Political divisions over how to deal with Paramilitarism
Department of Justice defends controversial billboards
Mark Robinson, Irish News, February 26th, 2025
AROUND nine out of 10 people ‘fully support’ a controversial anti-paramilitary billboard campaign which has come under fire for targeting communities, the Department of Justice (DoJ) has said.
The DoJ published the survey figures in response to criticism surrounding the Ending the Harm campaign, which was launched Executive Programme on Paramilitarism and Organised Crime (Eppoc) in October.
The campaign has been condemned by former lord mayor of Belfast Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, who said that the posters were unfairly labelling the community in west Belfast and could impact investment and tourism in areas such as Andersonstown.
The DoJ argues that the campaign is “actively changing perceptions” about the harm of such gangs, as evidenced in recent market research.
They say 89% of respondents to a survey “fully supported what the campaign was saying and trying to do”, while 77% thought it was believable and 66% thought it was impactful.
Two thirds of those surveyed agreed with the campaign statement that “paramilitary gangs control our communities with violence, intimidation and drug dealing” and a similar figure agreed that “paramilitary gangs exploit hard-working local businesses”.
Mr Ó Muilleoir said in an editorial published in the Andersonstown News: “No matter how often the justice department plasters west Belfast with posters saying otherwise, paramilitary gangs do not control our communities.”
While acknowledging the existence of paramilitary gangs, Mr Ó Muilleoir argued they are present in all communities across Ireland – including in affluent areas such as Malone Road, where the signs “don’t go up”.
Justice Minister Naomi Long previously told The Irish News that the billboards don’t “demonise” certain communities and that they feature in all communities across the north.
Paramilitaries intimidating 29% more from their homes
Connla Young, Crime and Security Correspondent, Irish News, February 26th, 2025
THE number of households presenting as homeless due to paramilitary intimidation has jumped by 29%.
Figures released by the Independent Reporting Commission also reveal that 119 households were accepted as homeless in the Ards and North Down area in the last financial year.
The Weavers Grange area of the town has been in the grip of a bitter loyalist feud, which has resulted in several homes in the area being attacked.
Figures contained in the report, which was published yesterday, show that in the last financial year 160 households presented as homeless due to paramilitary intimidation compared to 124 the previous year – an increase of 36.
Over the same period the Housing Executive accepted 214 households as homeless, 10% up on the previous year’s figure of 194.
The number of households accepted as homeless due to intimidation has increased in each of the last three years.
Outside the Ards and North Down area, paramilitary intimidation was highest in Belfast, with 38 households presenting as homeless.
That area was followed by Derry and Strabane, which had 16 households presenting.
Mid Ulster district, Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon along with Fermanagh and Omagh all had fewer than five incidents.
Some concerns were raised last month when DUP communities minister Gordon Lyons revealed that intimidation points are to be removed from social housing applications to “level the playing field for victims of violence”.
The points are awarded by the Housing Executive to applicants who are at risk and need to be rehoused.
Report calls for focus on prosecutions and tackling roots of paramilitarism
Rebecca Black, Irish News, February 26th, 2025
A “TWIN track” process of law enforcement and tackling the roots of paramilitarism is needed, as well as a “group transition” process for them to leave the stage, a report has said.
The Independent Reporting Commission (IRC) has reiterated its call to the London and Dublin governments to appoint an independent person to scope out what a formal process of engagement and group transition might look like.
It has also called on police in the north to “call out” when there is paramilitary group involvement in crime.
The calls come in the IRC’s seventh report following what it has termed a “mixed year” in the region, with a decease in shootings and paramilitary-style assaults, but “concerning levels of intimidation, coercive control and threats”.
The body – led by commissioners John McBurney, Monica McWilliams, Tim O’Connor and Mitchell Reiss – was established in 2017 to report annually on progress towards ending paramilitary activity here.
It is governed by an international treaty between the British and Irish governments which reflected the terms of the Fresh Start Agreement concluded by the two governments and the Northern Ireland parties in 2015.
In a statement following the seventh report, the commissioners described “shifting dynamics” within republican and loyalist paramilitary groups.
They said: “There has been a decrease in shooting incidents and paramilitary-style assaults. However, bombing incidents and casualties from paramilitary-style shootings have remained consistent with previous years.
“Intimidation, coercive control and threats linked to paramilitary groups persist and remain a real concern.
“We understand that this can be challenging for the PSNI and others in attributing responsibility for, or involvement in, certain actions. However, where there is paramilitary involvement, this must be called out and the harm it causes has to be named.”
