Loughinisland massacre: Difference between revisions
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On the evening of 18 June 1994, about 24 people<ref name="The Economist" /><ref name="NL" /> were gathered in The Heights Bar watching the [[Republic of Ireland national football team|Republic of Ireland]] v [[Italy national football team|Italy]] [[1994 FIFA World Cup|World Cup]] soccer match.<ref name="UVF atrocities" /> |
On the evening of 18 June 1994, about 24 people<ref name="The Economist" /><ref name="NL" /> were gathered in The Heights Bar watching the [[Republic of Ireland national football team|Republic of Ireland]] v [[Italy national football team|Italy]] [[1994 FIFA World Cup|World Cup]] soccer match.<ref name="UVF atrocities" /> |
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At 10:10pm, two UVF members armed with assault rifles walked into the pub and opened fire on the crowd. Six men were killed outright,<ref name="UVF atrocities" /><ref name="Sutton 1994" /> and five other people were wounded. Witnesses said the gunmen then ran to a getaway car, "laughing".<ref name="UVF atrocities" /> |
At 10:10pm, two UVF members armed with assault rifles walked into the pub and opened fire on the crowd. Six men were killed outright,<ref name="UVF atrocities" /><ref name="Sutton 1994" /> and five other people were wounded. Witnesses said the gunmen then ran to a getaway car, "laughing".<ref name="UVF atrocities" /> The dead were Adrian Rogan (34), Malcolm Jenkinson (52), Barney Greene (87), Daniel McCreanor (59), Patrick O'Hare (35) and Eamon Byrne (39), all Catholic civilians.<ref name="Sutton 1994"/> O'Hare was the brother-in-law of Eamon Byrne and Greene was one of the oldest people to be killed during "[[the Troubles]]".<ref name="UVF atrocities" /><ref name="PA">{{Cite news|title=Pair held over murders released |work=[[BBC News]] |date=6 June 2006 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/5051660.stm |accessdate=23 January 2010}}</ref> |
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The getaway car was found abandoned between [[Crossgar]] and [[Ballynahinch, County Down|Ballynahinch]], while one of the rifles used was later recovered in [[Saintfield]].<ref name="NL">{{Cite web|title=Loughinisland suspect is detained in England |work=[[The News Letter|Belfast Newsletter]] |date=1 July 2008 |url=http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/Loughinisland-suspect-is-detained-in.4237846.jp |accessdate=23 January 2010}}</ref> The UVF claimed responsibility for the attack.<ref name="The Economist" /> |
The getaway car was found abandoned between [[Crossgar]] and [[Ballynahinch, County Down|Ballynahinch]], while one of the rifles used was later recovered in [[Saintfield]].<ref name="NL">{{Cite web|title=Loughinisland suspect is detained in England |work=[[The News Letter|Belfast Newsletter]] |date=1 July 2008 |url=http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/Loughinisland-suspect-is-detained-in.4237846.jp |accessdate=23 January 2010}}</ref> The UVF claimed responsibility for the attack.<ref name="The Economist" /> |
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Revision as of 12:43, 23 September 2011
| Loughinisland massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part of The Troubles | |
 The Heights Bar (white building) | |
| Location | The Heights Bar, Loughinisland, County Down, Northern Ireland |
| Date | 18 June 1994 10:10pm (GMT) |
Attack type | Shooting |
| Weapons | assault rifles |
| Deaths | 6 civilians |
| Injured | 5 civilians |
| Perpetrator | Ulster Volunteer Force |
The Loughinisland massacre[1][2][3][4] took place on 18 June 1994 in the small village of Loughinisland, Northern Ireland. The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group, attacked a crowded bar with assault rifles,[5] killing six civilians and wounding five. The bar was targeted because those inside were believed to be Catholics.[6] As of late 2010, the Police Ombudsman is still investigating claims that Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) informers knew the massacre was being planned and that the RUC failed to carry out a proper investigation.[7]
Background
On 16 June 1994, the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) shot dead three UVF members on the Shankill Road in Belfast.[8] The following day, the UVF launched two "revenge attacks". In the first, UVF members shot dead a Catholic civilian taxi driver in Carrickfergus.[8] In the second, they shot dead two Protestant civilians in Newtownabbey, whom they assumed were Catholics.[8] The Loughinisland massacre, a day later, is believed to have been a further "revenge attack".[1]
Attack on The Heights Bar
On the evening of 18 June 1994, about 24 people[6][9] were gathered in The Heights Bar watching the Republic of Ireland v Italy World Cup soccer match.[5]
At 10:10pm, two UVF members armed with assault rifles walked into the pub and opened fire on the crowd. Six men were killed outright,[5][8] and five other people were wounded. Witnesses said the gunmen then ran to a getaway car, "laughing".[5] The dead were Adrian Rogan (34), Malcolm Jenkinson (52), Barney Greene (87), Daniel McCreanor (59), Patrick O'Hare (35) and Eamon Byrne (39), all Catholic civilians.[8] O'Hare was the brother-in-law of Eamon Byrne and Greene was one of the oldest people to be killed during "the Troubles".[5][10]
The getaway car was found abandoned between Crossgar and Ballynahinch, while one of the rifles used was later recovered in Saintfield.[9] The UVF claimed responsibility for the attack.[6]
Investigation and campaign by victims' families
In 2006, an investigative media report[11] claimed that a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) agent, codenamed "The Mechanic", had supplied the getaway car used in the attack. It further claimed that, although the RUC had known this, the agent was not arrested and continued working for the organisation.[11][12] That year, the "Loughinisland Justice Group" was formed by the victims' families to gain a full investigation into the massacre.[12]
