I can't believe I'm here 50 years on and still seeking justice... but I'm not letting them get away with this'

MARK BAIN, Belfast Telegraph, January 3rd, 2025

EUGENE REAVEY'S THREE BROTHERS WERE MURDERED BY UVF'S NOTORIOUS GLENANNE GANG IN 1976 IN ATROCITY HEAVILY LINKED TO COLLUSION. HE REMAINS DETERMINED TO UNEARTH THE TRUTH

Ask Eugene Reavey whether he ever sits quietly and wonders what his life would have been like had things been different, the answer comes quick and simple: “Every single day.”

Sitting in the kitchen of his house on Kingsmill Road just outside the village of Whitecross in south Armagh, you're very quickly made to feel right at home. The conversation flows as freely as the tea.

But the memories of the night three of Eugene's brothers were murdered — two killed instantly and a third, the youngest, dying a few weeks later in hospital from a brain haemorrhage — are never far away.

John Martin (25) and Brian (22) were killed in the family home on January 4, 1976.

Anthony (17), although he managed to flee, died on January 30. The three had stayed behind that night while the rest of the family had gone to visit an aunt.

The killing of the Reavey brothers, the title given to the book written by Eugene and published last year, remains one of the most controversial of the Troubles. And it's one, as you might expect, that has had a profound impact on the Reavey family.

Just 10 minutes later, 15 miles away, another Catholic family was targeted. Joseph O'Dowd (61) and his nephews Barry (24) and Declan (19) were murdered in their home.

The following night 10 Protestant workmen were gunned down by the IRA at Kingsmill.

‘Still fighting for the truth to come out’

“I can't believe I'm sitting here 50 years later still fighting for the truth to get out there,” said Eugene, now approaching his 77th birthday.

Much has been said about what happened that Sunday evening. Many words have been written, not least now by Eugene himself.

But they are words he remains steadfast in saying, that the infamous Glenanne gang, aided and abetted by members of the security forces, targeted the Reaveys and O'Dowds — and that ever since the avenues of investigation have been sealed.

It's approaching lunchtime a couple of days before the 50th anniversary and Eugene has not long returned from his morning ritual of tending to the beef cattle he keeps on his farmland along Kingsmill Road.

Less than a mile away a monument to those Protestant workers killed a night later stands by the roadside.

“I can remember the reporter Ivan Little had been down to interview my father,” said Eugene.

“He had asked for no one else to suffer, no retaliations. But I was the first car past the scene of Kingsmill on my way to the hospital that night.”

The rumours were out there of family connections to the IRA, rumours that were to hurt the family for years to come.

“None of us had anything to do with the IRA,” Eugene said, as he has countless times in the last 50 years.

“All us boys had worked hard to a trade. Outside of work and family, we lived for GAA. We were nationalist, yes, but never republican. There's a difference that not everyone wanted to understand.

“That hurt my family. They were difficult times for us all. Our home had been open to everyone. We had regular ceilis. There was rarely a moment of peace and quiet. But after the killings, my mother never went back.”

He added: “I made a point of going to see her every day.

“But it all hit her hard. She was a woman of great faith and I'd see her praying every day for people she would have known around the area. She always, always ended by praying for the people who killed her sons.

“That's something I couldn't bring myself to do back then. It's only in later years that I've begun to understand where she was coming from.

A burden to be carried

“I remember my father, a couple of nights before he died, asking me if I would see if I could get justice for the boys. I thought that would be a simple thing. I didn't realise the circumstances of the whole thing. I do now... he told me five names.”

That's a burden Eugene has carried since his father's death in 1981.

“It was only when the HET (Historical Enquiries) team arrived in 2006 to start their investigation that I rid myself of some of that burden. That they knew what I knew gave me some comfort, but still the truth wasn't coming out.

“I'd wanted to keep the children as far away from all of this as I could.

“But there were days when one of them would come home from school crying, saying the other children had been telling how their father had been responsible for shooting all those people at Kingsmill.

“That was the legacy others placed on my family.”

In 1999 the late Rev Ian Paisley stated in the House of Commons that Eugene was involved in the Kingsmill massacre — a claim later rubbished by police. Paisley never apologised for the slur.

He added: “I was very jittery for a long, long time after the killings. I was told to change my route to work every day. You wonder to yourself when is this ever going to go away.

“I only got rid of some of the baggage when the HET team wrote down the same names my father had known as responsible back in January 1976.”

Much of the detail Eugene has further offloaded in his recent book on his brothers and their murders.

Obviously, this time of the year is a difficult one for him.

He said: “I'm always OK up until Christmas. There's something in me that changes once Christmas Day is over. It's from Boxing Day until that anniversary Mass that's difficult. Once the Mass is out of the way, I'm OK again.

“Every week I go to visit John Martin, Brian and Anthony. There's a sense of peace when I'm there. I've always said to myself I'm not letting them get away with this.

“That might be a burden others don't wish to carry, that and the farm keeps me sane. I can go out there every morning and talk away to the yokes and they'll not answer me back!”

The 50th anniversary Mass is on Sunday at 10am in Carrickananny Chapel, Whitecross.

‘I’ll tell all if I am not given full disclosure’

CONNLA YOUNG CRIME AND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, Irish News, January 3rd, 2025

THE campaigning brother of three Catholic men killed by loyalists has threatened to “tell all he knows” unless the PSNI and British army provide full disclosure to a court about the suspected collusion case.

Eugene Reavey was speaking as his family prepares to mark the 50th anniversary of his brothers’ murders tomorrow.

John Martin Reavey (24) and his brother Brian (22) were killed when a UVF gang burst into their Whitecross home in south Armagh and opened fire as they watched television on January 4, 1976.

A third brother, Anthony (17), was injured after he tried to hide under a bed and died several weeks later on January 30.

Within minutes of the shooting three members of the O’Dowd family were also gunned down by the same loyalist gang near Gilford, Co Down.

Barry O’Dowd (24) and his brother Declan (16) died along with their uncle Joe (61) after armed and masked men burst into their home during a family reunion.

£10,000 in ongoing costs

Last month, a judge ordered the PSNI and Ministry of Defence to pay £10,000 costs linked to ongoing delays in the Reavey Brothers’ case and that of GAA supporter Sean Farmer, who was killed by the UVF along with Co Derry man Colm McCartney, in south Armagh in August 1975.

The £10,000 award has been donated to charities chosen by the Reavey and Farmer families.

Both families are suing the PSNI and MoD over allegations of collusion in the murders of their loved ones.

‘There’s no justice for the innocent’

To date both state agencies have produced only non-sensitive material to the High Court.

The day after the Reavey and O’Dowd killings, January 5 1976, 10 Protestant men were shot dead near Kingsmill, south Armagh, as they travelled home from work.

That attack was later claimed by a group calling itself the South Armagh Republican Action Force, which claimed it was in reprisal for the Reavey and O’Dowd murders.

PIRA and UVF linked to killings

Last year a coroner found the IRA was responsible.

The Mid Ulster UVF unit is believed to have included members of the RUC, UDR and Territorial Army.

Its activities have been reviewed by the Kenova investigation team as part of Operation Denton, which is expected to be published soon.

In a new book published last year Eugene Reavey provided new details about the killings.

The Killing of the Reavey Brothers: British Murder and Cover Up in Northern Ireland also includes a detailed list of suspects.

Mr Reavey, who has campaigned on behalf of his murdered brothers for five decades, has now threatened to ‘tell all’, including information not already in the public domain, if ongoing state delays are not resolved.

“I am hopeful that before the end of April this case will be settled,” he said.

“They can’t fight this case, and if they do they are going to come out of it very, very badly.

“If I have to go into the box, which I hope I don’t, I’ll not be afraid to say what I think. That’s one thing you can be assured of. If I have to go into the box, I’ll tell what I know.”