The commissioners have also emphasised the need for a “twin track” approach of tackling paramilitarism as well as a formal process of group transition.
They said: “Track one comprises a robust and targeted set of law enforcement measures addressing paramilitarism, coupled with an effective wider criminal justice response.
“Track two involves a comprehensive tackling of the deep-rooted socio-economic conditions which are linked to the continuing existence of paramilitarism today.
“Both tracks, which are inter-related, are vital in the task of tackling and ending paramilitarism.
“Our report advocates for a third dimension to complement the twintrack approach: an agreed formal process of group transition, involving direct engagement with the paramilitary groups themselves, in order to bring about their ending.”
” In 2024, we have seen shifting dynamics within both republican and loyalist paramilitary groups, including changes in leadership, reported splits, speculation about possible feuds, ongoing questions about whether actions were sanctioned by paramilitary leaders, various interpretations of larger gatherings of people and increasing interactions with organised crime
Independent Reporting Commission
The commissioners have called for the London and Dublin governments to appoint an independent person to “prepare the ground” for a group transition process.
“We welcome the progress being made by the two governments towards implementing our recommendation to appoint an independent person who would scope out what a possible formal process of engagement and group transition might look like,” they said.
The commissioners also welcomed the focus on paramilitarism in the new draft programme for government of the Stormont executive.
They said: “We strongly recommend that some of the targeted paramilitary-focused work which the programme has been responsible for should continue beyond 2027, while also ensuring that consideration is given to those elements of the work of tackling paramilitarism that could be integrated into mainstream policies.”
The IRC’s report includes three recommendations.
These are a call for the review of the membership of the sponsor group which oversees the Executive Programme on Paramilitarism and Organised Crime and that the executive ensures a “whole-of-government” approach.
They have also recommended that paramilitary-focused work needs to continue beyond March 2027 when the Executive Programme on Paramilitarism and Organised Crime is due to end.
Anger after dissident protesters disrupt PSNI community forums
Suzanne Breen, Belfast Telegraph, February 26th, 2025
Police have condemned republicans who disrupted meetings for two days in a row at which the PSNI is trying to build relations with Belfast communities.
Around a dozen protesters entered a District Policing and Community Safety Partnership meeting in Girdwood Hub yesterday.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson condemned the disruptions and said dissident republicans were “ramping up agitation against the police” in “a throwback to the past”.
Justice Minister Naomi Long said the incident needed to be “called out and challenged”.
PSNI Belfast district commander Chief Superintendent Jeremy Lindsay said: “A number of protesters, some of whom were masked, entered the building and disrupted the public meeting by behaving in a disorderly manner to the extent that it had to be moved to another room within the community hub.
“A similar protest at a DPCSP meeting in St Comgall's in west Belfast on Monday also resulted in disruption to the public meeting and, again, the partnership activity resumed undeterred.
Many of those attending both meetings reported feeling threatened and intimidated.
“Whilst we would always seek to facilitate peaceful protest, disorderly behaviour which prevents a lawful public meeting is not acceptable.”
The PSNI is investigating the incidents and reviewing video evidence gathered at both events, Chief Supt Linsday added.
It would be working to ensure in future “these meetings can take place in a safe and orderly fashion, free from unlawful harassment and intimidation”.
‘SS RUC’
Young members of dissident republican party Saoradh walked to the front of the meeting in Girdwood Hub shouting “SS RUC”.
One said: “The revolutionary republican party would like to outline our opposition to this event today which is nothing other than the latest attempt at pushing Crown forces' normalisation agenda”.
He said the PSNI regularly raided the homes of republicans in the early hours of the morning, and had seized children's belongings including their phones, laptops and schoolwork.
He added police here had stopped and searched 370,000 people over the past 10 years.
On Monday, 32 County Sovereignty Movement members disrupted the meeting in St Comgall's on the Falls Road.
A spokesperson said: “We went there to look the PSNI in the eye and challenge the force on its record of harassing republicans and their families, its links with MI5, collusion, and the use of child informers.
“There is scant attendance at these PCSP meetings. They don't have community backing.
“Sinn Fein has completely misjudged the situation by supporting the PSNI and attending these meetings.
“The meeting did not continue as the PSNI have claimed. It was abandoned.”
Sinn Fein members were present at St Comgall's, but weren't at the Girdwood meeting, as they were attending the funeral of IRA veteran Brendan 'Bik' McFarlane.
The party was approached for comment about the protests.
‘Single transferable gun’
Mr Robinson described the Saoradh member's speech at Girdwood as a “single transferable gurn from a semi-coherent child”.
