The Loughinisland massacre
[ O'Brien, Brendan. ''The Long War: The IRA and Sinn Féin''. Syracuse University Press, 1999. Page 314.] took place on 18 June 1994 in the small village of
Loughinisland
Loughinisland ( , ) is a small village and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is between Downpatrick and Ballynahinch, about 21 miles (34 kilometres) south of Belfast.
History
The village of Loughinisland grew up in the townland ...
,
County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. Members of the
Ulster Volunteer Force
The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British Army soldier from Northern Ireland. The group undertook an armed campaig ...
(UVF), a
loyalist
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...
paramilitary
A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...
group, burst into a
pub
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
with
assault rifles and fired on the customers,
["The UVF's catalogue of atrocities"](_blank)
. ''BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
''. 18 June 2009. killing six civilians and wounding five. The pub was targeted because it was frequented mainly by Catholics,
['']The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
'' 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". and was crowded with people watching the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
play against
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
in the
1994 FIFA World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...
.
It is thus sometimes called the "World Cup massacre".
The UVF claimed the attack was retaliation for
the killing of three UVF members by the
Irish National Liberation Army
The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA, ga, Arm Saoirse Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group formed on 10 December 1974, during the 30-year period of conflict known as "the Troubles". The group seek ...
(INLA).
There have been allegations that police (
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal ...
)
double agent
In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organi ...
s or
informers
An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informan ...
in the UVF were linked to the massacre and that police protected those informers by destroying evidence and failing to carry out a proper investigation.
["RUC informers 'knew about Loughinisland shootings'"](_blank)
. ''The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
''. 13 September 2009. At the request of the victims' families, the
Police Ombudsman
The Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (OPONI; ga, Ombudsman Póilíní do Thuaisceart Éireann, Ulster-Scots: ''Owersman fur tha Polis o Norlin Airlann'') is a non-departmental public body intended to provide an independent, im ...
investigated the police. In 2011 the Ombudsman concluded that there were major failings in the police investigation, but no evidence that police
colluded
Collusion is a deceitful agreement or secret cooperation between two or more parties to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading or defrauding others of their legal right. Collusion is not always considered illegal. It can be used to att ...
with the UVF. The Ombudsman did not investigate the role of informers and the report was branded a
whitewash
Whitewash, or calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime ( calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk calcium carbonate, (CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes used ...
. The Ombudsman's own investigators demanded to be disassociated from it. The report was quashed, the Ombudsman replaced and a new inquiry ordered.
["Loughinisland massacre: Court quashes Police Ombudsman report"]
. BBC News, 20 December 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
In 2016, a new Ombudsman report concluded that there had been collusion between the police and the UVF, and that the investigation was undermined by the wish to protect informers, but found no evidence police had foreknowledge of the attack. Two documentary films about the massacre, ''Ceasefire Massacre'' and ''No Stone Unturned'', were released in 2014 and 2017 respectively. The latter named the main suspects, one of whom was a
British soldier, and claimed that one of the killers was an informer.
Background
The UVF emerged in the late 1960s, at the beginning of the thirty-year conflict known as
the Troubles
The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...
. The UVF's claimed goal was to fight
Irish republicanism
Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate.
The develop ...
– particularly the
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...
(IRA) – and maintain
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
's status as part of the United Kingdom. Most of its victims were innocent Catholic civilians, who were often killed at random. Whenever it claimed responsibility for attacks, the UVF usually claimed that those targeted were IRA members or were helping the IRA. Other times, attacks on Catholic civilians were claimed as "retaliation" for IRA actions, since the IRA drew almost all of its support from the Catholic population.
Since the 1970s, the UVF had carried out many gun and bomb attacks on Catholic-owned pubs and there had been many incidents of
collusion between the UVF and members of the state security forces. During the early 1990s, loyalists drastically increased their attacks on Catholics and Irish nationalists and – for the first time since the conflict began – were responsible for more deaths than republicans or the security forces.
