The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.
Delete unless someone can prove notability at which time I will withdraw the nom.
I am not a cold-hearted person. I know what it is like to lose someone you love and who is irreplaceable. I was saddened when I read online about the murder (not on Wikipedia). I assumed a good portion of Mickey Harte's page would deal with his daughter's killing. However, I must question whether this murder is notable enough to warrant its own article. There are thousands of murders and millions of tragedies which occur every day, not all of which are inherently notable, especially when the victim, with all due respect, was not well-known in her own right when she was alive, although obviously her father is, which is why I think the salient text should/can easily be merged into her father's article. I know the timing could be better, but if I put it off I'll forget, and we may as well nip this contentious matter in the bud now. I am sure her family couldn't care less about what's going on on Wikipedia anyway. Rms125a@hotmail.com (talk) 22:31, 25 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Keep. I have seen worse deletions than this, but I still believe that we shouldn't be losing articles that are widely covered in many news sources. In keeping with BLP1E this article is about the murder, rather than the woman. You might suggest merging it, but how does that allow for proper handling of the content? Suppose a suspect in Mauritius starts saying that he was "framed" and used as a scapegoat, and disputes evidence along the line of the O.J. Simpson bloody glove/DNA evidence arguments. Do we really go from the disputed evidence -> Mauritanian suspect -> Murder of Michaela McAreavey -> Michaela McAreavey -> Mickey Harte, all because Harte plays some kind of sport? I don't think that is any way to organize an encyclopedia. Wnt (talk) 22:32, 25 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Keep I first noticed this article when it was named 'Michaela McAreavey' and considered tagging as AfD. However the title was corrected to its present name (possibly even re-corrected). The issue is of sufficient note to merit an article. Public reaction to the murder may yet impact significantly on the national economy of Mauritius, which depends so much on tourism and its reputation as a safe destination for tourists. Perhaps this point should be elaborated in the article. As 'non-political' murders go, that is significant. RashersTierney (talk) 22:53, 25 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Delete - I'm not seeing what is beyond WP:NOTNEWS in this article. Murders are unfortunately common news, sometimes it happens to people related to more famous individuals, so it gets a bit more coverage than other murders, but there's no real lasting or particular impact of this event.--70.80.234.196 (talk) 00:39, 26 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Keep - This case has recieved alot of media coverage. Michaela has appeared in media before. I say keep.--BabbaQ (talk) 12:04, 26 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Keep: The present political fallout alone makes this crime notable and I was familiar with the crime before I looked at this AfD, I actually had no idea the woman was related to someone well-known in the UK until I read it here in Wikipedia. To me the gist of this article seems similar to Natalee Holloway, a non-notable person in her own right who then became notable through the manner of her death and subsequent events. Shearonink (talk) 14:20, 26 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Just want to point out to Shearonink that Mickey Harte, Mrs. McAreavey's father, is not "well-known in the UK", although he is well-known in much of Northern Ireland. Rms125a@hotmail.com (talk) 16:06, 26 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Keep: the article says her "funeral ... was attended by thousands of mourners, including the President of Ireland ... First Minister of Northern Ireland ... and deputy First Minister.... It was notable for the extent to which mourners from across the political and religious divide came to pay their respects." With reliable sources to back that up, she (or at least her death) is notable. Bearian (talk) 18:39, 26 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
With all due respect, and I knew that someone would mention the funeral, I strongly disagree that the murder is notable just because Adams, McGuinness and Mary McAleese attended the victim's funeral, particularly since attending (certain) funerals is a de facto part of their jobs. A person's notability is usually not derived from the attendees at his/her funeral or even necessarily by being the victim or related to the victim of a murder or other crime which makes headlines. Does anyone whose funeral is picketed by the lunatics from the Westboro Baptist Church qualify as notable per se? Is Christina Taylor Green notable? Would Christina Taylor Green's death be notable (for the purposes of Wikipedia, I mean, not for those who knew and loved her) if it had not occurred during the attempted assassination of a congresswoman? Are her parents notable because they were invited to attend Barack Obama's State of the Union speech? Is Mark Kelly notable because his wife, Gabby Giffords, was shot? Notability derives from the sum total of a person's life and the way in which the world was impacted by his or her actions, for good or ill.
I can see the way the votes are headed and I fear it is the result of undue sentimentality. I respect the process but I stand by my initial opinion. Rms125a@hotmail.com (talk) 01:36, 27 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I stand by my reputation here as being unemotional. I think that some standards for "death of X" articles need to be made, and having a funeral attended by heads of state and of government indicates some evidence of notability. Bearian (talk) 21:24, 31 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Keep. Widespread coverage in RSs reflects the notability here.--Epeefleche (talk) 02:58, 28 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Keep. This had plenty of coverage in the media so it is notable enough, will you realy lose any sleep over this article existing or not? Also, Mickey Harte's article is about himself, this is about a different matter... ie a highly media covered story of a murder.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Reli source (talk • contribs) 19:53, 30 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Delete - Although this is a tragedy, the victim does not have sufficient notability to warrant an article. Best is to merge the same with her father's article.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Kailashbal (talk • contribs) 20:32, 31 January 2011 (UTC) [reply]
Nominator (although maintaining article's non-notability) moves herewith to close out this AfD as WP:SNOW. Rms125a@hotmail.com (talk) 16:10, 28 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.