The acronym GUBU, standing for grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented, refers to a strange series of incidents in Ireland in the summer of 1982 which culminated in a double-murderer, Malcolm MacArthur, being apprehended in the home of the then-Attorney General, Patrick Connolly.
[1] The corresponding acronym was coined by Conor Cruise O'Brien, and both it and the phrase are still occasionally used in Irish political discourse to describe other notorious scandals.
"[3] The murderer, Malcolm Edward MacArthur, born 17 April 1945, was a well-known eccentric character in Dublin social circles and never held a job, as he lived off his IR£70,000 inheritance (the equivalent of almost €900,000 in 2023) from the sale of his father's farm after the latter's death in 1971.
First he decided to purchase a gun and responded to an advertisement by Dónal Dunne, a farmer in Edenderry, County Offaly, who had a shotgun for sale.
At this point a passing ambulance became involved and escorted MacArthur to the hospital, as the driver mistook him for a doctor because of a windscreen sticker which Gargan had.
Three days later, having found alternative means to get to Edenderry, MacArthur visited the farmer Dónal Dunne and murdered him with his own shotgun after examining it.
Michael McDowell, the then Minister for Justice, who was also a member of MacArthur's defence team in the murder trial, decided that he would take no part in the decision for fear of a conflict of interest.