A NEW documentary revisits the brutal murder of Charles Self in Dublin more than 40 years ago.
Mr Self was just 33 years old when he was murdered in Monkstown, in Dublin, on January 21, 1982.
He had moved to Ireland from Glasgow, in Scotland in the 1970s, and was headhunted to work in RTÉ’s set design department.
His murder remains unsolved and continues to upset Ireland’s gay community as revealed in TG4’s one-hour show, Misneach: Ceist Bhróid.
“When Charles Self was murdered in 1982, the violence inflicted on the RTÉ set designer horrified the gay community,” a TG4 spokesperson said.
“Homosexuality was illegal at that time in Ireland and so, to compound matters, methods were used during the investigation that led to further agitation and distress.
“Charles’ murder was harrowing on many levels: a brutal crime in a well-to-do Dublin suburb and a frenzied attack in the privacy of a man’s home.”
Gay activist Cathal Kerrigan features in the documentaryThe documentary features several men who were summoned to interview during the police investigation, including Cathal Kerrigan, a gay activist, who is seeking access to his Garda file.
“Ceist Bhróid follows [Cathal Kerrigan’s] attempts to bring some kind of conclusion to an unpleasant and prejudiced period of Ireland’s past,” TG4 confirms.
They add that “what was most alarming” about the crime, was that the perpetrator had targeted an openly gay man “at a time when gay men and women had felt emboldened and so had begun to socialise more publicly”.
Charles Self was a gregarious 33-year-old who designed The Late Late Show set.
His murder cast a dark shadow in Ireland at the time and the Gardaí's response only stoked further unrest.
“During the investigation, detectives interviewed approximately 1,500 gay men, many of whom to this day feel aggrieved and humiliated, some of whom are still looking for answers,” TG4 added.
Misneach: Ceist Bhróid airs on TG4 at 9.30pm on Wednesday, October 11. It will be available internationally via TG4 Player after broadcast.