Mr Reavey observed that many of the suspects in the case have never been arrested.

“There’s something wrong somewhere, isn’t there?” Mr Reavey voiced his frustration at ongoing delays in the case.

“If we look back to 1976, never in my dreams did I think that 50 years later that I would still be sitting here, thinking about how can I get them to come to the table, or how can I get any justice,” he said.

‘No such thing as justice for the innocent’

“There’s no such thing as justice for the innocent, honest to God, it would drive you nuts.”

Mr Reavey had been hopeful that his case could have been finished before Christmas and that “we could maybe hand it over to a new generation”.

“But it’s still there and it takes an awful lot out of you. This year I have found it to hard work, whereas other years I couldn’t wait to get at it. It’s a case of fatigue and exhaustion.”

Mr Reavey said he has told PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher that ongoing disclosure delays have damaged the reputation of his force, of which Catholics make up around 32%.

“He was complaining to me about no nationalists joining the PSNI,” Mr Reavey said.

“Well, I said, ‘Jon… all young people around here are aware of the Reavey Brothers case, because we have pushed it hard everywhere’,” he said.

“I said ‘Jon, your inaction is not helping your own case’. And I said, ‘I don’t know how you are going to get young people to join the PSNI when all they have to do is look down the road at the Reavey Brothers and say, well, those fellas are looking justice for 50 years and why would we join the PSNI?”

Anniversay Mass tomorrow

The Reavey Brothers will be remembered during an anniversary Mass at the Church of St Brigid, Carrickananney, near Whitecross, at 10am tomorrow.

A spokeswoman for the PSNI said: “We are committed to being representative of the community we serve.

“Policing is a career that makes a difference to our society and as such we seek to recruit talented, dedicated people from all backgrounds.

“We will be launching a new student officer recruitment campaign in the New Year which will continue to engage with all communities, and would strongly encourage anyone who is interested in a career in policing to come and talk to us about future opportunities.”

The spokeswoman said the PSNI puts “significant effort into our outreach and engagement activity”.

“We acknowledge that there are challenges when recruiting from those backgrounds that are underrepresented but this is something we are determined to address,” she added.

Unsolved murders of Scottish soldiers in 1971 prompts call for truth

DAVID YOUNG, Irish News, January 3rd, 2026

A FIVE-decade quest for answers about the unsolved murders of three Scottish soldiers will only end when the truth is finally uncovered, a relative has vowed.

Brothers John and Joseph McCaig from Ayr, who were 17 and 18 respectively, and Dougald McCaughey (23), from Glasgow, were shot dead by the IRA in Belfast in March 1971.

The bodies of the three friends, who were the first off-duty soldiers murdered in the Troubles, were found on a roadside in Ligoniel in north Belfast.

The young men, who served with the Royal Highland Fusiliers, were lured to their deaths from a city centre pub. No-one has been convicted of the murders.

Fusilier McCaughey’s cousin David, from Glasgow, has been actively campaigning on the case for 17 years – initially with efforts to have memorials erected in north Belfast and later in legal attempts to seek fresh investigations.

While several suspects thought to have been involved in the murders are now dead, Mr McCaughey believes others linked to the killings are still alive.

But, with the 55th anniversary approaching, he made clear he was now more focused on securing answers and some form of closure for the families, rather than criminal convictions.

“There’s stuff in those files the government doesn’t want people to see. We’ll just keeping going for the truth. Answers would help. Answers give people closure. There’ll never be closure if you don’t get the answers

David McCaughey

“It’s a scar that’s never healed and never will heal,” he said.

“That’s one of worst things that can ever happen to someone – losing a loved one to murder. It’s one thing losing somebody through natural cases – that’s hard. I lost my dad 25 years ago and that’s still sore but it’s a different ball game losing somebody who has been violently murdered. It doesn’t matter who it was, anybody throughout the world – it’s horrible.”

Mr McCaughey (57), is calling for state archive files on the killings to be released in unredacted form.

“There’s stuff in those files the government doesn’t want people to see,” he said.

“We’ll just keeping going for the truth. Answers would help. Answers give people closure. There’ll never be closure if you don’t get the answers.

“We’ve been getting so far and you are getting to a door and you’re opening that door and, as soon as you walk through that door, ‘bang’ there’s another door. And then another door.

“You seem to be gaining a wee bit of ground and then ‘bang’ another door closes on you. But we’ll just keeping going.”

Victims’ families remember 16 sectarian killings in 24 hours in North

Martin Doyle, Irish Times, January 3rd, 2025

Relatives of the Kingsmill, O’Dowd and Reavey murder victims reflect on the 50th anniversary of the January 1976 killings

Families will gather tomorrow in south Armagh and in Co Down to mark the 50th anniversary of the murders of 10 Protestant and six Catholic civilians within a 24-hour period.

Shortly after 6pm on Sunday, January 4th, 1976, near-simultaneous UVF gun attacks on two Catholic homes took the lives of brothers John Martin (24), Brian (22) and Anthony Reavey (17) in Whitecross, near Newry, Co Down – Anthony died 26 days later in hospital – and brothers Barry (24) and Declan O’Dowd (19) and their uncle Joe O’Dowd (61) in Ballydougan, near Lurgan, Co Armagh.

Just under 24 hours later, republican paramilitaries ambushed a factory minibus at Kingsmill after four Catholics got off in Whitecross. After ordering the sole remaining Catholic on board to flee, they opened fire, murdering 10 Protestants. One man survived despite being shot 18 times. The South Armagh Republican Action Force claimed the deaths, but ballistic evidence later confirmed that the IRA was responsible.

Tomorrow morning, more than 100 members of the O’Dowd family will attend a memorial Mass in St Colman’s Church, near Ballydougan. The Reaveys are to gather for a memorial Mass in St Brigid’s Church, Carrickananney.

At 3pm, relatives of the Kingsmill victims – John Bryans (46), Robert Chambers (19), brothers Reginald (25) and Walter Chapman (23), Robert Freeburn (50), Joseph Lemmon (46), John McConville (20), James McWhirter (58), Robert Walker (46) and Kenny Worton (24) – are to attend a memorial service in Bessbrook Town Hall. No one has been convicted of the atrocities.

Standing at the derelict O’Dowd farmhouse, which has lain empty for 50 years, Mary Adams (née O’Dowd) recalled witnessing the murders of her brothers and uncle and the shooting of her father Barney.

“There was a knock at the door, and my mother answered it. She screamed when she saw the gunmen, and Declan ran out. I dived behind the settee on top of my sister. She was screaming, and I told her, ‘Shut up, you’ll get us all killed’,” she says.

“My dad was wearing his Christmas present, this really smart leather jacket. After the gunmen left, it was like one of the cowboy films he watched. You know, when somebody’s injured with bullets, you give them a drop of whiskey. So we’re trying to put spoonfuls of whiskey into Dad, such a stupid thing, like a Wild West scenario.”

Seamus O’Dowd remembers the agony of having to tell his mother that her husband Joe had been murdered. His face told the story: “When she looked at me, I would have been the colour of them [grey] walls.”

Too traumatic to talk about it

His brother Gabriel says: “Seamus and I worked together on the farm for a year after it and never spoke about it; it was too traumatic. People have no idea. My sister and my mummy took cancer and died of it. Seamus took a heart attack at 39. I spent years on antidepressants. It was only at the 40-year anniversary that we started talking about it.”

Seamus took over the family farm. “We lived beside the Presbyterian church and they emptied their hall of chairs for the wake. A lot of my father’s customers were Protestant. The fellas he drank with were Protestant men that he went to the markets with.”

Eugene Reavey takes up the theme that the community was not that divided. The day before his brothers were shot, “Brian and Anthony played football in Bessbrook with the two Chapman brothers who were [later] killed, Reggie and Walter. They then all went to the Lough Inn in Camlough to play pool and watch the football results. They were good friends”.

