Report of Public Briefing: ‘The Loughinisland Massacre: A Policy of Collusion’

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By Joe Dwyer

Doherty&MurphyMr Pat Doherty MP opened the event by welcoming Niall Murphy, the solicitor and Human Rights Lawyer for ‘KRW Law’ currently representing the Loughinisland families and survivors; and also extending the apologies of Trevor Birney, the award-winning producer, for being unable to attend.

Mr Doherty stated that Loughinisland was not an aberration, but rather it formed a part of an immediate military and political objective, set by the British security services, to try and frustrate the potential of an unilateral IRA ceasefire and the then emerging Irish Peace Process. Mr Doherty said that collusion was not just a series of isolated incidents. Collusion was, and is, a systematic, deliberate and targeted policy. The West Tyrone MP stated that the recent Ombudsman Report produced by Dr Michael Maguire revealed a shocking scale of collusion between the British Security Services, the RUC, and loyalist paramilitaries. Mr Doherty conveyed his condolences with the victims and survivors of Loughinisland.

Niall Murphy began by thanking Sinn Féin for the invite and for organising the event. Mr Murphy then introduced a brief excerpt from the ESPN Documentary ‘The Ceasefire Massacre’.

Following the documentary clip, Mr Murphy provided a detailed briefing on the Police Ombudsman report by Dr Michael Maguire.

NiallMurphyMr Murphy stated that the Ombudsman report showed that it was “paid RUC agents who pulled the triggers and it was the RUC who failed to investigate the atrocity, with houses not searched and no arrests made for a month, despite having names within a day. Alibis weren’t checked out and evidence was persistently destroyed by the police.”

Mr Murphy added that “The absence of the Rule of Law and the perfunctory and cosmetic nature of investigations as evidenced in this report, is akin to the state endorsed death squads, which operated in Central and Latin America at the same time.”

Mr Niall Murphy’s full briefing can be read here and we would encourage people to take the time to read through it. As was said on the evening, the findings of Dr Maguire’s Report cannot just gather dust on a shelf; they have to be read and circulated.

AudienceMr Murphy’s address was followed by an engaging Q&A session. The evening saw a significant turnout with the in region of 60 people in attendance – thereby demonstrating the level of interest in the issue of British State Collusion.