This article is from page 8 of the 2013-04-30 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
A CLARE war hero, who was refused a personal bi r thday card from Queen Elizabeth II, as he “could not prove he was British”, will instead receive a letter to mark his 100th bi r t hday today (Tuesday).
The U-tur n by Buckingham Palace, which fol lows a petition by 800 people, means Dr William Navin who is originally from Clarecastle, will now receive a message from the Queen.
Dr Navin was bor n in Clare on April 30, 1913, and his family still own and operate Navin’s Bar in Clarecastle village.
His late brother Fr Charles Navin ser ved most of his li fe as the parish priest in Tubber. His other brother Dr Cyril was a monsignor in America while Pat rick ran the publ ic house in Clarecastle.
Dr Navin left Ireland for Coven tr y in 1939, to work with the ear, nose and throat specialists at Walsgrave Hospital. This was not to be however and he ended up in general practice as the war broke out.
During World War II he was a medical officer and ser ved with the Home Guard, ear ning seven medals for ser vice.
The reti red GP car ries an Ir ish passpor t, even though he is also en- titled to a British one.
Buckingham Palace said the Clare native did not qualify for the queen’s bi r thday message without a Br itish passpor t as proof of citizenship.
However t he petition by the people of Coventr y saw a change of hear t being the palace gates and t his man is to be sent a personal letter from the Queen instead of t he t raditional card.
The decision came after the LordLieutenant for the West Midlands, Paul Sabapathy CBE, cont acted the anniversaries office.
He said he had been informed t he Queen’s secretar y would now be sending a letter to Dr Navin on the Queen’s inst r uction.
Dr Navin’s family said they were ext remely disappoi nted when they received the letter from Buckingham Palace denying hi m t he card.
The letter stated, “Her Majesty only sends messages to people who are citizens of Her Realms or UK Overseas Ter ritor ies, and as your father was bor n in what is now the Republ ic of Ireland, I am afraid it is necessar y to see evidence of his Br itish citizenship.”
Dr Navin has t hree chi ldren, seven grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren, and lives on his own in Coventr y since his wife Molly died 23 years ago.