Veteran republican Marian Price has initiated legal action against streaming service Disney+ over the series Say Nothing, which her lawyers said depicted her as being involved in the murder of Belfast woman Jean McConville.
Lawyers for Ms Price said the allegation was “not based on a single iota of evidence”.
Ms McConville, a mother of 10, was kidnapped and murdered by the IRA in 1972. Her remains were found in 2003.
Ms Price, who was jailed for her part in the IRA’s London bombing campaign of 1973, is represented by Phoenix Law in the legal action against Disney+. The firm said on Wednesday that Ms Price had “initiated formal legal proceedings by way of pre-action correspondence against Disney for their publication, Say Nothing”, which was produced by FX Productions.
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Phoenix Law said the series, premised upon the 2018 book of the same name by Patrick Radden Keefe, depicted Ms Price as the person responsible for murdering Ms McConville.
“Given the context, it is difficult to envisage a more egregious allegation than the one to which has been levelled against our client,” solicitor Peter Corrigan said. “As someone who has been involved at every level of the related Boston College criminal proceedings, it is clear that the instant allegation is not based on a single iota of evidence.
“Such allegations published on an international scale are not only unjustified, but they are odious insofar as they seek to cause our client immeasurable harm in exchange for greater streaming success. Our client has now been forced to initiate legal proceedings to hold Disney to account for their actions.”
At the launch of the series in August, Disney described Say Nothing as “a gripping story of murder and memory in Northern Ireland during The Troubles”.
“Spanning four decades, the series opens with the shocking disappearance of Jean McConville, a single mother of ten who was abducted from her home in 1972 and never seen alive again,” it said.
”Telling the story of various Irish Republican Army (IRA) members, Say Nothing explores the extremes some people will go to in the name of their beliefs, the way a deeply divided society can suddenly tip over into armed conflict, the long shadow of radical violence for all affected, and the emotional and psychological costs of a code of silence.”
Disney has been approached for comment.
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