Shankill bomber convicted over wearing old PIRA jacket
Christopher Woodhouse, Sunday Life, April 13th, 2025
MURDERER WORE COAT TO PROVO MEMORIAL
SHANKILL bomber Sean Kelly has been convicted of wearing a proscribed jacket at a commemoration event for a dead IRA man.
The 51-year-old denied a single charge under the Terrorism Act arising from his appearance at the event on Boxing Day 2022.
Court documents state the item of clothing would have “aroused reasonable suspicion” he was a supporter of a proscribed organisation.
Last week he was found guilty by a district judge following a contested hearing at Belfast Magistrates Court and fined £300.
Kelly, from Ardglen Place in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast, is now seeking to appeal the conviction at the city's county court.
Supergrass
It's understood he wore the coat, emblazoned with the insignia of a defunct north Belfast IRA unit from the 1970s, during a memorial service for ex-IRA prisoner Jimmy Donnelly, who died earlier the same month.
Donnelly was jailed for 18 years for IRA activities and took part in the 1983 escape from the Maze prison.
He was among 22 people found guilty on the evidence of supergrass Christopher Black, though 18 of those would later have their convictions overturned on appeal.
Kelly was given nine life sentences, one for each of the victims of the 1993 atrocity he perpetrated along with Thomas Begley, who carried the bomb and died in the blast.
The explosion ripped through Frizzell's fish shop on a busy Saturday afternoon.
It had been aimed at taking out the UDA leadership on the Shankill, including its notorious 'C' Company boss Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair.
But they were not in the room above the fish shop where they had held meetings previously.
Begley and Kelly posed as delivery men dressed in white coats, but the bomb went off prematurely, killing Begley instantly, while Kelly was pulled from the rubble by unsuspecting rescuers.
Among the dead who were buried under the remains of the collapsed building were seven-year-old Michelle Baird and 13-year-old Leanne Murray.
Victims campaigner died recently
Last October Leanne's mother Gina passed away after years campaigning for wider justice for the victims killed in the bombing.
Ahead of the 30th anniversary of the outrage, Gina said she knew she would not live to see justice done for those killed by the IRA that day.
She died three weeks before the attack's 31st anniversary.
Among those who carried Begley's coffin was then Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, but he later described the bombing as “a stupid operation”.
It would take until 2018 for Kelly to apologise for his role in the massacre, describing it as an “IRA operation that went tragically wrong”.
“I am truly sorry for the loss of life and the injuries suffered on that day, but there is nothing I can say which can bring any comfort to the families of the victims,” he said.
Kelly was released in 2000 under the terms of the God Friday Agreement but was returned to prison in 2005 by then Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain over suspicions he had been involved in rioting.
He twice canvassed for Sin Fein elections candidates, with the party defending his participation as promoting the peace process.
Hundreds at parade for Miami Showband UVF killer
Ciaran Barnes, Sunday Life, April 13th, 2025
HUNDREDS of loyalists have taken to the streets of a Co Tyrone village to commemorate UVF Miami Showband bomber Wesley Somerville.
Thirty bands marched through Moygashel yesterday evening in honour of the notorious paramilitary, who blew himself up along with accomplice Harris Boyle in July 1975.
The rest of the UVF gang then opened fire, murdering Miami Showband singer Fran O'Toole, guitarist Tony Geraghty and trumpeter Brian McCoy. Bass player Stephen Travers and singer Des Lee were badly injured but remarkably survived.
Yesterday evening's loyalist parade through Moygashel was to commemorate 50 years since Somerville's death.
It attracted senior UVF figures from across Northern Ireland, with some of the bands taking part carrying the organisation's emblems.
Although still suffering painful memories of the Miami Showband slaughter, Des Lee told Sunday Life that Northern Ireland needed to move forward.
“I'm very careful about what I say. Even though I'm 79, I don't like to get in arguments. People have a right to respect their dead, as far as I'm concerned. That's how I look at it,” said the musician.
“I've very much for peace and reconciliation. It's been 50 years. How long are we going to carry on like schoolkids?”
“God rest Fran, Brian and Tony, but maintaining peace and good relations is important for the sake of our kids, grandchildren and their grandchildren. We can't carry on like this, it has to stop at some point,” added Des, who plays a Miami Showband 50th anniversary concert in west Belfast on July 26.
In a statement issued through loyalist Jamie Bryson's JWB Consultancy, the Lt Wesley Somerville Memorial Committee, which organised Saturday's parade, blamed the UVF bomber's death on the IRA and made no mention of the innocent Miami Showband victims.
In contrast to survivor Des Lee's magnanimous words, it said: “The commemorative event is a dignified gathering, remembering a young man who felt compelled when faced with the siege of an IRA terrorist campaign to take steps to defend his community and country.
“It is regrettable that any young man was ever put in this situation, but the responsibility for such circumstances lies firmly and squarely with the IRA. This event was a commemoration not a glorification of the conflict, unlike the continuous events held by Sinn Fein and republican surrogate groups who glorify the actions of IRA terrorists.”
The chart-topping showband were targeted as they travelled from a gig in Banbridge to Newry in July 1975. Their minibus was stopped late at night on a road near Newry by UVF men posing as British Army soldiers.
The musicians were ordered to line up at the side of a verge while attempts were made to hide a bomb on their bus. The intention was for it to explode a short time later and the Miami Showband to be falsely accused of transporting a bomb for the IRA.
However, the device blew up prematurely as Somerville and Boyle were hiding it in the vehicle, killing both men instantly.
