A behind bars meeting involving paramilitary leaders took place in a bid to avert a sectarian bloodbath after a series of civilian killings in the 1970s, newly unearthed documents reveal.
The unprecedented meeting took place on the Long Kesh prison site just days after six Catholic men and ten Protestant workers were gunned down in a tit-for-tat series of attacks in the first days of 1976.
The killings began when Catholic brothers, John Martin Reavey (24) and Brian Reavey (22) were shot dead at their Whitecross home in south Armagh on January 4. A third brother Anthony (17) died weeks later from his injuries.
Three members of the O’Dowd family were killed near Gilford, in Co Down, minutes later.
Both attacks were carried out by the Glenanne Gang, which included members of the RUC, UDR and UVF.
It is thought to have been responsible for around 120 murders.
A day after the Reavey and O’Dowd murders, ten Protestant workmen were singled out and shot dead after the minibus they were travelling in was stopped by armed men near Kingsmill and close to where the Reavey brothers had been killed.
While the attack was later claimed by the South Armagh Republican Action Force, earlier this year a coroner found the IRA was responsible.
It has now emerged that security forces were on high alert in the days after the deadly round of attacks as fears over loyalist reprisals grew.
British army documents uncovered by the charity Paper Trail also reveal that that military chiefs deployed a ‘Spearhead Battalion’ after the attacks.
The uncovered documents also confirm that in the days after the attacks British military intelligence said a report, “whose reliability cannot be judged”, stated “that UVF members have reconnoitered a Catholic Church, near Richhill in Co Armagh, for a sectarian attack”.
It added that in the Lurgan and Portadown areas “a number of buses and minibuses carrying Catholics are believed to be the targets”.
“The most dangerous threats are to site workers traveling between Banbridge and Newry (passing the scene of the Miami Showband incident) and to workers at the Moy Chicken factory living at Derrygonnelly,” the document added.
British army logs recorded on January 6, 1976, listed “4 RC church services” in Lurgan, including at St Peter’s Church and St Paul’s Church, adding that “the RUC have asked for protection”.
It has previously been reported that among the targets being considered by loyalists was a Catholic primary school.
It has now emerged that a series of meetings were held by paramilitary leaders at the Long Kesh prison site within days of the Kingsmill killings.
Military papers reveal there were a flurry of visits to the prison on January 8 involving the leaders of various factions, including the IRA, the Official IRA and the IRSP (the political wing of the INLA) on the republican side. The UVF and the UDA were represented on the loyalist side.
The document names the Provisional IRA ‘Officer Commanding’ (OC) David Morley and another person whose name has been redacted.
Official IRA OC Seamus Clarke has also been identified along with his “IRSP” counterpart Frank Gallagher.
Visits also took place with former UVF prison OC Gusty Spence and the UDAs James Craig.
The names of those who visited the prison paramilitary leaders have been redacted.
A British army intelligence report highlighted concerns that violence could escalate after the Kingsmill attack.
It also reveals that paramilitary leaders met in a room in the detainee’s hospital block on January 9.
“An unprecedented event occurred when, prompted by considerable anxiety resulting from the recent sectarian murders, the loyalist and republican leaders in HMP (Her Majesty’s Prison) Maze met in one room in the detainee’s hospital block on 9 January,” it states.
“The meetings of the previous day presumably arranged us the basis of these negotiations was that the random sectarian murders must stop and that the prisoners themselves must bring pressure to bear on their parent organizations in order to achieve this.”
The intelligence document also highlights what was believed to be an agenda for the meeting, which included “concrete proposals to stop a sectarianism…..followed by a declaration, jointly made, giving specific undertakings that sectarian killings will be eliminated”.
It as also suggested that as an alternative “each individual organisation issue a similar declaration, simultaneously, on a definite date to be named forthwith”.
The meeting schedule included a proposal for “lines of communication be set up between organizations for the purpose of quelling rumours or clarifying any misunderstandings that may arise”.
The paper reveals that there was also a plan “that discussions be undertaken to attempt to arrive at solutions to our problems, (which established politicians have so far failed to do)”.
Those in attendance considered a suggestion that a “serious attempt be made to find a compromise between Protestant and Catholic working class, as the only way to avoid both Social and Economic disaster”.
The British army intelligence document claims that the paramilitary groups discussed what groups of people could be targeted.
“The major fear of the paramilitary organisations is that they will lose complete control due to the sectarian killings,” the document states.
“It is believed that the status of “combatants” was also discussed; whether for instance an off duty UDR man or a reserve RUC man was a fair target; or Provisional Sinn Fein as well as PIRA,” it said.
“At this stage it is not known whether any firm conclusions were reached.”
Ciarán MacAirt, of the charity Paper Trail, said the Kingsmill inquest, which returned its findings earlier this year, failed to deliver full discovery.
“Inquests should allay rumour, fear and suspicion,” he said.
“A reading of the coroner’s findings shows why the suspicions remain.
“The use of Public Interest Immunity certificates during the inquest north of the border and closed procedures that barred the families and their legal representatives from hearing evidence south of the border has caused further hurt to the families and raised grave suspicions.
Mr MacAirt said relatives of the dead “have been poorly served by both the British and Irish states”.
“They deserve a full inquiry examining this terrible sectarian crime and related murders during the period,” he added.