Local Protestant ministers called to the Reavey home to offer sympathy. “Rev Nixon said at the burial of the first victims that the people who shot the Reaveys may as well have shot the people at Kingsmill and they booed him; people got up and left. He and the wife had to leave.”

The murders were only the beginning of the Reaveys’ ordeal. Returning from the morgue, according to Eugene, their car was stopped by British soldiers, who emptied the bags containing the brothers’ blood-soaked clothes on the ground and danced on them. In 2007, the PSNI apologised for the “appalling harassment suffered by the family in the aftermath at the hands of the security forces”.

In 1999, the Rev Ian Paisley named Eugene in the House of Commons as a Kingsmill plotter, falsely claiming to be quoting from an RUC file. The then chief constable Ronnie Flanagan said the dossier was not a police file and no evidence linked Reavey to the massacre. Paisley never apologised for his mistake. Eugene believes Paisley’s source was the late Willie Frazer, himself a suspect in the Reavey murders.

Colin Worton was 15 when his 24-year- old brother Kenny was murdered. He was reading a comic when a TV newsflash reported a gun attack. He asked his mother where Kingsmill was and was reassured it was miles away. “Then a few minutes later a neighbour let herself in – we used to leave the key in the door – and gave out to us for having our dinner when our Kenny was lying dead in a ditch.”

Kenny had two girls, Racquel and Suzanne. “They even said to me, ‘Will you be our daddy now?’ Sure I was only 15. It would break your heart. My education went downhill. I ended up doing the same job as Kenny. People would get us confused, they would even call me Kenny. It was hard to take.”

Kenny’s widow Zelda’s home overlooked the graveyard. Racquel used to lie on his grave. Suzanne cried herself to sleep at night. “Zelda’s health deteriorated. Her hair fell out and she ends up getting cancer and then she died. But my mother always said she would rather have been the mother of an innocent victim than the mother of a child who took an innocent victim’s life.” (Barry and Declan O’Dowd’s mother expressed the same sentiment, according to their brother Noel O’Dowd.)

Suspicion

Colin attended primary and secondary school with Billy Wright, who later became a notorious loyalist killer. “I read years later it was Kingsmill that made him join the UVF. I thank God every day he didn’t ask me to join him,” he says.

Was there a lot of fear and hatred afterwards? “Of course. I think that’s one of the reasons why it was done, the terrorists on both sides wanted a civil war.”

Did Kenny’s murder make him bitter? “Of course, I was. At 15, your mind’s not developed right. It took a lot of years for that anger to get out of me.”

He regarded all Catholics with suspicion. “You had to. The only reason how those animals were able to kill my brother was intelligence, someone who worked with my brother must have set them up. Mr [Richard] Hughes, the Catholic who survived, identified Reggie Chapman as one of the two who tried to shield him. It gave me comfort to think my brother would have been the other to shield him, for he had friends on both sides of the community.”

He joined the British army’s Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) “to try to catch people who were guilty of doing things”. However, when Adrian Carroll, a Catholic civilian, was murdered by a UDR colleague in Armagh in November 1983, Worton spent 30 months on remand for his alleged role in covering it up before a judge ruled that his confession has been coerced by RUC detectives. “I always believed anyone even questioned by police was guilty. Now it’s a different story.”

Sickening

Raymond McCreesh, a 19-year-old IRA man, was captured 5km from Kingsmill in June 1976 while preparing to ambush British soldiers with a rifle used in the Kingsmill massacre. He died on hunger strike in 1981. In 2001, the local council named a children’s playground in Newry after him. Kenny Worton’s mother Bea appealed to the Equality Commission to investigate.

“She got abusive phone calls from people who said they were looking for 10 pieces of Kingsmill bread because they needed to toast it,” Colin Worton says. “There are a lot of good Catholic people they could have named the park after, like [footballer] Pat Jennings. It’s sickening that they had to name it after a terrorist. It doesn’t help my side of the community to say we’re living in a shared space. I’d say the same if a park was named after a loyalist.”

The Denton report on the Glenanne gang is due this spring, two years late. It was originally led by Jon Boutcher, but he stood down on being appointed PSNI chief constable. A summary report last month found that Glenanne was only part of a much wider network in Mid-Ulster of UVF and corrupt members of the RUC and UDR. However, it found noevidence of high-level state collusion.

Eugene Reavey and the O’Dowds are disillusioned. “I have lost faith in the process, the system, the spooks, MI5, and the British government,” Gabriel O’Dowd says, opening a thick lever-arch file full of official British documents. “It’s actually a talent to write thousands of words and tell you less than you already know.”

Victims’ families say they are being denied the peace of mind to remember their loved ones as they are still having to drag the British state through the courts.

“They would spend any God’s amount of money to keep you away from the truth, as long as you don’t mention the higher echelons,” Gabriel O’Dowd says. “They’ve managed to do it for 50 years. All they need is another 10 years and we’ll all be gone. We are not going to burden the next generation with that. They deserve to move on.

“This was going to solve the whole legacy issue, but it’s gone. All this has done is re-traumatise people. There’s nights I do not sleep, running in my head the way we have been shafted.

“It’s just sheer disrespect that has been shown to the families that have lost their loved ones. Jon Boutcher is an honourable man who has been thrown under the bus.”

Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, won a UK Supreme Court case last month to prevent the coroner in a Troubles inquest disclosing intelligence information as it would “be contrary to the public interest in protecting national security”. The PSNI chief constable wanted the information released.

Last month, the British ministry of defence and PSNI agreed to pay £10,000 (€11,500) costs over delays in Eugene Reavey’s civil action and another Glenanne gang case before the High Court in Belfast.

“I always thought I would have this thing put to bed long before the anniversary and we could call it a day after that,” he says. “I’m wore out. I’m not fit to do it any more.”

Female IRA unit leader linked to Remembrance Day bombing

NIAMH CAMPBELL, Belfast Telegraph, January 3rd, 2025

PODCAST REVEALS SUSPECT SEEN NEAR BLAST SITE NIGHT BEFORE ATTACK BACK LIVING IN NI

Police identified a female IRA commander as a key member of the unit responsible for the Enniskillen Remembrance Day bombing, it has emerged.

Investigators believed the woman led an IRA unit at the time of the November 1987 attack in Co Fermanagh — one of the most notorious atrocities of the Troubles.

She later moved to the United States. No one has ever been convicted in connection with the bombing, which killed 11 people and injured 63 others when a device exploded beside the town's cenotaph during a Remembrance Sunday ceremony.

A twelfth victim, Ronnie Hill, died in 2000 after spending 13 years in a coma.

The alleged role of the female commander has come to light alongside the release of The Poppy Day Bomb, a podcast series by The Times and The Sunday Times examining the attack and the decades-long search for accountability from family members, victims and survivors of the bomb.

Police in the Republic concluded that the woman was believed to be the head of the IRA's south Fermanagh brigade at the time of the bombing and was close to senior IRA figures in Co Monaghan — the border county from which one of the units believed to have been involved was operating.

Not known if she was questioned by RUC or Garda

The Times has established that the woman has since returned from the United States and is now living in Northern Ireland. She has reportedly been seen in Enniskillen in recent months. It is not known whether she has ever been questioned by police in either jurisdiction.

An off-duty RUC officer previously claimed to have seen a suspected female IRA member outside the community centre where the bomb was planted, describing a woman wearing a green dress and carrying a brown bag on the night before the attack.

A statement detailing the sighting was later submitted but not followed up, according to a 2015 application for a new inquest by victims' families.

Relatives of those killed have spent almost four decades seeking justice, and 13 people have been arrested over the years but no charges have been brought.

The podcast investigation traced several former IRA members believed by police to have been involved, some still living near Enniskillen.

