DUBLIN, Ireland: A jealous double-murderer who killed his wife and her alleged lover will challenge a decision by the Minister for Justice barring him from going within 18 kilometres of the village where he committed the crime because it stops him from living in his own home.

Declan Power, a father of three, was convicted in 2003 at the Central Criminal Court after he pleaded guilty to murdering his wife, Joan Power, 40, and publican Maurice "Mossie" Curran, 48. He believed his wife was having an affair with Curran.

Curran ran The Decies Bar in Clashmore, Co Waterford, and was well known locally. Power had worked there part-time. At the time, Power, then 47, was a self-employed mechanic. He received two life sentences for the murders in March 2002, to run at the same time. He has been out of prison on strict conditions since April 2021.

Power told the High Court that he is not allowed to live in his family home because it is within an 18km exclusion zone around Clashmore, where he killed Curran. He is only allowed inside that zone, up to 6km from the village, for work. He works as a driver transporting vehicles to NCT centres in the area.

He said his home in Bawnacomera, Ardmore, Co Waterford, is 7km from Clashmore. He built and owns the house and used a nearby building to run his mechanic business.

In November 2024, now living on High Street in Dungarvan, Co Waterford, Power began legal action to challenge the restrictions on his movements. In April 2025, Justice Mary Rose Gearty cancelled the exclusion zone decision and sent it back to the Minister for a fresh review.

In September 2025, the Minister decided to keep the restrictions in place. Power is now asking the court to cancel that decision, saying it is null, void, and invalid. He argues that the September 2025 decision is unfair, legally wrong, and a breach of his constitutional rights because of the limits placed on where he can go and for how long.

He says the 18km exclusion zone around Clashmore is unreasonable and unfair, especially as breaking the rules could mean he is sent back to prison. He also says he has no reason to go to Clashmore for personal or work purposes.

This week, at the High Court, Justice Sara Phelan permitted him to challenge the Minister's September 2025 decision.

The Central Criminal Court heard in 2003 that Power killed his wife at their home in Bawnacomera by hitting her with a rubber mallet and then stabbing her with a kitchen knife.

He then went to Clashmore, confronted Curran outside his pub, shot him twice, and shot him again as he tried to run away. Curran fell on the roadside and died. Power later handed himself over to the gardaí.