There must be “strong, clear and united opposition from within political nationalism”, he added.
North Belfast DUP MLA Brian Kingston said: “This was an appalling act of intimidation and a publicity stunt.
“One of them made an aggressive statement complaining that members of their group have come under investigation from the PSNI.
“This was a public meeting to discuss community policing with community representatives and residents from both sides of the community along with PSNI officers and other statutory bodies represented.
“It is disgraceful that local residents, including children, in attendance were subjected to this aggressive behaviour, which was shocking and traumatic for some.”
Mrs Long said: “I condemn recent attempts to disrupt public meetings of District Policing and Community Safety Partnerships in Belfast.
“Such behaviour needs to be called out and challenged.
“Policing is an inherent part of the transformation of our society and of keeping people safe.
“Turning up to shout down speakers at a DPCSP public meeting is an attack on all of the people of west Belfast and of north Belfast.”
The Policing Board also condemned the incident.
Vice-chair Brendan Mullan said: “It is deeply regrettable that the disruptive actions of a small number tried to stop many people attending the meetings having their voices heard.
“We are pleased that those present were undeterred and able to engage with the police on important local issues such as dealing with anti-social behaviour, violence against women and girls, and taking drugs off the streets.”
Long's outrage at governments' plan to engage formally with paramilitaries
Allison Morris, Belfast Telegraph, February 26th, 2025
Justice Minister Naomi Long has branded plans by the two governments to explore formal engagement with paramilitary groups as “madness”.
London and Dublin are considering appointing an independent figure to examine if such a move is needed to encourage groups to disband while pressuring those not on ceasefire, such as the New IRA, to end violence.
Secretary of State Hilary Benn made the announcement after the Independent Reporting Commission (IRC) called for the appointment of a trusted intermediary to oversee transitioning.
Mr Benn suggested moves are under way to appoint that person, who will “carry out a short scoping and engagement exercise to assess whether there is merit in, and support for, a formal process of engagement to bring about paramilitary group transition to disbandment”.
But Mrs Long said she had “no confidence” in the plan.
“Could you imagine the Government engaging in this way with any other criminal gang?” she asked.
“It is unthinkable. I think it is madness. I don't think it will work because I don't believe there are barriers to those who wish to stop.
“I think, to have an interlocutor, is to suggest at some level there is some conversation to be had.
Alliance and SDLP clash with Unionists over strategy
“The only conversation to be had with paramilitaries at this point of time is to tell them they need to exit the stage.”
However, Mr Benn said the scoping exercise is not an alternative to “existing law enforcement and criminal justice measures and the wider effort through the Executive programme to tackle the ongoing violence and harm caused by paramilitary groups”.
He also confirmed: “No financial offer will be made to paramilitary groups or to the individuals involved in them in exchange for an end to violence and ongoing harms.”
There is no indication who the expert will be, with the Secretary of State saying he will write to the NI Affairs Committee to set out more detail.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson welcomed the plans, saying it is "worth pursuing". Mr Robinson added: "The expert appointed should be given the time and space to conduct their work. We can then assess their report in nine months.”
UUP leader Mike Nesbitt described the decision as “the right one, but also a difficult one”.
“This is not about conferring legitimacy on these gangs, nor should it be about buying them out. It's not about money,” he said.
“It's about removing a large remaining obstacle to creating a normal society, where citizens do not need to look over their shoulders as they get on with their lives.”
SDLP leader Claire Hanna said: “The way to get rid of paramilitary groups once and for all is not through further platforming, but by delegitimising them, investing in our police service, particularly neighbourhood policing, and supporting alternative forms of community leadership to break the hold these groups have.”
The latest IRC report was completed prior to the attempted murder of taxi driver Sean O'Reilly on Sunday. It is being linked to a dissident republican feud. The shooting is thought to have been carried out by renegade members of Oglaigh na hEireann.
The IRC comprises four commissioners: John McBurney and Monica McWilliams, who were nominated by Stormont; Tim O'Connor nominated by Dublin, and Mitchell Reiss nominated by London.
Intimidation and coercive control
Its report said: “There has been a decrease in shooting incidents and paramilitary-style assaults. However, bombing incidents and casualties from paramilitary-style shootings have remained consistent with previous years. Intimidation, coercive control and threats linked to paramilitary groups persist and remain a real concern.
“In 2024 we have seen shifting dynamics within both republican and loyalist paramilitary groups, including changes in leadership, reported splits, speculation about possible feuds, ongoing questions about whether actions were sanctioned by paramilitary leaders, various interpretations of larger gatherings of people, and increasing interactions with organised crime.