The RUC and its successor, the PSNI, have carried out multiple reviews, but victims have questioned their efficacy. While the government has rejected calls for a public inquiry, the controversial Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) — soon to be renamed the Legacy Commission — is consulting families before deciding whether to open a full investigation.

The ICRIR is considered controversial because it allows suspects in Troubles-era killings to gain immunity from prosecution in exchange for accounts that are not tested in court.

Some critics say it shuts down inquests and civil actions, limits victims' rights, and lacks independence because it was created by the British government, a party to the conflict. Victims' groups, political parties and international human rights bodies argue it prioritises closure over justice and risks protecting perpetrators rather than uncovering the full truth.

The IRA admitted responsibility the day after the Enniskillen bombing, expressing regret while falsely claiming the device was detonated during an Army sweep. Gerry Adams, then leader of Sinn Féin, later said he was “deeply sorry”, but the IRA has never fully explained its actions.

Kingsmills Massacre: 'We will get justice - but not in this world' says brother of victim

By Philip Bradfield, Belfast News Letter, January 3rd, 2026

A man whose brother was murdered in the Kingsmills Massacre will join with others this weekend to mark 50 years since the atrocity.

The attack took place near Kingsmills in south Armagh on 5 January, 1976 when the IRA gunned down 10 Protestant civilians as they travelled home from their factory jobs in a minibus.

The 10 men were Robert Chambers, 18, John Bryans, 46, Reginald Chapman, 29, Walter Chapman, 35, Robert Freeburn, 50, Joseph Lemmon, 46, John McConville, 20, James McWhirter, 58, Robert Walker, 46, and Kenneth Worton, 24. Alan Black survived being shot 18 times.

The atrocity, one of the most notorious of the Troubles, came amidst a spate of sectarian tit-for-tat murders.

A 50th anniversary service is being held on Sunday in Bessbrook Town Hall at 3pm, with a further roadside service at the Kingsmills scene on Monday at 11am.

Colin Worton was only 15 when his brother Kenneth, 24, was one of those killed.

"You don't want to think how he suffered," he said. "Just like the Nazis - they just lined them up and shot them with no evidence whatsoever.

"Kenneth would have been 74 now but he never got to see his children grow up or their families. He was robbed of all that."

The bullet riddled minibus in which the murdered workers were travelling stands at the side of the lonely country road where the massacre occurred at Kingsmill outside Whitecross in 1976. Ten protestant workmen were shot dead by the Provisional IRA.

The bullet riddled minibus in which the murdered workers were travelling stands at the side of the lonely country road where the massacre occurred at Kingsmill outside Whitecross in 1976. Ten protestant workmen were shot dead by the Provisional IRA.

A legacy inquest into the atrocity ran from 2014-24.

"I think it was a waste of time as we learned so little. But most of the families walked away when the coroner made it clear he was not going to name two or three dead suspects who already had terror convictions."

He noted that then Taoiseach Enda Kenny met the families in Bessbrook in 2015 and promised to help them uncover the full facts about the operation - which was planned and executed from the south.

"He told us they would give us everything that they had and nothing would be held back."

Dublin findings kept secret

But after almost ten years of lobbying the southern authorities' cooperation came in the form of a secret court hearing in Dublin in 2022. However the subsequent report is forever classed as secret.

Colin added: "What good is that, if it's not going to be published, what was the whole thing for at the end of the day?"

Nobody was ever charged in relation to the atrocity. And he has no hopes of further help from either government.

"We will get justice one day, but it'll not be in this world."

He noted that the legacy inquest took ten years, primarily because the Irish government stonewalled cooperation for so long.

"If it wasn't so serious, it would be laughable, because nothing should take that long. One of the very funniest things was that the coroner would make appeals for the IRA to come forward and engage. But nobody in their right mind believed they would ever come forward and cooperate."

His thoughts also extend to the UVF murder of the three Reavey brothers in nearby Whitecross the day before the Kingsmills Massacre. In his mind they were totally innocent victims.

"I just can't imagine what it would be like to lose three members of the same family like that," he added.

Two RUC men killed at midnight on New Year's Day 1986 recalled

By Adam Kula, Belfast News Letter, January 3rd, 2026

Ringing in the new year is a time of jubilation for many, but for Scott Harkness it is a time of tremendous grief.

That's because mere moments into New Year's Day 40 years ago, his best friend Michael Williams was killed by the IRA.

Michael, aged 24 and from Portadown, was one of two RUC men who were fatally blown up by a bomb hidden in a bin in Armagh city about a minute after midnight in 1986.

The other dead man was James McCandless, aged 39, also from Portadown and a father of two.

Now Mr Harkness has recalled the impact that night had on his life, four decades on.

He and Michael had known each-other since they before they were teenagers, and "he was great craic - always good fun".

Michael had seemed destined to follow his parents and become an estate agent, but instead quit his studies in Leicester University out of homesickness, returned to Co Armagh, and joined the RUC.

A reserve constable, his ambition was to become full-time.

Asked why his friend had joined the police in the middle of the Troubles, Mr Harkness said he had sought "peace and reconciliation".

"We had no 'sides'," he said.

"We had friends who were Catholics and Protestants.

"There wasn't any animosity against anybody - except for the IRA.

"Michael wanted to protect his town."

The book Lost Lives recounts how three masked men had taken over a house in Ogle Street overlooking the street where the bomb was planted, holding a family hostage for several hours before detonating the explosives by remote control.

A third RUC man, who was injured in the blast, said that some young men on the street had just wished the patrolling officers a happy new year when there was "an almighty flash and bang" and smoke and dust filled the air.

Mr Harkness had been at a New Year house party in London at the time, when a call came through at 4am from Michael's mother, breaking the news.

"There was absolute shock," he said. "We couldn't believe it."

He believes that Michael, who was married but had no children, had swapped shifts that night with another officer who had a family.

As to his emotions now, looking back, he said he feels “hate” for those who carried out the attack.

Mr Harkness credits the murder with inspiring him to join the UDR, but also said it caused him to turn to alcohol because "you want to forget – you try to black it out".

Now aged 66 and living in Carrickfergus, Mr Harkness spent New Year's Day laying a wreath at his old friend's grave at Seagoe Presbyterian Church.

Asked how he feels whenever New Year's Eve rolls around each year, he said: "Depressed, because it's on your mind.

"You see all the fireworks going off and just think: if only he hadn't have swapped his shift that night.

"But then again, he was brave.

"And it could've been another policeman, with kids."

Michael was very "career-minded" and if he were still alive "he'd probably still be in the police – he probably would've gone up the ranks," and would now be preparing for retirement.

Mr Harkness voiced condolences to the family of the other policeman who was killed.

He also urged unionists to end their "naive and stupid" party rivalries and merge in order to ensure Sinn Fein is kept out of power.

UK Government defends Legacy Bill after criticism

Veterans Commissioner said the proposed legislation treats ex-soldiers ‘worse than terrorists’

CILLIAN SHERLOCK, Irish News, January 3rd, 2026

THE British government has defended its approach to reforming legislation to deal with the legacy of the Troubles, after criticism from its own Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner.

David Johnstone said that the government’s proposed legislation treats veterans “worse than terrorists”.

A commission to investigate Troubles-related killings and a separate information recovery body will be established under the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill.

All UK police investigations into Troubles-related killings were shut down in May 2024 under the previous Conservative government’s Legacy Act, and a new Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) was established.

Labour’s Bill, agreed as part of a framework with the Irish Government, will put in place a reformed Legacy Commission with enhanced powers.

In an interview published in The Times yesterday, Mr Johnstone said: “It treats them worse than terrorists because under the Bill they will be exposed to the full force of the law, for in many cases following orders.

“Whereas in 1998, and the years following, terrorists were allowed out of prison, given pardons, comfort letters.”

Asked about the comments, a UK Government spokesperson said: “The vast majority of those killed during the Troubles were murdered by terrorists.

