Veteran republican Marian Price is taking legal action against Disney+ after she was depicted killing Jean McConville in one of its new shows.
The show, Say Nothing, portrays the murder and secret burial of Mrs McConville by the IRA in 1972.
Mrs McConville is known as one of the Disappeared, a group of 17 people who were abducted, killed and secretly buried by republican paramilitaries during the Troubles.
Her remains were finally found in 2003 at Shelling Hill Beach in Co Louth in the Irish Republic by the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR).
No-one has ever been prosecuted over her death which left 10 children orphaned.
Say Nothing is a 2024 historical drama series published by Disney on its American streaming service Disney+, produced by FX Productions.
The dramatised series is premised upon the 2018 book of the same name, published by Patrick Radden Keefe.
The decision by Ms Price, who is also known as Marian McGlinchey, to initiate formal legal proceedings against Disney was first reported by the Irish News.
In a statement, Peter Corrigan, a solicitor for Phoenix Law, said: “The publication in question depicts our client, Marian Price, as the person to whom was responsible for murdering Ms Jean McConville. Mrs Price has initiated legal proceedings as a result.
“Given the context, it is difficult to envisage a more egregious allegation than the one to which has been levelled against our client.
“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.”
Disney+ has been contacted for comment.
Earlier this year the son of Jean called the portrayal of her death as “cruel”.
Michael McConville, who was a child in 1972 when his mother Jean was abducted from their west Belfast home, said her death is “not entertainment” but his and his family’s reality for the last 52 years.
Mr McConville said people do not realise how hurtful it is for his family for his mother’s murder to be featured in a drama series, particularly approaching the anniversary of her death on December 1.
He said he has not watched the series and does not intend to.
“Disney is renowned for entertainment, my mother’s death is not ‘entertainment’ for me and my family,” he said in a statement on Wednesday evening.
“This is our reality, every day for 52 years.
“And although we live with it every single day and it never goes away, the timing of this is particularly bad given that it is my mother’s anniversary on December 1.”
“I just don’t think people realise how hurtful this is.”
He added: “The portrayal of the execution and secret burial of my mother is horrendous and unless you have lived through it, you will never understand just how cruel it is.
“Everyone knows the story of Jean McConville, even Hillary Clinton who I met a few years ago knew my mother’s story.
“And yet here is another telling of it that I and my family have to endure.
“Eventually, this series will be forgotten and the people who made it will have moved on to something else.
“They can do that, I can’t.”