“We understand that this can be challenging for the PSNI and others in attributing responsibility for, or involvement in, certain actions.”
It called for a “third dimension” to complement that, adding: “We welcome the progress being made by the two governments towards implementing our recommendation to appoint an independent person who would scope out what a possible formal process of engagement and group transition might look like.”
Tanaiste Simon Harris said: “The IRC report makes clear the unacceptable reality that paramilitary-linked intimidation, coercive control and threats continue to exist… we need to be sure we are doing absolutely everything possible to bring that to an end.”
Assistant Chief Constable Davy Beck said: “Partnership working is an imperative element in our pursuit to tackle this kind of criminality, which we know creates fear in local communities…we will continue to ensure that robust enforcement is at the forefront of our approach to dealing with paramilitarism.”
I was proud to wear uniform of RUC but who will join me to defend it?
Letters to Editor, Irish News, February 26th, 2025
WE have again seen the level of hatred towards policing in Northern Ireland by republicans. It was once claimed there are three types of lie – ‘lies, damned lies and statistics’. However, the republican movement has done what it has done so well over the past 100 years. It has spread lies and damned lies about the Royal Ulster Constabulary, a force which suffered the loss of more than 300 officers at the hands of terrorists.
The press is doing the republicans’ job by regularly ‘jumping on the band wagon’ and making no effort to support the men and women who faced the might of a terror campaign that was waged in this state.
On a radio programme recently, reference was made to the uniform worn by officers and vehicles driven in certain parts of Londonderry. What do people expect them to wear – Hawaiian shirts? The officers have to carry firearms and at times long arms to protect themselves from a dissident terror campaign, which still ‘underground’ is targeting and attacking police at every opportunity.
“ I call on all unionist politicians, and those who regard themselves as democrats, to get off the fence and start to fight back. Enough is enough – no more rewriting of history
Why won’t Roman Catholics join the PSNI? The threat of intimidation in certain areas is clearly a reason. Parents who remember how Catholic members of the RUC and indeed RIC were intimidated clearly worry for their children and would discourage them from joining. Many join constabularies in Britain and the Garda Síochána. The fact of the matter is republicans do not want a British police service in Northern Ireland enforcing British laws.
To return to my initial comments, who is defending the reputation of the Royal Ulster Constabulary? Is the secretary of state? How many murders of RUC officers remain unsolved? How many allegations of collusion have been made?
Clearly some officers’ movements were watched. How many were pressurised into silence when they knew their neighbours were active in terrorist atrocities? There is no doubt that such people are still living today and living with the knowledge that their support and perhaps silence led to murder and devastation.
The Provisional IRA terrorised this country for more than 30 years, and immediately after the Stormont Agreement in 1998 did not decommission. I am convinced that this gave some IRA quarter-masters an opportunity to ‘salt away’ explosives and firearms.
I call on the police to issue details of every gun that has been recovered since 1998, with its history, where it can be directly linked to the Provisional IRA. I asked many times when a member of the Policing Board for the history of weapons seized by police found after murders etc and the constant response was there was an ‘ongoing legal case’.
The police were out trying to defend the community, often illequipped, often hung out to dry by successive British governments and secretaries of state, and attacked by nationalist and republican politicians. I was proud to wear the uniform of the RUC. As a part-time reserve constable, I did a job that needed to be done, and all of my colleagues did the same.
I call on all unionist politicians, and those who regard themselves as democrats, to get off the fence and start to fight back. Enough is enough – no more rewriting of history. Let the statistics prove who were responsible for the vast majority of murders and deaths in Northern Ireland. It certainly was not the RUC.
ROSS M HUSSEY Omagh, Co Tyrone
MoD and PSNI to be sued over UVF killing of three IRA men
Alan Erwin, Irish News, February 26th, 2025
The scene of the UVF shooting of four men in Boyles Bar, Cappagh, Co Tyrone in March 1991
POLICE and the MoD are being sued over alleged security force collusion in the loyalist killing of three IRA men.
Bereaved relatives and survivors have issued High Court proceedings in connection with the UVF gun attack at Boyle’s Bar in Cappagh, Co Tyrone in March 1991.
IRA members Malcolm Nugent, Dwayne O’Donnell and John Quinn were shot dead as their car pulled up outside the village pub.
A fourth victim, 52-year-old civilian Thomas Armstrong, was also killed by shots fired into the bar.
Lawyers for the Armstrong and O’Donnell families launched legal action after a draft report linked UDR soldiers to the attack.
