The public has seen a photo of the Irishman, whose corpse was brought into a Post Office by his nephew as he tried to claim his Pension.
Pictured: Declan Haughney (40), took Peadar Doyle’s corpse to a Carlow post office, Ireland in an attempt to get his pension. The above photo shows Mr Doyle as he was at the time.
Declan Haughney (40) made headlines when he took his uncle Peadar Doyle, 66, to Carlow in Ireland to collect his state allowance.
Peadar’s funeral was held three days after Haughney and friend Gareth Coakley fled from a post office in the same town after turning up with Peadar’s body carried between them – claiming they did not realise he had died en route.
Haughney has vigorously denied his innocence and has released a photo of his uncle from years back. He claims that he wishes the community would remember Peadar during the final days.
He spoke from Pollerton Road, where he lived with his uncle today. [being the house without Peadar]I can’t deny it.
Haughney said he was trying to restore order after a hectic week in which he was accused by his community of murder.
“I am still working to clean the house. “There were five dogs at the house. I am taking back two.”
Declan Haughney, 40, was a pallbearer at uncle Peader Doyle’s funeral on Monday, three days after carrying his lifeless body into a post office in an attempt to claim his pension
Haughney says he was unaware that Mr Doyle died while he arrived at Carlow’s post office with his body and a friend. But police think he might have been dead for as long as three hours
Weekend at Bernie actor jokes about post office stunt and the movie
Weekend at Bernie’s star has joked that the stunt at the post office was likened to the black comedy of 1989.
Andrew McCarthy – who played insurer Larry Wilson in the movie – tweeted MailOnline’s story on Saturday and joked that he was ‘not responsible’.
‘Just because I’m in Ireland doesn’t mean I had anything to do with this,’ he tweeted, along with the hash-tag ‘weekendatbernies’.
The film follows the escapades of McCarthy’s character Wilson and his colleague Richard Parker – played by Jonathan Silverman – who are invited to boss Bernie Lomax’s house in the Hamptons for a Labour Day party, only to find him dead when they arrive.
When other guests do not notice that he has died, they decide to continue the party by creating the illusion that the man is still alive.
He denies the charge, and post mortem examinations have revealed no signs of foul play on Mr Doyle’s body.
Haughney told the Irish Daily Mail that Gardi interviewed him and are still investigating, but have not yet filed charges.
He says that he was cleared of any charges and is confident no criminal charges will be filed against him.
He also insists on his claim that he didn’t know that Mr Doyle had died when he brought his body to the Post Office.
‘Peader was so frail and only weighed about six or seven stone so whenever he went out I would have to hold him up,’ he said.
‘Looking back at what happened, I think he died at the bridge because his legs suddenly went limp, but myself and Gareth had no idea he passed away because this has happened a number of times before.’
Haughney claims he’s being attacked by locals and that his family has advised him to keep calm until the anger subsides. Haughney refuses and says he has nothing to hide.
Haughney had a dark eye at the funeral, which revealed that he was beaten by his neighbors and accused of being a murderer.
‘I’m being roared at on the streets by people shouting “murderer” at me,’ he said.
‘I’ve also been jumped by local scumbags who beat me up because of what they’ve read. My auntie has advised that I keep a low profile, but I told her I won’t because I’m not a murderer.
‘I’ll hold my head up and walk up and down Carlow all day long. People can talk all they want, but at the end of the day I’ve been clean from heroin for nearly three years and have served my time in prison.’
Haughney and his friend had arrived at the post office on Friday afternoon looking to claim Mr Doyle’s pension – but were refused because he was not with them.
Shortly after, it is reported that the two returned to Mr Doyle’s house with his body in their arms and his jumper over their heads. He also had a head hat.
Workers were concerned and asked Mr Doyle if he was okay. The men then reportedly placed Doyle on the floor, claiming that he was suffering from a heart attack.
Now, police believe that Mr Doyle might have died three hours prior to the incident.
Haughney claims he was abused by the locals for calling him a murderer. He is now sporting a black-eyed scarlet eye from the beating he received.
Haughney and Coakley are then said to have fled the scene, though Haughney denies this and says he left to contact relatives before returning.
According to him, he had not been in contact with his friend since that incident. He speculated that he was hiding from reprisal attacks.
‘Peader helped to raise me; we were like brothers,’ Haughney added.
‘You would want to be one bad b*****d to drag your uncle out of bed when he had already died.’
‘Hopefully when people read my side of the story and see how I have the support of my family they’ll start to see things differently.’
On Monday, Doyle’s funeral was held. He will be remembered for his talent as an interior decorator and dedication to family.
Charmaine Dowling, Mr Doyle’s niece, told the church how he had treated all his nephews and nieces like his own children.
She said: ‘You ran to him if you wanted to cry. And soon you would be dancing around the kitchen table.’
She recalled that he would take her feed his racing pigeons and would hum songs from Perry Como and Dean Martin while he would sing lullabies like Gilbert O’Sullivan’s Clare – the singer being his favourite artist.
Ms Dowling remembered her uncle Peader being a caregiver, a waiter, as well as an artist who often quoted Shakespeare.
She referred to Peader’s love of travel which had included road trips in the US.
On the death of his own father, he had minded his mother Annie ‘with unrivalled affection’.
He was a quiet man, dignified in public but ‘in private he was a hero’, who would not seek recognition for caring for his family, which was most important to him.
Ms Dowling stated: ‘His greatness was not known to many people but (was) to his family and closest friends.’
She concluded her tribute by saying that Peader’s family will carry his memory with them with pride.