“Many families still do not know how their loved ones died and have approached the independent commission for information and answers.

“The Troubles Bill is about enabling more victims and families, including a great many armed forces families, to do the same through a reformed commission.

“The last government’s proposal to give immunity to terrorists was wrong. It was rejected by the courts, and indeed by victims and many veterans alike. Any government would have had to replace it.

“The Troubles Bill will put in place six new and effective protections for our veterans.

“We will never equate the actions of terrorists with those of our brave armed forces.”

“The Troubles Bill is about enabling more victims and families, including a great many armed forces families, to do the same through a reformed commission

COMMENTS BY READERS

Completely stuck. Legacy stakeholders, on both sides  dare not  admit clearly that justice is unattainable.   Nationalists duck the obstacles of omerta and "justification". Unionists and Brits are in unholy alliance over Collusion and NCND. It must be theoretically possible to learn a lot more about the latter but looks unfeasible for decades.

Only slow limited exposure in post Kenova reports and inquests will produce outcomes. These  will be regarded as either ",lawfare" or running sores. Such attempts also limited by progressively  reducing funding. 

To be honest, rhe most obvious  explanation for most killings lies in the identity of the victim. How many families really want to discover that their neighbour was a stalker?

As for reconciliation ???.

 Best to.expect  is:  

1. Frankly increasing  boredom or exhaustion with the legacy. It is even failing  to provide an excuse for dysfunctional government- or as far as I can see, momentum for a united Ireland. 

2. Continued investigative journalism and research in.an atmosphere of people being prepared to speak  after perpetrators are safely dead.or in some cases, before.  Any attempt to prosecute journos would be greeted with a hail of protest as over Birney and Co..

It’s an.adminstrstive fiction that UK Govt has not admitted that Scap wasn't Stakeknife.  The police feud with MI5 will continue.

Happy New Year!

Brian Walker
UCL Hon Senior Research Fellow Emeritus  Constitution Unit, University College London

I ask not only victims’ families but the general public if anyone involved in the structure of Labour's Legacy Bill can be believed. At a victims event that I organised in the Ulster University Sir Declan Morgan, (our former Lord Chief Justice who, as a judge I had a lot of time for)  told the audience  as the head of ICRIR that the ICRIR would receive all disclosure documents of each case of murder if the families asked ICRIR to investigate their cases. He had told me previously at a private meeting that he would resign if the Conservatives Legacy Act was ruled incompatible with Human rights, which it was in the NI courts. Sir Declan remained as the Chief Commissioner and didn't resign.

At a meeting in the British Embassy in October 2024 Hilary Benn was asked by Stephen Travers, a survivor of the Miami showband massacre, if ICRIR would get access to documents being hidden by the government using PII, Benn's strong reply in front of 10 people including victims was, "Absolutely not".

The Victims present and many others including myself and my own solicitor clearly see that ICRIR won't give us the answers nor Truth and Justice. This latest  proposed Bill, no doubt drawn up with great influence and guidance from MI5 and other security agencies is nothing more than the Labour government's policy of official cover up of the state and its agents and the security agencies of state sponsored murders ensuring that victims and their families will never get what murder investigations seek, TRUTH and JUSTICE.

Labour promised to the victims families that it would scrap the previous Legacy Act not reinforce it with a Commission that was appointed and set up by the Labour government. But in reality it's more lies and deceit ,without the full disclosure of the documents that would bring truth and justice.

Is anyone surprised or shocked that another British government has deliberately fed us lies. We all need to be honest and see that this Labour government has no intention of setting up a process which brings Truth and Justice, to do so would reveal who really decided who lived , who died and who covered it all up including the murder of my son young Raymond. My son's case will not be going to ICRIR to ensure that the British government and the murderers can not officially get away with his murder.

Raymond McCord Victims campaigner North Belfast

UUP's sole female MLA could be the kingmaker as Nesbitt quits

SUZANNE BREEN, POLITICAL EDITOR, Belfast Telegraph, January 3rd, 2026

ARMSTRONG LIKELY TO HAVE A KEY ROLE IN LEADERSHIP BATTLE

The UUP is preparing for a leadership contest between Robbie Butler and Jon Burrows, with the aim of appointing Mike Nesbitt's successor within four weeks.

Party sources said yesterday that it's highly likely both men will enter the race for the top post.

But with the party struggling to connect with female voters, securing the backing of its only female MLA, Diana Armstrong, as running mate could prove decisive.​​​​​​​

A timetable for the contest will be announced early next week. Members will be notified of the date and venue for the AGM, and nominations for the leadership will then open.

Candidates will need to be nominated by a number of members from around half of the party's constituency associations.

Every member of UUP has a vote

The party is the most democratic party in Northern Ireland with all members able to vote in a leadership race.

An insider said the UUP hoped to have a new leader in place “as quickly as possible, and not let this run into February if that is doable”. Announcing he was stepping down, Mr Nesbitt said he had taken up the reins in 2024, “to do a short-term job of getting the party match fit for the forthcoming election campaign . . that job is now done”.

Jon Burrows declined to comment on his intentions, but a range of party sources said it was impossible to see him not standing.

Co-opted into the Assembly just six months ago, he has become the UUP's most high-profile MLA.

Some sources predicted that Robbie Butler may not want a contest and may not stand if the former senior police officer and North Antrim MLA does.

But other insiders denied this and said of Mr Butler's plans that there was “nothing to indicate that he won't put his name forward”.

They said he stood for “modern, positive politics with a social conscience”.

He is the UUP's current deputy leader, and he has been Lagan Valley MLA for a decade. Both men need a running-mate on their ticket for the post of deputy leader. The UUP has struggled to connect with women voters and has only one female representative in the Assembly, Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Diana Armstrong.

Third of voters in Fermanagh

If either candidate managed to convince Ms Armstrong to run alongside them for the deputy leader position, they'd be in a very strong position in the leadership race. Around a third of the UUP delegates eligible to vote are in Fermanagh.

Mr Butler has strong support among his Assembly colleagues, while Mr Burrows is popular with grassroots members and councillors.

The last UUP leadership contest was in 2012 when Mr Nesbitt defeated John McCallister. Senior figures are unsure if there will be a competition this time, but said the party had to plan for one.

There would be hustings during the campaign with candidates also outlining their case to delegates at the AGM.

Mr Butler and Mr Burrows are very different men with contrasting political styles. The UUP deputy leader is firmly on the liberal wing of his party.

His leadership pitch would be that he is well placed to grow the pro-Union vote. His supporters predict he would stress that as the DUP takes “a Trumpian tilt”, a more important role than ever falls to the UUP. It must not just “preach to the choir” but reach out to the entire community across Northern Ireland.

Mr Burrows' pitch would be that he represents “strong and sensible” unionism, and that — in his short time in politics — his message has connected with unionist voters.

His selling points would be his work ethic, energy, and confident performances in Stormont and in the media.

Mr Nesbitt is keen to stay on as health minister, and it would be a high-risk move for the next leader to replace him with just over a year left of the current mandate.

Mr Butler thanked him for his “leadership and service to modern and positive unionism” and vision of making “Northern Ireland work for everyone”.

Mr Burrows said the outgoing UUP leader represented “selfless, service-driven and stable leadership for which he has my respect”.

Robin Swann

North Antrim MP Robin Swann said stepping down clearly wasn't an easy decision for Mr Nesbitt. Taking on the leadership for a second time was “a level of service and dedication that is appreciated by many”, he added.

In his resignation statement, the outgoing leader also said that he would not be contesting his seat at the next Assembly election.

“The next five-year mandate stretches to May 2032, the month I hope to celebrate my 75th birthday. That's a commitment to full-time politics I just do not feel I can make. And I would not be comfortably seeking a vote knowing that privately I was intending to retire during the mandate,” he added.