The report, by the now defunct Historical Enquiries Team (HET), stated that three part-time members of the regiment were later named in intelligence as being involved in the murders.
They were arrested and questioned but never charged.
The report also concluded that the original RUC investigation was comprehensive and correctly focused on the UVF.
British agent Brian Nelson
However, a gun used in the Cappagh attack was said to be part of a shipment of weapons imported by loyalist paramilitaries in the late 1980s with the involvement of army agent Brian Nelson.
Failures have also been alleged against police over delays in attending Boyle’s Bar after the shootings and in taking witness statements.
Damages are being sought against the PSNI, as successor to the RUC, and Britain’s MoD for suspected misfeasance in public office, according to statements of claim.
A number of other individuals who attended the pub are also taking legal action.
In court yesterday it was confirmed that the allegations are denied.
Adjourning proceedings, Mr Justice Rooney listed the cases for a further review next month.
Speaking outside court, a solicitor for the plaintiffs said it has now emerged that 20 files of investigative material have to be disclosed for the legal action.
“ Today we have now learned that at least 20 folders of materials exist in PSNI archives in relation to these murders
Gavin Booth of Phoenix Law also claimed the draft HET report provided evidence that members of the 8th Battalion of the UDR were involved in the attack at Boyle’s Bar along with UVF gunmen.
“Today we have now learned that at least 20 folders of materials exist in PSNI archives in relation to these murders,” he said.
“It is hoped that this discovery will finally allow the families to learn what happened to their loved ones and who was responsible for the horrific acts at Cappagh.
“We look forward to a trial date in the coming weeks.”
United Ireland would be fitting tribute, says Gerry Kelly at McFarlane funeral
Mark Bain, Belfast Telegraph, February 26th, 2025
Senior Sinn Fein figures were among the mourners at the funeral of former IRA prisoner and veteran republican Brendan 'Bik' McFarlane.
McFarlane was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the 1975 Bayardo Bar attack in Belfast which killed five people and injured more than 60 the previous year.
He was also infamous for his part in the Maze breakout — the biggest escape in UK prison history.
A crowd of several thousand followed as a lone piper led the funeral procession through Milltown Cemetery, where in a graveside oration North Belfast MLA Gerry Kelly said the best tribute to McFarlane's life would be a united Ireland.
The Ardoyne man died aged 74 after a short illness on Friday.
Yesterday afternoon the hearse carrying his remains was applauded as it arrived at the cemetery gates.
Mourners included former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, North Belfast MP John Finucane and Irish TDs Pearse Doherty and Matt Carthy, who gathered outside his family home off the Cliftonville Road for a short service and blessing by Fr Gary Donegan.
At Milltown Cemetery Sinn Fein MLAs Pat Sheenan and Carál Ní Chuilín were alongside Gerry Kelly.
Giant of republicanism
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, who had paid tribute to McFarlane as “a giant of Irish republicanism”, and First Minister Michelle O'Neill were not present, in what was largely a day when the old guard took centre stage.
McFarlane was the officer in command of the H-Block prisoners during the 1981 hunger strike over conditions in the Maze and was among 38 IRA inmates who escaped from the prison in Co Antrim in September 1983.
He had been serving a life sentence for his role in the attack at the Bayardo Bar.
Mr Kelly's 20-minute eulogy at the graveside made no mention of specific attacks while on 'active service' with the IRA, instead saying he had lost “a close friend and comrade” who had “always been a busy boy” for the republican cause.
He recalled being on the run with McFarlane across Europe, referring to his key role in what he branded the “audacious escape”, as inmates used smuggled guns and knives to overpower prison staff before hijacking a food lorry and driving to the main gate.
Tidey kidnap
In December 1983, McFarlane is alleged to have been involved in the kidnap of supermarket executive Don Tidey in a bid to ransom him to raise money for the IRA.
The Garda eventually tracked Mr Tidey and his kidnappers — four in all — to Derrada Wood in Ballinamore, Co Leitrim on December 16, 1983.
In the subsequent shoot-out, following which Mr Tidey made his escape, a trainee garda (Gary Sheehan) and an Irish Army soldier (Patrick Kelly) were killed.
Though later charged in connection with the kidnapping, the case collapsed in 2006 before it reached trial.
McFarlane, along with Mr Kelly, had been recaptured in the Netherlands in January 1986.
Mr Kelly said the teenage McFarlane had intended to become a priest and entered a seminary in Wales, but returned home to Belfast at the start of the Troubles.
“He was determined to defend his community,” Mr Kelly said. “He decided as many others did at the time that armed resistance was the only way to face an occupying military force. The early to mid-1970s were the darkest years of the conflict.”