["Johnny Adair: Feared Loyalist Leader"]
, BBC News, 6 July 2000. Retrieved on 27 February 2007.
On 16 June 1994, the
Irish National Liberation Army
The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA, ga, Arm Saoirse Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group formed on 10 December 1974, during the 30-year period of conflict known as "the Troubles". The group seek ...
(INLA) killed three UVF members –
Trevor King, Colin Craig and David Hamilton – in a drive-by shooting on the
Shankill Road
The Shankill Road () is one of the main roads leading through West Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It runs through the working-class, predominantly loyalist, area known as the Shankill.
The road stretches westwards for about from central Belfast a ...
in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
.
Senior UVF members had been meeting in a building nearby. According to one senior member, after this attack the UVF called on its members to retaliate, for there to be "blood on the streets" and to "kill any Catholic" they could. The following day, the UVF launched two 'retaliatory' attacks. In the first, UVF members shot dead a Catholic civilian taxi driver in
Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,998 at the 2011 Census. It is County Antrim's oldest t ...
.
In the second, they shot dead two Protestant civilians in
Newtownabbey
Newtownabbey ( ) is a large settlement in North Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is separated from the rest of the city by Cavehill and Fortwilliam golf course. It surrounds Carnmoney Hill, and was formed from the merging of severa ...
, whom they believed were Catholics.
The Loughinisland shootings, a day later, are believed to have been further retaliation.
Pub attack
![O'Toole's Pub, The Heights, Loughinisland - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/O%27Toole%27s_Pub%2C_The_Heights%2C_Loughinisland_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1444364.jpg)
On the evening of 18 June 1994, about 24 people
were gathered in The Heights Bar (also known as O'Toole's Pub) watching the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
vs Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
in the
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
.
At 10:10 p.m., two UVF members wearing
boiler suit
A boilersuit (or boiler suit), also known as coveralls, is a loose fitting garment covering the whole body except for the head, hands and feet.
Terminology
The term ''boilersuit'' is most common in the UK, where the 1989 edition of the ''Oxfo ...
s and
balaclavas walked into the bar. One shouted "
Fenian
The word ''Fenian'' () served as an umbrella term for the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and their affiliate in the United States, the Fenian Brotherhood, secret political organisations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries dedicated ...
bastards!" and opened fire on the crowd with a
vz. 58
The vz. 58 (or Sa vz. 58) is a 7.62×39mm assault rifle designed and manufactured in Czechoslovakia and accepted into service in the late 1950s as the 7,62 mm samopal vzor 58 ("7.62mm submachine gun model 58"), replacing the vz. 52 self-l ...
assault rifle, spraying the small room with more than sixty bullets.
[McKittrick, David. ''Lost Lives: The Stories of the Men, Women and Children who Died as a Result of the Northern Ireland Troubles''. Random House, 2001. p.1367] Six men were killed outright,
and five other people were wounded. Witnesses said the gunmen then ran to a getaway car, "laughing".
[ One described "bodies … lying piled on top of each other on the floor".][ The dead were Adrian Rogan (34), Malcolm Jenkinson (52), Barney Green (87), Daniel McCreanor (59), Patrick O'Hare (35) and Eamon Byrne (39), all Catholic civilians.] O'Hare was the brother-in-law of Eamon Byrne and Green was one of the oldest people to be killed during the Troubles.
The UVF claimed responsibility within hours of the attack. It claimed that an Irish republican
Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate.
The develop ...
meeting was being held in the pub and that the shooting was retaliation for the INLA attack.[1st Police Ombudsman's report]
. 24 June 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2013. p.11 Police said there is no evidence the pub had links to republican paramilitary activity,[ and said the attack was purely ]sectarian
Sectarianism is a political or cultural conflict between two groups which are often related to the form of government which they live under. Prejudice, discrimination, or hatred can arise in these conflicts, depending on the political status quo ...