On 21 March 2006, the families lodged an official complaint with the Police Ombudsman. It included allegations that:
The investigation into the murders has not been efficiently or properly carried out;
No earnest effort was made to identify the persons that carried out this atrocity; and
There persists a suspicion of state collusion in the murders.[11]
More specific concerns were that:
- The getaway car had been recovered intact but was destroyed by the RUC in 1996
- A hair follicle was recovered from the car but nobody had yet been charged
- Investigators reported at least one of the weapons used was imported from South Africa in 1988 by British agent Brian Nelson.[11][12]
The families asked the Police Ombudsman to investigate. Their solicitor reported that balaclavas, gloves, boiler suits and a bag (which had contained the guns used) was found in the car, although none of those items had since been subjected to the advances in forensic science.[13]
The Loughinisland Justice Group travelled to London, accompanied by Sinn Féin MLA Caitríona Ruane, in November that year.[12] They met a cross-party grouping of British politicians at Westminster, and raised concerns about the police investigation and allegations of state collusion.[12] Caitríona Ruane said: "For 12 years the families of the six men killed by the UVF at Loughinisland have patiently waited for justice. As the years have gone on the families have began to raise serious questions about the murders and specifically the subsequent investigation into them".[12] In 2008, Ruane and the Loughinisland Justice Group met with the Police Ombudsman, Al Hutchinson. Ruane re-iterated claims that "at least one British agent" was "directly involved" in the killings.[9]
In September 2009 it was revealed that a Police Ombudsman’s report on the killings was to be published on 15 September.[7][11] At the same time, some details of the report were made known. Police sources said that the report will expose the role of four RUC informers in "ordering or organising" the attack.[7][11] The report was also said to highlight a series of major failings in the police investigation – including that not enough effort was made to identify those responsible, that police failed to speak to people of interest, that key evidence was destroyed and that there was poor record management.[13] However, shortly after these revelations, the Ombudsman postponed publication of the report as "new evidence" had emerged.[7]
Arrests
In June 2006 two people were arrested in Belfast in connection with the massacre, but were subsequently released without charge.[10] In June 2008 a man was arrested in Maidstone, Kent and was brought to Antrim for questioning.[14] He was also released without charge. At this time it was revealed that, since the shootings, up to 20 people had been arrested for questioning but none had ever been charged.[15]
In January 2010 a reserve PSNI officer (formerly an RUC officer) was arrested by detectives from the Police Ombudsman's Office and questioned over "perverting the course of justice" and "aiding the killers' escape".[16][17] The Ombudsman's Office reported the officer to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS), but in November 2010 the PPS concluded that there was not enough evidence to prosecute. In reply, the Ombudsman's Office stated that it would be considering "disciplinary matters" against the officer.[17]
See also
- List of massacres in the United Kingdom
- Timeline of Ulster Volunteer Force actions
- Greysteel massacre
- A Night in November a play by Marie Jones which references the massacre.
External Links
- Report, Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, 24 June 2011.
References
- ^ a b O'Brien, Brendan. The Long War: The IRA and Sinn Féin. Syracuse University Press, 1999. Page 314.
- ^ Elliott, Sydney. Conflict in Northern Ireland: an encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, 1999. Page 350.
- ^ Sluka, Jeffry. Death Squad: The Anthropology of State Terror. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000. Page 141.
- ^ Cusack, Jim. UVF. Poolbeg, 1997. Page 317.
- ^ a b c d e "The UVF's catalogue of atrocities". BBC News. 18 June 2009.
- ^ a b c The Economist newspaper. 25 June 1994. Pages 25-26. "For the 24 fans gathered in Heights Bar in the quiet village of Loughinisland in County Down, the cheering was followed by carnage. Two men walked into the pub and sprayed the room with bullets, killing six and wounding five, and then fled laughing. The Ulster Volunteer Force, a Protestant terrorist group, later claimed it had carried out the attack. It chose the pub only because it knew that those gathered to support Ireland's team would be Catholic".
- ^ a b c d "RUC informers 'knew about Loughinisland shootings'". The Observer. 13 September 2009.
- ^ a b c d e "Sutton Index of Deaths, 1994". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN). Retrieved 19 February 2010.
- ^ a b c "Loughinisland suspect is detained in England". Belfast Newsletter. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
- ^ a b "Pair held over murders released". BBC News. 6 June 2006. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f "Collusion and cover-up in Loughinisland massacre". An Phoblacht. 17 September 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f "Loughinisland massacre families at Westminster". An Phoblacht. 9 November 2006.
- ^ a b "Police Ombudsman postpones Loughinisland murders report". The Irish Times. 11 September 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
- ^ "Man arrested over six bar murders". BBC News. 30 June 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
- ^ "Loughinisland investigation sees questioned man freed". Down Democrat. 9 July 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
- ^ "Officer arrested over Loughinisland misconduct probe". BBC News. 23 January 2010. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
- ^ a b "Loughinisland officer could face disciplinary action". BBC News. 24 November 2010. Retrieved 08 December 2010.
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