McFarlane went on to “throw himself into local politics and community work” following his release from prison in 1997, though never gave any thought to becoming an elected representative.
“He supported the negotiations for the Good Friday Agreement and used his very strong influence talking to others,” Mr Kelly added. “He was a huge part of getting me elected as an MLA for North Belfast in 1998 and was a driving force in North Belfast and increasing our vote, election after election.”
Mr Kelly closed his eulogy by saying: “Irish unity of course will not just happen. We need to make it happen, working together by continuing to put our shoulders to the wheel as Bik did all his life. We will finish the task ahead.
“We will achieve a united Ireland, a new republic for the rights and identity of all people living on this island of whatever persuasion or background will be welcomed.
“That will be the most fitting tribute we can give to our friend and comrade Bik McFarlane.”
Gerry Adams was among those who took a turn at carrying McFarlane's coffin, which was draped with an Irish flag though without any paramilitary adornments, through Milltown Cemetery.
Unionists have been strongly critical of the tributes to McFarlane.
Moral imperative to remember his victims
In the Assembly this week, DUP MLA Phillip Brett said there was a “moral imperative to ensure his victims are not forgotten”, noting his involvement in the Bayardo Bar massacre and the Maze escape.
“In all the public pronouncements from Sinn Fein eulogising Mr McFarlane, there was not a single sentence, not a single scintilla and not a sorry for the victims of his evil deeds,” Mr Brett said.
Ulster Unionist MLA Doug Beattie said victims must not be forgotten at the expense of those who carried out the killings.
Listing the victims of the Bayardo Bar — civilians Linda Boyle, Joanne McDowell, William Gracey, Samuel Gunning, and UVF member Hugh Harris — Mr Beattie said the victims had been reduced to “just a number”.
“Again we eulogise the terrorist murderer while their victims are just a number,” he said.
Would-be Taoiseach Mary Lou McDonald's lauding of killer gives pause for thought
Mick Clifford, Irish Examiner, Wednesday, February 26th, 2025
Brendan ‘Bic’ McFarlane’s violent past raises questions about Sinn Féin’s retro republicanism and its treatment of IRA victims
Joanne McDowell was 29 when she was having a drink in the Bayardo Bar on Aberdeen Street in Belfast.
A man walked in, threw a bomb and ran away. The bomb exploded killing Ms McDowell. Linda Boyle was pulled from the wreckage alive but she died of her injuries within a week. She was 17. They were murdered because they were Protestants.
As the bomber did his thing, one of his associates sprayed the front of the bar with machine gun fire. He killed doorman William Gracey and his brother-in-law Samuel Gunning, who had just stopped for a chat. They were murdered because they were Protestants. A fifth victim of the bomb and gun attack was Hugh Harris, a 21-year-old member of the UVF.
One of the killers that night, August 13, 1975, was Brendan ‘Bic’ McFarlane. Last Friday, on McFarlane’s death at the age of 74, Mary Lou McDonald described him as “a great patriot who lived his life for the freedom and unity of Ireland”.
McFarlane had a family who are now grieving him. Ordinarily, it would be considerate to allow them space in their bereavement. However, McDonald chose with her nod to retro republican chic to politicise the man’s death.
To categorise Bik McFarlane with patriots, those who died, or lived, for the country, is an obnoxious distortion.
Went beyond defensive action
Like others, he was drawn in the late 1960s into defending his community in a sectarian state. But he went much further than any pretence his actions were defensive. He bought into the Provo narrative that their cause demanded people must die, lives must be sacrificed for a warped and unattainable idea.
That a would-be Taoiseach appears to have no compunction in demeaning McFarlane’s victims by describing him in the most laudable terms available to a nation should give pause for thought.
That a would-be Taoiseach appears to have no compunction in demeaning McFarlane’s victims by describing him in the most laudable terms available to a nation should give pause for thought.
That cause, which you won’t hear uttered in the retro republican chic narrative, was the violent imposition of a socialist 32-county entity. We know this because anytime they killed somebody they reiterated they would keep killing until that aim was achieved.
At no point did they have the support of the majority of nationalists in the north, and at times even supporters turned away in disgust from some of the Provos’ depravity. Beyond that community, the support was minimal. Yet they claimed to be acting in the name of the Irish people.
McFarlane in many ways summed up the Provo ethic. The Bayardo bar massacre rubbishes the contention the Provos were not sectarian. One credible theory at the time was that the attack was a response to the shocking sectarian murder of three members of the Miami Showband a fortnight earlier. Nobody would attempt to portray the loyalist perpetrators of that outrage as patriots.