.[2nd Police Ombudsman's report](_blank)
. 9 June 2016. p.2 Journalist Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to:
Arts
* Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
* Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing
Politi ...
wrote in his book ''Loyalists'' that the attack may not have been sanctioned by the UVF leadership.[Taylor, Peter (1999). ''Loyalists''. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. p.230] Police intelligence indicates that the order to retaliate came from the UVF leadership and that its 'Military Commander' had supplied the rifle used. Police believe the attack was carried out by a local UVF unit under the command of a senior member who reported to the leadership in Belfast.
The attack received international media coverage and was widely condemned. Among those who sent messages of sympathy were Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
, Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
and US President Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
. Local Protestant families visited their wounded neighbours in hospital, expressing their shock and disgust.[
]
Aftermath
The massacre ultimately led to a temporary return to tit-for-tat
Tit for tat is an English saying meaning "equivalent retaliation". It developed from "tip for tap", first recorded in 1558.
It is also a highly effective strategy in game theory. An agent using this strategy will first cooperate, then subseque ...
violence. The following month, the IRA shot dead three high-ranking members of the Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and Timeline of Ulster Defence Association act ...
(UDA), the other main loyalist paramilitary group alongside the UVF. It is claimed this was retaliation for the Loughinisland massacre. The IRA stated that the men were directing the UDA's campaign of violence against Catholics.
On 11 July the IRA shot dead Ray Smallwoods
Raymond "Ray" Smallwoods (c. 1949 – 11 July 1994) was a Northern Ireland politician and sometime leader of the Ulster Democratic Party. A leading member of John McMichael's South Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), Smallwoo ...
, a member of the UDA's Inner Council and spokesman for its political wing, the Ulster Democratic Party
The Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) was a small loyalist political party in Northern Ireland. It was established in June 1981 as the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), to replace the New Ulster Political Res ...
. Six days later, UDA gunmen tried to repeat the Loughinisland massacre when they attacked the Hawthorn Inn at nearby Annaclone. About 40 people were inside watching the football World Cup final. The pub's thick doors had been locked and so the gunmen instead fired through the windows, wounding seven people. On 31 July, the IRA shot dead UDA commander Joe Bratty
Joe Bratty (c. 1961 - 31 July 1994) was a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary and a leading member of the Ulster Defence Association's South Belfast Brigade. The head of UDA activity in the area during one of the organisation's most active p ...
and his right-hand man Raymond Elder
Raymond Elder (1962 – 31 July 1994) was a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary and a prominent figure within the Ulster Defence Association's South Belfast Brigade. Suspected by security forces of playing a role in numerous killings, including ...
.
Investigation and campaign by victims' families
The morning after the attack, the getaway car—a red Triumph Acclaim
The Triumph Acclaim is a front-wheel drive compact family saloon/sedan manufactured by British Leyland (BL) from 1981 to 1984. It is based on the Honda Ballade. It used a Honda-designed engine, was manufactured under licence from Honda, and ...
—was found abandoned in a field near Crossgar
Crossgar () is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is about south of Belfast – between Saintfield and Downpatrick. Crossgar had a population 1,892 people in the 2011 UK Census.
History
Crossgar has had an inter ...
. On 4 August, the assault rifle used in the attack was found hidden at a bridge near Saintfield
Saintfield () is a village and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is about halfway between Belfast and Downpatrick on the A7 road. It had a population of 3,381 in the 2011 Census, made up mostly of commuters working in both south a ...
along with a holdall containing boiler suits, balaclavas, gloves, three handguns and ammunition.
The first arrests were made on 18 July 1994, a month after the attack, when six men were arrested as suspects under the terrorism laws. Two of them were re-arrested on 22 August, along with a further suspect. All were released without charge for lack of evidence.
