THE assets of a man who died in 1909 are to be transferred to Northern Ireland and may be used to provide cultural events at the arts centre in Newry, Co Down, following a High Court order yesterday.
The application had been brought on behalf of the trustees of the charitable trusts established by the will of the late Mr Patrick Murphy, Market Square, Newry, Co Down. He left property on trust to give to Newry Urban Council to pay off the town's debt and relieve rates.
Mr Matthew Augustine McAteer, of Fullerton Road, Newry, one of the trustees, said in an affidavit that a scheme had been approved by the High Court of Justice in Ireland in May 1919. The schedule of assets of the trust included lands in what is now Northern Ireland and in Co Monaghan.
In 1966, the trustees asked the Dublin High Court for an order to transfer the assets to the North but the Irish Attorney General objected on the grounds that the assets included the Monaghan lands and an application for transfer should have been made after the foundation of the State.
The land in Monaghan had been disposed of, said Mr McAteer, and he was advised that the investment held by the Dublin High Court amounted to £71,000. He understood the Commissioners of Charitable Donators and Bequests had no objection to the transfer.