Attorney General Brenda King has directed new inquests into five mid-Ulster killings.
The families think that if allowed to proceed, these inquests will implicate the British army’s Ulster Defence Regiment 8th Battalion, with direct links to other mid-Ulster murders, and a pattern of crown collusion around the six counties.
The families of Phelim McNally, Thomas Casey, Sean Anderson, Dwayne O’Donnell and Thomas Armstrong have fought a heartbreaking legal battle just to get this far.
From the outset, local observers said the Ulster Volunteer Force was being used as a cover name by the UDR.
After one related murder in the area, that of Liam Ryan, former MP Bernadette Devlin McAliskey told reporters that “in Tyrone as in many parts of the north, the Ulster Defence Regiment and UVF are virtually the same thing”.
When these families saw the Royal Ulster Constabulary showing little interest and less sympathy in investigating the killings of their loved ones, they made statements to Ms McAliskey and Fr Joe McVeigh, hoping public interviews would somehow lead to justice.
When they were told that a Historical Enquiries Team (HET) had been created within the PSNI to investigate legacy cases, these families engaged. They then waited years, only to see the HET disbanded in 2014 after scathing findings of favouritism for crown forces. They waited still more years just to obtain a copy of the HET report into two of the killings. It was finally released in 2021.
Relatives followed the Roseanne Mallon inquest and saw hidden evidence uncovered linking the weapons used in these killings to other murders.
They saw other families uncover truth about collusion in the Loughinisland, Operation Greenwich, and Operation Achille ombudsman inquiries.
They then fought for and were promised a collective ombudsman investigation into 60 murders by Dr Michael Maguire in 2016. Operation Ashton has yet to begin.
The bereaved families and their solicitor, Gavin Booth, now face a race against time and British amnesty shut-down deadlines.
Will the PSNI and Ministry of Defence provide timely discovery so the inquests can reach verdicts before the May deadline?
Will the crown just deny, delay and run out the clock?
How much more heartbreak must families face in order to get justice?
MARTIN GALVIN
New York
Timely call to save Assembly Rooms
Bernard Conlon’s letter (August 21) calling for urgent steps to save the historic Assembly Rooms for public and cultural use is indeed timely.
Demonstrations have been held outside the building urging action to achieve this but thus far without effect. With a view to mounting a co-ordinated campaign for this purpose, the Assembly Rooms Alliance was formed and on a wide-ranging basis in February.
We had been encouraged by the mandate given by councillors to their officers to enter into negotiations with the owners, Cornerstone. In February we were told informally that negotiations were under way. To allow a chance for those to succeed the Alliance agreed to stay further action pending any outcome. Now, and again informally, we understand that these negotiations, if indeed they actually occurred, have failed.
Now that a new council has been elected it is imperative that our elected representatives take determined action. For a start we, the public, should be formally informed of the basis on which the council sought to engage with Cornerstone.
We understand that while discussions were still underway commercial confidentiality had to apply, but if these are at an end that excuse no longer applies.
The council should engage with the Alliance directly to consider what options are available going forward, and in this respect there are possibilities of securing significant additional funding.
An opportunity to highlight the issues concerned will arise on Saturday September 30 when a major ‘Harps Alive’ festival will be held in the city. One event will be a ‘manifestation’ outside the Assembly Rooms at 2.30pm. What is said then will depend on how responsive the council is in the meantime and what news there is of any positive developments.
Those seeking further information should contact us at reclaimtheenlightenment@gmail.com
JOHN GRAY
The Assembly Rooms Alliance
Emotional sanitization of abortion
Child killer Lucy Letby has sickened everyone with her vile crimes.
Letby will serve life in prison.
The murders have brought issues to the fore that had been on the fringes of our societal radar for some time now. Questions have been raised on the subject of hanging, the handling of whistle blowers at the NHS, the court procedure in the trial, and abortion.
The Letby murders are incomprehensible. In contrast, why is it that we as a society do not have the same disgust towards abortion? The means by which abortions are now carried in many parts of the UK and Ireland hold equal revulsion to those of us not gullible enough in falling for the emotional sanitisation of state-endorsed terminations.
How is it that we fall, by default, into two separate emotional states and responses to two different scenarios on the brutal destruction of innocent human life? Why is it we accept one as vile and despicable, while we treat the other as normal and compassionate?
MICHAEL CAIRNS
Belfast BT14
Who would have believed it?
People in the United Kingdom are no longer ruled from the Westminster parliament. People from the Republic are no longer ruled from Dáil Éireann. We are all ruled by global bodies like the World Health Organization, the World Economic Forum, the World Trade Organisation, etc. The name gives it away. BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street manage $22 trillion in assets which is the equivalent of more than half of the combined value of all shares for companies in the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index. They hold national governments to ransom and influence national economies to a degree that is the envy of chancellors. As well as evidence that we aren’t living in democracies, it also shows that the border between the UK and the RoI is irrelevant. Whether it exists or doesn’t won’t make an iota of difference to the lives of people living north or south. But the bluff continues. We still vote for border-centred political parties. Western countries are still considered democracies. However, western countries have surpassed communist countries in their quest for centralised control. Treated as opposing poles of the political spectrum, the EU actually mirrors the former Soviet Union with the European Commission mirroring the former Soviet Politburo. Who would have believed it?
LOUIS SHAWCROSS
Hillsborough, Co Down