In 2006, following claims that "an RUC agent" had supplied the getaway car to the gunmen, the victims' families lodged an official complaint about the investigation with the Police Ombudsman
The Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (OPONI; ga, Ombudsman Póilíní do Thuaisceart Éireann, Ulster-Scots: ''Owersman fur tha Polis o Norlin Airlann'') is a non-departmental public body intended to provide an independent, im ...
. The complaint included allegations "that the investigation had not been efficiently or properly carried out; no earnest effort was made to identify those responsible; and there were suspicions of state collusion in the murders". It was alleged that police agents or informers within the UVF were linked to the attack, and that the police's investigation was hindered by its desire to protect those informers. The victims' families also alleged that the police had failed to keep in contact with them about the investigation, even about significant developments.
It was revealed that the police had destroyed key evidence and documents. The car had been disposed of in April 1995, ten months into the investigation. In 1998, police documents related to the investigation were destroyed at Gough Barracks
Gough Barracks was a military installation in Armagh, Northern Ireland.
History
The barracks were first established on the site in 1773. In 1873 a system of recruiting areas based on counties was instituted under the Cardwell Reforms and the bar ...
RUC station, allegedly because of fears they were contaminated by asbestos
Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...
. It is believed they included the original notes, made during interviews of suspects in 1994 and 1995. A hair follicle had been recovered from the car but nobody had yet been charged, while the other items (balaclavas, gloves, etc.) had not been subjected to new tests made possible by advances in forensic science. It was alleged that the rifle used in the attack had been part of a shipment smuggled into Northern Ireland for loyalists by British agent Brian Nelson.
A key eyewitness claimed she gave police a description of the getaway driver within hours of the massacre, but that police failed to record important information she gave them and never asked her to identify suspects. A serving policeman later gave the woman's personal details to a relative of the suspected getaway driver. Police then visited her and advised her to increase her security for fear she could be shot.
In 2008 it was revealed that, since the shootings, up to 20 people had been arrested for questioning but none had ever been charged. In January 2010 a reserve Police Service of Northern Ireland
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ga, Seirbhís Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ')
is the police, police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabu ...
(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". Later that year, the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) concluded there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute. In reply, the Ombudsman's Office said it would consider disciplinary action against the officer.
First Police Ombudsman's report
In September 2009 it was revealed that a Police Ombudsman's report on the killings was to be published on 15 September. At the same time, some details of the report were made known. Police sources said the report would expose the role of four RUC informers in "ordering or organising" the attack. The report was also said to highlight a series of major failings in the police investigation. Shortly after these revelations, the Ombudsman postponed publication of the report as "new evidence" had emerged.
The Ombudsman's report was finally published on 24 June 2011. It said that the police investigation had lacked "diligence, focus and leadership"; that there were failings in record management; that significant lines of enquiry were not identified; and that police failed to communicate effectively with the victims' families. It said that there was "insufficient evidence of collusion" and "no evidence that police could have prevented the attack". The report was harshly criticised for not investigating the role of RUC informers inside the UVF. Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland ...
leader Margaret Ritchie said the findings were flawed and contrary "to a mountain of evidence of collusion". She added: "It completely lets down the victims' families and the wider community. he Ombudsmanpaints a picture of an incompetent keystone cops type of police force when the reality was that the RUC and Special Branch were rotten to the core". Niall Murphy, the solicitor for the victims' relatives, described the report's findings as "timid, mild and meek". He added: "The ombudsman has performed factual gymnastics to ensure there was no evidence of collusion in his conclusion". The relatives stated that they believe the report proves police colluded with those involved and made "no real attempt to catch the killers".
After the report's publication, there were calls for the Ombudsman, Al Hutchinson
Al Hutchinson is a former RCMP Assistant Commissioner, who served as the Police Oversight Commissioner in Northern Ireland, who in November 2007 became the second Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland.
A graduate of Carleton University and Quee ...
