Michaela McAreavey: Man claims he was unaware of chanting in video

A lorry driver has claimed he was not aware of offensive chanting about the murder of Michaela McAreavey when he streamed a video from an Orange Order hall.

Andrew McDade appeared at an industrial tribunal on Tuesday.

He is challenging the decision by his former employer to dismiss him in the aftermath of the Facebook Live broadcast in May 2022.

Politicians from Northern Ireland's main parties condemned the video.

The Orange Order also launched an inquiry.

Mrs McAreavey, a 27-year-old Irish language teacher from County Tyrone, was killed while on honeymoon in Mauritius in 2011.

Mr McDade had been attending an event at Dundonald Orange Hall when he live-streamed footage of singing which appeared to mock the daughter of the former Tyrone senior Gaelic footballer manager Mickey Harte.

Mr McDade said he was not aware of the offensive chanting and had simply been streaming a video to "show the atmosphere of the day" at an event to mark Northern Ireland's centenary, adding he could not be responsible for the actions of others during a live stream.

His employer Norman Emerson Group became linked with the video because Mr McDade's Facebook profile description included its name.

Mr McDade was suspended on 3 June 2022, while an investigation was carried out, and was later dismissed.

He did not appeal his dismissal at the time.

During an industrial tribunal hearing in Belfast, representatives from Norman Emerson Group said they feared reputational damage to their firm - which included the Gaelic Athletic Association - among its customers, after the clip went viral.

They said they had requested the full four-minute video, but were told it no longer existed because Mr McDade had deleted his Facebook account.

As he began his evidence, Mr McDade repeated an apology he made last year to the Harte and McAreavey families for the video, which he said he was ashamed of.

Frank O'Donoghue KC, representing the Norman Emerson Group, questioned Mr McDade on whether he had written a letter of apology to the two families and made a donation to a charity of their choice, as he had committed to in his apology statement last year.

Mr McDade said he had not done those things personally, but believed his representative Jamie Bryson had written on his behalf.

Mr O'Donoghue also asked Mr McDade if he had been drunk when he took the video, to which the claimant responded: "Definitely not."

It was pointed out to him that his apology statement last year referred to "actions fuelled by alcohol".

Mr McDade said he had had two cans of beer, but was not drunk.

Mr O'Donoghue described the Emerson family and their firm as non-sectarian, and that managing director George Emerson, who is a friend of the Harte family, phoned them to apologise for the actions of one of his employees.

Under questioning, Mr McDade contended the full four-minute video had included him moving around the hall taking in Orange bannerettes on display.

The shorter clip of the full video was shown to the hearing room.

Mr O'Donoghue noted the video ended as the song ended, and put to Mr McDade it is "plain as the nose on your face that you were videoing that song", to which Mr McDade replied: "No."

The video was removed in the early hours of 3 June 2022.

Mr McDade said he removed the video because he had been getting threats, and also deleted his Facebook profile for his own safety.

Mr O'Donoghue, however, put to Mr McDade that he had "removed the evidence".

Under questioning by his own representative, Mr Bryson, Mr McDade said if he had been aware of the offensive chanting he would have removed the video earlier.

Mr Bryson told the hearing a clip of the video was taken by a Social Democratic and Labour Party representative and "deliberately edited and put online for political gain".

Earlier on Tuesday, Norman Emerson Group business development director Conor Jordan, who conducted the investigation into Mr McDade, gave evidence.

The hearing is set to resume on Wednesday for final submissions.

On Monday, Mr McDade's partner, nursing assistant Rhonda Shiels, appeared in a case challenging the decision by the Southern Health and Social Care Trust to dismiss her after she liked and shared the Facebook Live recording.