Barry McElduff has resigned as the MP for West Tyrone; His statement The reason I am doing so is because of the consequences of the Twitter video which has caused such controversy over the last week. “But the deep and unnecessary hurt this video caused the families of the victims of Kingsmill is my greatest regret. “I again offer my profound apology to those families and to the wider victims community. “Had I been conscious of the connection to the …
Much ink has been spilled about the sorry Barry McElduff/Kingsmills loaf saga. Susan McKay’s analysis in Tuesday’s Irish Times is one of the most insightful, but bleak, contributions. It’s worth reading her full text, which brings her to this conclusion: The absence of reconciliation has never been more starkly apparent, and as usual, those most hurt in the past are hurt again. One paragraph in McKay’s article jumped out for me, because though tragic, it demonstrated for me that there …
Andrew described SF’s outreach as that of a baby and a cat. If Barry McElduff’s tweet is anything to go by there’s little innocence in the way SF actually see unionists. Barry has now rather implausibly claimed that it was unintended. This Twitter exchange in Irish, I had this morning, I think covers all probable bases on that: Samhlaigh, le tamall anuas tá scéal na coscartha ar an nuacht. Chuaigh sé isteach i siopa le cara, roghnaigh sé arán le …
The Kingsmills inquest has been going on now for a couple of weeks. A new twist has, however, just been announced. Last week we were told that a finger print expert decided spontaneously to look again at a palm print on the get away vehicle and that a match had been found. It has now been claimed (unsurprisingly) that the palm print belongs to a well known republican. Little more surprisingly this republican is one who opposes the current Sinn …
The ongoing saga of the Raymond McCreesh play park took another turn yesterday. Bea Wotton the now 88 year old mother of one of the IRA victims at Kingsmills was granted leave for a Judicial Review of the decision to name a play park in Newry after McCreesh. The park was named after the IRA Hunger Striker (who was arrested in possession of one of the weapons used in the Kingsmills murders) in 2001. In 2014 the Equality Commission ruled …
The Newry play park named after IRA hunger striker (and leading suspect in the Kingsmills murders) Raymond McCreesh has kept its name. Unionists on Newry council called a vote on changing the name. One SDLP councillor abstained on the vote whilst the others were not present: something denounced by victims’ campaigner Kenny Donaldson. This despite the SDLP leader Alasdair McDonnell opposing the local SDLP’s previous failure to back a name change. Unionists have vowed to continue the fight when the …
The Equality Commission has produced its draft report on Newry and Mourne Council’s decision to name a children’s play park after IRA terrorist and hunger striker Raymond McCreesh. The play park had initially been called the Patrick Street Play Park but in 2001 its name was changed to honour McCreesh who was captured in 1977 in possession of one of the guns used in the Kingsmills massacre the preceding year. In 2012 the Sinn Fein and SDLP majority on the …
The Kingsmills families have had a number of meetings recently in their attempts to get justice for their relatives murdered by the IRA in 1976. They met David Ford who has apparently promised to press for closer cooperation with the RoI government over the matter. Danny Kennedy who has been involved in the campaign said: “Thirty-five years may have elapsed since that dreadful night and much has changed. One thing that has not changed is the determination of the victims’ …
Today is the 35th anniversary of the Kingsmills massacre. There was due to be a remembrance service this morning at the site of the murders. The News Letter is reporting that the HET is due to release its report into the murders next week. It is in the context of events such as Kingsmills that one should view the claims of the supposed Republican “intellectual” Sheehan that the conflict here was “quite civilised.” From the News Letter Colin Worton was …