, to resign, and the victims' families began a High Court challenge to have the report's findings quashed. In September 2011, the Criminal Justice Inspectorate (CJI) criticized Hutchinson and recommended that the Ombudsman's Office be suspended from investigating historic murders because its independence had been compromised. CJI inspectors found "major inconsistencies" in the Ombudsman's report. Ombudsman investigators had demanded to be disassociated from the report because their original findings "were dramatically altered without reason". Ombudsman investigators also believed that key intelligence had been deliberately withheld from them. In 2012, the Belfast High Court quashed the report's findings and Hutchinson was replaced by Michael Maguire, who ordered a new inquiry into the massacre.[
]
Second Police Ombudsman's report
A second Police Ombudsman's report was published in June 2016. The Ombudsman, Michael Maguire, stated: "I have no hesitation in unambiguously determining that collusion
Collusion is a deceitful agreement or secret cooperation between two or more parties to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading or defrauding others of their legal right. Collusion is not always considered illegal. It can be used to att ...
is a significant feature of the Loughinisland murders". Among the Ombudsman's findings and conclusions were that:
*The rifle used in the attack came from a shipment of weapons smuggled into Northern Ireland by loyalists in 1988. Police were aware of the smuggling operation, as informers were involved in it. Much of the weaponry was seized, but "a significant proportion" was not, "despite a number of indicators as to where those weapons could be found".
*RUC Special Branch identified five suspects to the investigation team the day after the attack. Suspects did not begin to be arrested until one month later. The Ombudsman said these "unexplained delays" meant that "evidential opportunities were probably lost".
*One of the suspects was an informer,[2nd Police Ombudsman's report](_blank)
. 9 June 2016. p.117 and Special Branch did not pass on all relevant intelligence to those investigating the massacre, in order to "protect" its informers within the UVF. The Ombudsman concluded that the wish to protect informers influenced policing activity and undermined the investigation.
*The security forces in the area had been "compromised" by having associations with, and sympathies for, loyalist paramilitaries. UVF members had close relatives who worked at local police stations and within the police force itself. A police officer allegedly warned chief suspects on 21 August 1994 that they would be arrested the next morning. The Ombudsman said it was "inexcusable" that police had not investigated this.
The Republic of Ireland's Foreign Minister called the Ombudsman's findings "deeply disturbing".
Documentary
In August 2016, it was reported that Oscar-winning film-maker Alex Gibney
Philip Alexander Gibney (; born October 23, 1953) is an American documentary film director and producer. In 2010, ''Esquire'' magazine said Gibney "is becoming the most important documentarian of our time".
Gibney's works as director include '' ...
was making a documentary film about the massacre, called ''No Stone Unturned''. The film's name comes from Claire Rogan's (widow of Aidan Rogan) statement that police had assured the families they would leave "no stone unturned" in the investigation. Their daughter Emma Rogan
Emma Rogan (born 27 June 1986) is a Sinn Féin politician from Loughinisland, County Down, in Northern Ireland. She attended St Colmcille's High School, Crossgar.
She served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the South Down const ...
—later a Member of the Legislative Assembly
A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...
(MLA) for South Down—said the film would be "a permanent memory to the victims and the injustice done". Gibney had earlier directed a shorter documentary about the massacre, named "Ceasefire Massacre", broadcast on 29 April 2014 by ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
, as part of their ''30 for 30
''30 for 30'' is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes three "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series un ...
'' series. ''No Stone Unturned'' was released in November 2017.
The film named the main suspects in the massacre, one of whom had been a soldier in the British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
at the time. It claims that in 1995 the wife of a main suspect anonymously told police he was the gunman, and named the others involved. These anonymous messages were noted in the Police Ombudsman's report. Police allegedly recognized her voice because she had worked in a local police station. She and her husband had been arrested and she admitted making the claims, but they had been released without charge.