Mr Nesbitt, who first quit as leader in 2017, insisted it was the right time “to select the politician who will lead us into the May 2027 polls promoting our brand of confident, responsible unionism”.

UUP chairman, Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard, said: “We are deeply grateful to Mike for his decades of service and unwavering dedication to improving our society.”

Real significance of Nesbitt's departure is what it means for possibility of unionist unity

SAM McBRIDE, Belfast Telegraph, Northern Editor, January 3rd, 2025

Mike Nesbitt's departure as Ulster Unionist leader is no surprise because he has spent months refusing to rule out doing what he has just done.

What is a surprise is that he isn't leaving with more of a bang. When Nesbitt quit the last time he was Ulster Unionist leader, he called a press conference at the Park Avenue Hotel while votes were still being counted in the 2017 Assembly elections.

I was among the journalists hurrying across Belfast for a press conference so hastily called that even some UUP MLAs didn't know their leader was walking away from his role.

It was a measure of the UUP's emaciated state that after churning through another three leaders in seven years — Robin Swann, Steve Aiken and Doug Beattie — Nesbitt was left as one of the only possibilities for the leadership when Beattie stepped down in 2024.

Yet Nesbitt was a better leader the second time around. An Oxbridge graduate who had worked at the top of journalism for decades and who managed to cover Troubles horrors as well as sporting triumphs, there was never any question over Nesbitt's ability. But when first made leader he was grossly inexperienced, having been an MLA for less than a year.

In no other line of work would someone be considered qualified to be the most senior individual in an organisation after less than a year doing the job, irrespective of their ability.

By 2024, Nesbitt was cannier and by then he also was no longer up against the DUP crafted by the shrewd tactical mastermind Peter Robinson, but a DUP which had been battered by internal feuding.

The UUP has not surged forward under his leadership, but it has halted the decline — a substantial achievement, given that it is part of an unpopular failing Executive whose other parties are seeing their support fall in the polls.

The greatest surprise about Nesbitt's departure is that it has come about in a leak to the BBC's Gareth Gordon followed by a perfunctory press release issued on one of the quietest Friday afternoons of the year — the sort of slot in which wily PR operatives seek to bury bad news.

This leak came after Nesbitt informed his colleagues yesterday morning. This was a time of Nesbitt's choosing; unlike the last resignation, this one wasn't enforced by electoral decline.

Unionist unity

The greatest significance of this shift could be what it means for unionist unity. Nesbitt had been open to a realignment of unionism into two parties and there had been secret talks to that end, although precisely how serious those have been remains for now unclear. That realignment would have involved most of the DUP and UUP coming together, perhaps with some individuals peeling off to the TUV.

It remains an inchoate idea, but if it was ever to work, this unusually long period without an election was when it might have been engineered.

Nesbitt had pragmatic working relations with DUP leader Gavin Robinson — who happened to be a cousin — and the ideological gap between the parties has never been narrower.

It might have been expected that if Nesbitt was to leave he would have done so while announcing some significant step towards this outcome.

That might still come, but for now its absence alludes to the difficulties which have been encountered by those seeking to engineer a radically different unionist landscape.

That question will now be at the heart of the UUP leadership contest, if indeed there is a contest. Unless returning again to a former leader, there are only two real candidates: deputy leader Robbie Butler and new North Antrim MLA Jon Burrows.

My colleague Suzanne Breen has reported on the tension between the UUP MLA group — who are mostly alarmed at the prospect of Burrows taking over — and the membership, who in many cases see him having brought an energy the staid party desperately needed. Butler would represent continuity with the Nesbitt tone and worldview. His supporters will say that for a party which has stabilised, it should be careful not to enter freefall once more.

Burrows is exceptionally inexperienced but has shown up other MLAs by his work rate and ability to find opponents' weaknesses.

He might break the party, but gives the impression that he'd go down with a fight. Some Ulster Unionists love that; others are terrified by it.

Revealed: PSNI's plan to sell off sites in 'lucrative property areas'

GARRETT HARGAN, Belfast Telegraph,  January 3rd,

The PSNI plans to reduce its estate in “lucrative property locations” to raise funds as part of an eight-year plan, minutes from a private meeting show.

Chief Constable Jon Boutcher explained the plans to First Minister Michelle O'Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, and spoke of the purchase of the former Kinnegar Army Barracks for £4.9m with a view to turning it into a new police college.

The meeting was held at Parliament Buildings last January in the presence of Stormont officials.

Mr Boutcher raised funding concerns about legacy cases, pointing to a PSNI spend of £25m settling 30 cases, of which £7.3m had gone to plaintiffs and £17.7m on legal costs.

He also spoke about the need to restore police officer numbers to 7,000 over the next three years by recruiting 1,750, which was below the desired 8,000 but a “realistic target” due to budgetary constraints.

He then turned to PSNI sites that could be sold.

Minutes attributed to the Chief Constable state: “Potential to purchase Kinnegar site for circa £4.9m as preferred bidder.

“MoD (Ministry of Defence) pushing for signature by (the) end (of) March, however due diligence is ongoing e.g. contamination, flooding reports.

“Plans to reduce estate in other lucrative property locations which would raise funds e.g Garnerville and Holywood. Eight-year estate plan.”

The PSNI acquired the Kinnegar base last March as the future site for a new police college, learning and development centre.

However, it would not expand on its plans for the sites at Garnerville, where the existing college is based, and Holywood, saying they “currently remain operational”.

The PSNI said: “Following an internal process, the official name of the new site has now been confirmed as the Redburn PSNI Training and Development Centre.

Public engagement

“A public drop-in engagement event was held in Holywood on Tuesday 16th December to share our pre-demolition proposals with local residents and to mark the start of a longer process of engagement as the project develops.

“The site is proposed as a key enabler in wider Belfast rationalisation and aligns to estates strategic asset plan, that includes provision for future delivery of a new Police College and training facility for the PSNI. Proposed development of the site being subject to business case and future funding approved.”

It added: “Current plans for Redburn are focused on demolitions and site readiness.”

At a Policing Board committee meeting last January the Kinnegar site purchase was discussed.

Members acknowledged their decision was a risk versus reward one, and agreed they would need to reach an “on balance” decision based on the information received.

Committee chair Trevor Clarke and his DUP colleague Keith Buchanan said their view was that the purchase should not be approved due to a number of concerns, including flood alleviation, and requested this be recorded.

However, while not unanimous, there was consensus among the remaining members that the committee should recommend the Policing Board approves the purchase of the Kinnegar site.

Club condemns ‘disgusting abuse’ aimed at Northern Ireland footballer

West Belfast man Smyth is in second spell with west London club

JOHN BRESLIN, Irish News, January 3rd, 2026

QUEEN Park Rangers FC has condemned the “disgusting abuse” of forward Paul Smyth and his family on Instagram and said those found responsible will be banned from Loftus Road for life.

The club have not revealed details of the abuse.

Northern Ireland international Smyth, who returned for a second spell at the club from Leyton Orient in the summer of 2023, signed a contract extension with the Hoops earlier this week.

A club statement said: “Queens Park Rangers Football Club completely condemns the disgusting abuse Paul Smyth and his family have been subjected to on Instagram.

“We are working closely with the EFL and the social media platform as we look to identify the individual concerned. Should we be successful, the perpetrator will be banned from MATRADE Loftus Road for life.

“Everyone is grateful for the support being shown to Paul and his family by genuine fans.”

The two messages were sent directly to Smyth, who shared them with the club and also posted them on Instagram.

Stream of Abuse

They contained a stream of abuse directed against Smyth and his family, apparently prompted by the poster believing the player missed a number of chances during New Year’s Day game, a 2-1 defeat at home to Norwick City.

The reference to missed chances stood out as the only part of the messages where the sender was not being viciously abusive or referencing death.