In 1981, McFarlane was the leader of the IRA prisoners on the H Block during the hunger strikes. Such an experience was undoubtedly traumatic, irrespective of why he was incarcerated. But even here there are questions that don’t fit comfortably into retro republican chic.
Conflicting accounts of hunger strike
The spokesperson for the prisoners at the time was another IRA man, Richard O’Rawe. Later, he claimed, with a body of supporting evidence, that a deal was on the table after four of the hunger strikers died. This, he says, was rejected by the leadership outside on the basis there was political capital to be gained by continuing. Six other prisoners went on to die.
When O’Rawe revealed this 24 years later, McFarlane disputed it. McFarlane then set out to discredit O’Rawe, who is not a fantasist, had no reason to lie, and knew he would face being ostracised by his former comrades.
The issue remains disputed but if O’Rawe is to be believed, McFarlane followed the line from the leadership, and denied the true fate of his fellow inmates, who are now lauded as martyrs by the very leadership that may well have sacrificed them. And for what did they die? That which McDonald refers to as “freedom” and “unity”?
Two years after the hunger strikes, McFarlane, along with others, escaped from the Maze. A few months later, Don Tidey was kidnapped by the Provisional IRA in Dublin in an operation that was straight out of the Sicilian mafia playbook.
Soldier and Garda killed
The kidnappers were traced to Derrada woods, outside Ballinamore in Co Leitrim. There is copious evidence McFarlane was at Derrada woods. As the gardaí and Irish Defence Forces closed in, one of the kidnappers shot dead Private Patrick Kelly and Garda recruit Gary Sheehan.
Private Kelly was a member of Óglaigh Na hÉireann, the Irish defence forces, the term McFarlane and his fellow cult followers used for their organisation, as if they were the real inheritors of 1916 and all that flowed from it.
Private Kelly and Garda Sheehan gave their lives in defence of the state, yet the woman who would be taoiseach describes as a patriot the man who may well have shot them dead.
McDonald, and those of her persuasion, cry foul when Sinn Féin’s past as a prop for the Provos is invoked. Yet when it suits, the retro republican chic narrative is wheeled out.
Recently deceased killers are lauded as so-called patriots, while the Provos’ long dead victims are consigned to the status of weather-beaten headstones, collateral damage in the campaign for some warped utopia, or whatever they call it now.
That a would-be Taoiseach appears to have no compunction in demeaning McFarlane’s victims by describing him in the most laudable terms available to a nation should give pause for thought.
DUP reaction to remarks at funeral of Brendan 'Bik' McFarlane today
Adam Kula, Belfast News Letter, February 26th, 2025
'A ruthless terrorist who will be remembered with revulsion'
This was the response of DUP MLA Brian Kingston to funeral eulogy of PIRA veteran.
He was reacting to remarks made at the former IRA man’s graveside in Milltown Cemetery today, after the 74-year-old died in hospital following a short illness last Friday.
There was a service outside McFarlane’s home – a terraced house just off the Cliftonville Road in north Belfast – at noon, at which priest Gary Donegan spoke.
Mourners then proceeded to Milltown Cemetery in west Belfast where fellow former IRA man Gerry Kelly MLA delivered an address.
Present were leading Sinn Fein figures including Gerry Adams and John Finucane.
McFarlane had been part of an IRA gang which shot up and bombed the Bayardo Bar on the Shankill Road in 1975, killing five random Protestants.
He was caught by an army patrol driving the car involved in the attack, and was ultimately given five life sentences.
He was one of the leaders of the IRA prisoners in the Maze during the 1981 hunger strike, and was one of the architects of the 1983 Maze breakout in which inmates stabbed and shot their way out of the prison.
He was suspected of being involved in the kidnap of businessman Don Tidey following his escape – a kidnapping which led to a policeman and soldier being shot dead in the Republic of Ireland as they attempted to rescue him.
In Milltown Cemetery, Mr Kelly told mourners: “He witnessed thousands of Catholics being driven from their homes. He watched the British army on TV in Derry. And closer to home in Ardoyne and wider north Belfast, loyalist death squads were killing so many people.
Government has 'questions to answer' about Omagh bombing says DUP leader
Vincent Kearney, Northern Editor, RTE, February 26th, 2025
DUP leader Gavin Robinson said he shares the fears of relatives of the 29 people killed in the 1998 Omagh bombing by dissident republicans, that a UK inquiry will not get to the truth of what happened unless the Irish Government establishes a parallel process.