The film also claims that one of the killers was an informer, and an ex-police officer told the film-makers that Special Branch may have had foreknowledge of the attack. According to the officer, Special Branch told him there was an arrest operation ready to catch the UVF unit, after receiving intelligence from an informer. The informer told Special Branch hours before the attack that it had been called off because of problems with the getaway car. The arrest operation was cancelled, but the attack went ahead.
On 31 August 2018 the PSNI arrested Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey, two journalists who researched the event, in connection with the theft of material relating to the Ombudsman's investigation, handling stolen goods, and possible breaches of the Official Secrets Act
An Official Secrets Act (OSA) is legislation that provides for the protection of state secrets and official information, mainly related to national security but in unrevised form (based on the UK Official Secrets Act 1911) can include all infor ...
and data protection laws.
In 2020, the High Court in Belfast found the PSNI had wrongfully raided the homes of Birney and McCaffrey.
Commemoration
On the 18th anniversary of the attack, the Republic of Ireland football team again played Italy – this time in Euro 2012
The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...
at Poznań
Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...
, Poland. The Irish team wore black armbands during the match, to commemorate those killed while watching the same teams playing 18 years before. The idea was proposed by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) and backed by UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
. Some prominent loyalists berated the move. South Belfast UDA brigadier Jackie McDonald
John "Jackie" McDonald (born 2 August 1947) is a Northern Irish loyalist and the incumbent Ulster Defence Association (UDA) brigadier for South Belfast, having been promoted to the rank by former UDA commander Andy Tyrie in 1988, following J ...
said that it was "bringing politics into sport" and would lead to "dire repercussions" for football. Another leading loyalist, Winston Churchill Rea
Winston Churchill Rea (born 1950 or 1951), known as Winkie Rea, is a Northern Irish former loyalist paramilitary commander who was the former leader of the Red Hand Commando (RHC) loyalist paramilitary organisation that was in Northern Ireland du ...
, also raised concerns about the tribute.["Ireland's Euro 2012 armband match tribute to UVF massacre victims slammed". ''Belfast Telegraph''. Brian Rowan. 14 June 2012](_blank)
Retrieved 19 June 2012 The victims' families supported the gesture.
See also
*''A Night in November
''A Night in November'' is a 1994 monodrama written by Marie Jones about one man's struggle with national identity during The Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Plot summary
''A Night in November'' follows Kenneth Norman McCallister, a Protestant Dep ...
'', a play by Marie Jones
Sarah Marie Jones (born 1951) is a Belfast-based actress and playwright. Born into a working-class Protestant family, Jones was an actress for several years before turning her hand to writing. Her plays have been staged on Broadway theatre, Br ...
, which references the massacre
*Greysteel massacre
The Greysteel massacreCrawford, Colin. ''Inside the UDA''. Pluto Press, 2003. p. 193 was a mass shooting that took place on the evening of 30 October 1993 in Greysteel, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Members of the Ulster Defence Associa ...
*List of massacres in Ireland
This is a list of incidents that happened on the island of Ireland (encompassing what exists today as the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) and are commonly called massacres. All those that took place during the late 20th century were p ...
*Timeline of Ulster Volunteer Force actions
This is a timeline of actions by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group since 1966. It includes actions carried out by the Red Hand Commando (RHC), a group integrated into the UVF shortly after their formation i ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loughinisland Massacre
1994 crimes in the United Kingdom
1994 in Northern Ireland
Attacks on bars in Northern Ireland
Deaths by firearm in Northern Ireland
June 1994 crimes
June 1994 events in the United Kingdom
Mass murder in 1994
1990s mass shootings in the United Kingdom
Mass shootings in Northern Ireland
Massacres in Northern Ireland
Police misconduct in Northern Ireland
Republic of Ireland at the 1994 FIFA World Cup
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Troubles in County Down
Ulster Volunteer Force actions
Terrorist incidents in the United Kingdom in 1994
1990s murders in Northern Ireland
1994 crimes in Ireland
1994 mass shootings in Europe
Massacres in 1994