QPR fans rallied to support the Belfast man, with some questioning the sanity of the poster and another noting there is definitely a number of “unhinged” supporters of the club.

“It beggars belief that a player who gives his all and has just signed a contract extension is subjected to such treatment. Hopefully the perpetrator will be identified and dealt with,” said one poster on the fans forum ‘Loft For Words’.

Another added: “What i don’t understand is why Smythy is targeted at all. A more likeable, committed, club-loving player you’d struggle to find. Is he world class, no, but no-one is in this league.”

The messages sent were so “vile” and “horrendous” some supporters suggested it could not have been sent by a QPR fan and speculated it was someone who lost a substantial amount of money because of the score.

The west Belfast man joined QPR in August 2017 from Linfield and enjoyed loan spells with Accrington Stanley, Wycombe Wanderers and Charlton Athletic before signing a two-year deal with Leyton Orient in 2021.

After impressing at Brisbane Road, QPR brought him back to west London in 2023.

He has made 21 appearances for Northern Ireland, since scoring on his international debut in 2018.

Unionist calls for Prime Minister to investigate 'role and conduct' of NIO during Brexit

By David Thompson, Belfast Telegraph, January 3rd, 2026

The Prime Minister has been urged to establish an investigation into the role of the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) during Brexit negotiations, after a claim by Boris Johnson’s former adviser that it was “on the side of” Ireland and Sinn Fein.

Jim Allister says the comments by Dominic Cummings are of “profound constitutional seriousness” – and he has written to Sir Keir Starmer demanding a “wholly independent investigation into the role and conduct” of the government department.

The TUV leader said it is “deeply troubling” that the NIO “had to be excluded from significant parts of the most important constitutional negotiations in modern British history because it was regarded as hostile to those objectives”.

The DUP deputy leader Michelle McIlveen says that if Mr Cummings’ account is even partially accurate, “it raises profoundly serious questions about the culture and mindset” within the NIO.

However, the NIO has dismissed the comments, calling them “nonsense” and saying they work on behalf of everyone in Northern Ireland.

Mr Cummings – chief advisor to Boris Johnson during negotiations with the EU about the terms of the UK’s withdrawal – said that ministers were not in control of large sections of the UK civil service, citing parts of the Cabinet Office and NIO.

He said the Tory government had to “cut out large parts of” the NIO, “because they were on the side of the Irish government and Sinn Fein IRA, not the British government”.

Mr Allister has now written to the Prime Minister about the claims, urging him to establish “a wholly independent investigation into the role and conduct of the Northern Ireland Office during the Brexit negotiations”.

The North Antrim MP told the News Letter that the remarks “amount to an allegation of profound constitutional seriousness: that the Northern Ireland Office was so institutionally captured that it was effectively aligned with the Irish Government and Sinn Fein/IRA rather than advancing the objectives of the United Kingdom Government.

“These are not allegations that can be examined through an internal Whitehall review or a process run by No.10, the Cabinet Office or the NIO itself. Any such exercise would lack credibility and would rightly be dismissed as the Government marking its own homework.

“If these claims are to be examined at all, there must be a wholly independent investigation, led by a senior King’s Counsel or a retired senior judge of established standing, with no prior involvement in the Brexit negotiations or in Northern Ireland governance”.

Mr Allister added: “A UK Government department, funded by the British taxpayer, staffed by UK civil servants, and headed by a UK Cabinet minister, exists to serve the interests and objectives of the United Kingdom Government.

“The suggestion that such a department had to be excluded from significant parts of the most important constitutional negotiations in modern British history because it was regarded as hostile to those objectives is deeply troubling.

“These matters go to the heart of trust in government and the integrity of the Union. They deserve a genuinely independent investigation to establish the truth.”

Michelle McIlveen said the role of the NIO “is not to act as a passive facilitator for Dublin’s objectives or to defer to nationalist pressure”.

The DUP deputy leader told the News Letter: “Its duty is to uphold the constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom and to represent British interests without embarrassment or apology when it comes to Northern Ireland.

“Instead, what unionists have witnessed repeatedly is a department more concerned with Dublin’s interests than London’s interests. That weakness paved the way for arrangements that no unionist ever consented to and that ran a coach and horses through the cross community consent mechanisms of the Belfast and successor agreements.

“The NIO must start from the principle that our place in the UK is not negotiable and must be defended robustly at every level.”

Asked about Mr Cummings’s comments, an NIO spokesperson said: “We categorically reject these claims. They are nonsense and do not reflect the NIO's steadfast work on behalf of all the people and communities of Northern Ireland”.

Dominic Cummings made the comments on The Spectator’s Quite Right podcast, with the former Tory minister Michael Gove. He also criticised the role of parts of the Cabinet Office.

“Remember, they leaked against their own government during the Brexit negotiations… which the Cabinet Secretary apologised for and said was unprecedented in British history to have our own government lawyers leaking against our own government’s negotiating team”, he said.

Mr Cummings described sections of the civil service as “massively pro remain” – and said the European Convention on Human Rights was “a religious principle” for them.

State Papers

Revealed: Govt's towering hypocrisy cosying up to loyalist bosses it claimed to be crushing

SAM MCBRIDE, NORTHERN IRELAND EDITOR, Belfast Telegraph, January 3rd, 2026

CONFIDENTIAL SUBMISSION TO SECRETARY OF STATE REVEALS THAT MINISTERS AND OFFICIALS RIGHT UP TO DOWNING STREET MET UDA 'BRIGADIERS', WITH NO PRETENCE THAT THEY WERE COMMUNITY WORKERS OR ANY OF THE OTHER EUPHEMISMS COMMONLY USED TO DESCRIBE THEM COMMENT

There is a towering hypocrisy at the heart of government and police policy on loyalist paramilitaries.

For years, government has spent millions urging the public to reject paramilitarism and to come forward to report on the identities of the terror bosses who rule many urban working class communities.

Yet for years the Government has known who these people are, has chosen not to crack down on them, and has instead entrenched their influence by treating them with respect.

No government minister, senior civil servant, or police commander will come out and say that they pragmatically accept that loyalist paramilitaries have to be tolerated. Yet there is now a mountain of evidence that this has been the dominant approach of the post-Good Friday Agreement era.

Government figures would bristle at this, pointing to the sums they've spent on 'tackling paramilitarism', the drugs they've seized from these organisations and the individual paramilitaries who've been locked up.

It is true that pressure is put on the UVF and UDA at various points, but those at the top consistently remain untouched. Neither direct rule, devolved rule or civil service rule has made any difference. Winston Irvine is the exception to this rule, yet his case proves the wider point. For years, despite being known to be a top UVF commander, he was not only untouched by the police but was invited by them to a weekend in Cardiff to discuss how the police interact with loyalism.

He was feted by the British Government, had a degree paid for by the Irish Government, was taken to Afghanistan to perversely advise on dealing with victims, and was treated as an exemplar of loyalists who worked the system.

He was lauded and legitimised and stroked like a purring cat.

His mistake was to be in a paramilitary organisation which went outside these unwritten rules. Being a leader of a criminal organisation wasn't a problem until that organisation planted a hoax bomb targeting the Irish Foreign Minister.

Yet even when caught red handed with guns, ammunition and a house groaning beneath the weight of UVF material, he wasn't charged with UVF membership or any terrorist offence.

We have a perfect comparator for this treatment of loyalist terror bosses: dissident republicans. For them, there have been no leadership meetings with government; instead the full weight of the state — intelligence, intense surveillance, informers and financial sanctions — has been used to devastating effect to crush their murderous plans.

Files declassified this week are revelatory about the ugly reality of the government's approach to loyalist paramilitarism.

Among files opened at The National Archives in Kew is a nine-page submission which NIO associate political director Chris Maccabe sent to Secretary of State Shaun Woodward in October 2005. It said that at the heart of the government strategy was the message that “criminality in whatever form will not be tolerated, and will be tackled vigorously by every means at our disposal”.