Lawyers representing a number of the families have expressed concern that the UK inquiry cannot compel potentially vital witnesses from the Republic to appear.
They believe former members of the Defence Forces, military intelligence and gardaí who were monitoring the activities of dissident republicans at the time of the atrocity could have vital information.
The car used in the Real IRA attack in August 1998 was stolen in Co Monaghan, the bomb was built in the Republic and many of those involved lived across the border.
The Government has pledged co-operation with the UK inquiry but has repeatedly insisted there is no need for a parallel process.
Earlier this month, former Minister for Justice and Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan told RTÉ News he now agrees with the families that there is a need for a parallel inquiry with the power to compel witnesses.
Mr Robinson has said a failure to establish a parallel inquiry would be "an intolerable shame".
Over the course of four weeks the UK inquiry, sitting in Omagh, heard harrowing evidence from the relatives of all of those killed in the attack, a number of survivors who were seriously injured, and several witnesses.
"It is time for the Irish Government to act."
A number of them said the Irish Government must co-operate fully in the inquiry is to fulfil its remit to examine whether the atrocity could have been prevented.
"I think anybody who has taken the opportunity to watch or listen to the harrowing testimony of individuals who lost loved ones or who were injured themselves over the last four weeks in the UK inquiry will know that there is an earnest demand that families get access to truth, that they understand what happened," Mr Robinson said.
"And of course, those questions apply on both sides of the border. There's no longer more time required for honeyed words or solemn sorrow.
"It is time for the Irish Government to act.
"It's time for the Taoiseach to recognise that his Government, that his state, have questions to answer, materials to provide an individuals who may have eyewitness testimony, who may have direct involvement in intelligence that was available at the time, but the inquiry we have has no power to compel them."
Around 30 Dissident bombings before Omagh
Dissident republicans were involved in around 30 bombings and attempted bombings across Northern Ireland in the two years before Omagh.
Four years ago a judge at the High Court in Belfast ruled that there was a real prospect that the bombing could have been prevented and he called for fresh investigations on both sides of the border.
Lawyers for families say public inquiry in Republic needed
The UK inquiry's lawyer has said it believes a memorandum of understanding dealing with the disclosure of potentially relevant Irish state materials will be signed next month.
But lawyers for the families have said access to materials does not go far enough.
They insist that a public inquiry in the Republic is necessary to facilitate the hearing of evidence from people who live across the border, or in some cases to compel them to give evidence and provide relevant documents.
"Whether it's the Irish Defence Forces, An Garda Síochána or the intelligence services - there was information available, there was action taken, there was a knowledge of the precursor events and events that ran up to Omagh that will be hugely important to assessing the truth in this inquiry, hugely important for the family's quest for truth," Mr Robinson said.
Gavin Robinson – ‘an intolerable shame’
Gavin Robinson said a failure to establish a parallel inquiry would be 'an intolerable shame'
"This inquiry, as we know in Omagh, is looking over a period of around two years and looking at a litany of terror attacks in Northern Ireland, including Banbridge and Lisburn and Moira and Newry and many others.
"Over the course of that two year period the bombs were constructed in the Irish Republic, the bombs were transferred from the Irish Republic into Northern Ireland, the activists or the participants involved in those acts of terror were known to the state.
"In the Irish Republic, actions were reportedly taken by elements of the State, whether it's the guards, the Defence Forces or the intelligence services, to frustrate those operatives, and yet the bomb got through.
"And so unless there's an inquiry in the Republic of Ireland, we will only get a partial picture.
"There needs to be an inquiry in the Irish Republic. It needs to have the power to compel witnesses, to take evidence and to answer the questions these families are asking."
Willing to meet Irish Government
DUP leader willing to meet with Taoiseach and Tánaiste
Mr Robinson said the UK inquiry established to examine whether the attack could have been prevented will not be able to establish the truth without a parallel process.
The DUP leader said he is willing to meet Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris to discuss the issue and to have the opportunity to reinforce the need for such an inquiry.
"Over the last four weeks, there's a new generation of individuals in Northern Ireland and in the Republic who now understand the horrors of 1998.
"They understand the horrors of Omagh, but none of them can understand why any political leader in the Republic would stand in the way of truth," he said.
"I'm deeply fearful, and the families are too, that this process could conclude in the end with Lord [Alan] Turnbull saying I couldn't make an ultimate finding because the Irish Government didn't make information available, didn't make witnesses available, and we couldn't, to the full extent of legal provisions in our jurisdiction, establish the truth.
"That would be an intolerable shame and a shame that I believe no Taoiseach or Tánaiste could stand over."
