and examined by aqualified supervisor. As it turnsout, it was not especially useful,”he said.In 2002 USAID, a US govern-

ment body, asked Price Water-house Coopers to carry out anaudit of the organisation’s Ken-yan accounts after it became con-cerned that funds were beingmismanaged. The inquiry foundthat the charity had a number of“internal control weaknesses”.Meegan would have joined an

illustrious list of humanitarianworkers had he been given theaward. Over six years the recipi-ents have included Fr PeterMcVerry, Sr Stanislaus Kennedyand Christina Noble, as well asRoche, Bono and Elton John.

A FILE on the mother of killersisters Linda and CharlotteMulhall is to be sent to thedirector of public prosecutions(DPP) within a week.Investigators who oversaw

the conviction of the Tallaghtwomen for killing Farah Noorare hoping to obtain permissionto proceed with a case againsttheir mother, Kathleen Mulhall.

They believe she was anaccessory to the crime andhelped clean up the scene afterNoor was dismembered. She isbelieved to have been living inthe UK since last year, havingfled when her daughters werecharged with the murder ofher lover.She has not been in contact

with the women since and hasmade no attempt to get intouch with gardai.Senior investigators said they

would send a full file to the

DPP in the next few days. IfKathleen does not return to thecountry by next month, theybelieve they can pursue herunder an international arrestwarrant.The sisters are believed to

be furious that they were leftto face the music after killingtheir mother’s violent partner.Charlotte was convicted ofNoor’s murder and her sister ofmanslaughter.Investigating officers believe

Kathleen organised the

clean-up of the cottage inBallybough, north Dublin,where Noor was stabbed andbeaten to death before beingdismembered and dumped inbin bags. During the sisters’trial it was claimed she hadbegged them to kill Noor,saying she feared for her safety.Gardai had hoped Kathleen

would return to Ireland 12months ago for the funeral ofher husband, John, whohanged himself. But she did notappear at the funeral and hasmade no contact with her fivechildren or five grandchildrensince.Gardai believe she may have

been staying with relatives inBirmingham, but moved inrecent weeks.Kathleen met Noor at Coco’s

nightclub in the Abberley Courthotel in Tallaght in 2001. Sincehis arrival in Ireland in 1996,he had fathered children withtwo women and had left behinda wife and two children inKenya.Within months of meeting

him, Kathleen left her husbandand moved to Cork, beforereturning to settle in Dublin.She and her daughters

often met up with Noor forafternoons of drinking and pillpopping. In the months beforehis murder, they hadbecome friends and were oftenseen out together. Whenquestioned by gardai, however,Kathleen claimed Noor hadregularly beaten and raped her.Gardai believe she was

present throughout the attackon Noor with a breadknife anda hammer. They say sheremained at the house whileher two daughters cut him upin the bathroom over afive-hour period.Investigators think she led

the clean-up, which was sothorough forensic expertscould only find tiny spotsof blood on the back offurniture.They also believe she urged

Charlotte, 23, and Linda, 31,not to admit their roles in themurder of Noor and, when shewas taken in for questioning inlate 2004, she refused to speak.Despite spending 12 hours in agarda station, she insisted sheknew nothing about themurder.“We have a few small items

to add to the file and then itis being sent off in full to theDPP before Christmas,” asenior garda source said.“We would hope we will be

able to seek an internationalarrest warrant for her byJanuary if she hasn’t returnedto Ireland.”

DPP to get file on killers’ mother

Meegan will not this yearjoin such past winnersas Adi Roche, right

Charity boss told to waitfor humanitarian award