However, his own memo showed this was nonsense.

Meeting UDA ‘Brigadiers’

The very next paragraph admitted that that ministers and officials — as well as Tony Blair's powerful chief of staff Jonathan Powell — were meeting with UDA 'brigadiers'.

There was no pretence that these people were community workers or some of the other euphemisms used to justify such discussions.

He wrote: “Ministers and officials continue to have regular meetings with representatives of the UPRG, included from time to time UDA 'Brigadiers' (who also met Jonathan Powell in January)”.

Here was an admission by a senior civil servant that the government was meeting with people who were not just members of an illegal organisation, but its leaders.

Even UDA membership is a criminal offence, yet he saw no contradiction in government meeting people he identified as criminals while saying that “criminality in whatever form will not be tolerated”.

Maccabe went on to say there was also regular contact with the PUP “but not with members of the UVF who, despite some recent straws in the wind, have always kept their distance. “To complete the picture I am in touch with senior LVF 'associates', most recently last Friday, who claim to be working towards early disbandment.” Alongside those government contacts with paramilitaries, he said: “The Loyalist Commission, which comprises representatives of the UDA and UVF and their related organisations, as well as representatives of the community sector, churches, and some political activists, also plays a constructive role and has easy access to ministers and officials”.

Maccabe went on to say that after the Whiterock rioting and other serious loyalist criminality there had been a police crackdown and arrests.

However, he added: “The police have also been working behind the scenes through intermediaries and political representatives (including the PUP) both to begin rebuilding relationships with the loyalist community and to exert direct pressure on the paramilitary leaderships to rein in their followers.”

Outsourcing crime to Gatekeepers

That indicates a sort of outsourcing of policing to criminals where the police ask crime bosses — through deniable intermediaries — to “rein in” their people.

Files declassified this week at the Public Record Office in Belfast show that two years earlier Maccabe was told by Martin McAleese, husband of the then Irish President, that he was in regular social and political contact with the UDA top brass, dining together, playing golf together and going on away days.

Neither man tried to pretend these people were anything other than paramilitary bosses.

McAleese said he'd checked with the Irish Government that there would be “no political objection” to such meetings and was told to proceed.

Maccabe said there had been “several meetings with the UDA brigadiers (including a 'jovial' Jim Gray) and others during which Jackie McDonald was clearly primus inter pares”, and lunches, dinners and meetings in Dublin, Belfast and Armagh involving “senior loyalists, members of the Irish business community and members of the DFA”. That was just two years after Gray had ordered the murder of Geordie Legg, who after opposing Gray's drug-dealing was tortured and beaten and almost beheaded.

Martin and Mary McAleese had toured Fernhill House Museum in Belfast “in the company of members of the UDA”, the minute said. Having got so close to key UDA figures, McAleese now wanted to talk to the top of the UVF as well, saying he was meeting PUP figures and “was hopeful that this would lead to direct contact with someone on the military side, possibly Bunter Graham, before long”. He went on to say he was “struck by the sincerity of all those he had met, and would take them at face value until he knew otherwise”. There is no reason to believe that McAleese was anything other than sincerely well-intentioned in trying to break down barriers, in keeping with his wife's sustained cross-community outreach which culminated in Queen Elizabeth's extraordinary visit to Ireland.

But the sincerity of the paramilitary bosses with whom he was dealing is another matter: More than two decades later, most of them are still leading organisations responsible for murder, extortion, prostitution, and drugs.

Significantly, Maccabe “commended” McAleese for this activity, and suggested the only reason the British Government wasn't openly doing likewise was because it couldn't get away with it.

Just a month after that conversation, a paper on loyalism was circulated inside Stormont Castle. Written by Billy Gamble in the Office of the First and deputy First Minister and Dave Wall in the Department for Social Development, it said: “Transforming loyalism represents a complex political and societal conundrum” which involved “potentially represent unstable forces that can pull that community apart”.

They said some loyalist groupings “wish to create new and elaborate structures to replace existing funding arrangements in neighbourhoods” and “to be gatekeepers of, and for, those neighbourhoods”.

The officials warned: “It will be exceptionally difficult (if not untenable) to prosecute an overt approach to the loyalist groupings absent an unequivocal approach by those same organisations to clean up their act in relation to drugs, racketeering and gangsterism.

“This however may be a very tall order to deliver: at best, one might only achieve a management of the problem and a reduced level of such activity! This difference needs to be explicitly addressed.”

They said that loyalist areas which concerned government had a high level of paramilitary activity which then meant “decreasing populations where it would appear that the most able and mobile within those communities vote with their feet and move out”.

That created a downward spiral where “the leadership cadre is gradually haemorrhaging” and the population left had greater needs, less earning ability, growing anti-social behaviour and poorer outcomes in every measure of social need, from education to health and crime.

It is no coincidence that so many areas controlled by loyalist paramilitaries have rotted over recent decades.

Paramils ‘more useful than politicos’

An annex to that paper stated that NIO minister Des Browne had met UDA commanders John 'Grugg' Gregg and Jackie McDonald. The paper described them euphemistically not as terror bosses but as “more 'grass roots' loyalists”.

Future UUP MLA David McNarry was said to have told the minister that he found contacts with “accredited paramilitaries more useful than the politicos” in “getting a feel for loyalist thinking”.

The paper set out how loyalist paramilitaries had over the last eight months been responsible for two murders, 45 shootings and 62 assaults.

The confidential minutes of a 31 March 2003 meeting between Browne and the Loyalist Commission said that Frankie Gallagher of the UDA-linked UPRG raised funding for community groups in loyalist areas, saying “he was concerned that there was some form of political vetting of applicants and that that would discriminate against community workers with links to paramilitary organisations — his argument being that in order for the workers to be effective they needed to have links.

“He asked if the minister would assure him that was not the case. Des Browne replied yes. He had no difficulty working with those with a criminal past but there had to be a mechanism to cut out those with a criminal present.”

There is nothing to suggest that any of these civil servants were rogue officials. This was being done on the books, recorded in files which have now been opened, and copied to the senior leaderships of the departments involved.

There are those who view this as realpolitik. Paramilitaries have power, and so government has to deal with the world as it is, not as it wishes it was.

This was, after all, how the peace process came about: The government talked to the IRA not despite it having guns, but because it had guns.

But even for those who accept the end justifies the means there, in this case there's scant evidence that the means are delivering any worthwhile end. Now approaching three decades since the Agreement, loyalist paramilitaries are embedded in our society. If the government believes it is right to deal with paramilitary bosses, then it should say so openly and honestly.

Pretending to want to jail UVF and UDA leaders while dining with them, inviting them on weekends, and consulting them about political developments is more than just contradictory. It undermines public trust in government as a whole.

The only way in which government could openly admit to meeting these people would be legalise their organisations. Given what the government itself has told us about what those organisations do, that would be unthinkable.

And so there endures this Kafkaesque absurdity where we are expected to believe that the person with whom a senior government official or minister has on speed dial is someone they are committed to locking up.

We have reports, strategies, consultants, task forces, plans and all the other paraphernalia of modern business jargon. We don't have any real political will to put paramilitaries out of business.

If you go to The Executive Office website, the article promoting its anti-paramilitarism work features a photo of a billboard which contains the words: 'Paramilitary gangs control our communities with violence, intimidation and drug dealing'. Yet the billboard is positioned right beside two explicit UVF murals. The civil servant who chose this as an example of the success of their programme obviously couldn't see that it instead symbolises its failure.

The billboard's slogan that 'paramilitary gangs control' areas is true: the mural demonstrates that control.

By contrast, the billboard demonstrates the weakness of government: It will pour money into hiring an advertising agency to design an advert which states the obvious, but won't dare to remove the paramilitary murals which indicate that this area is under paramilitary control.