Handshake call for Kingsmills parade
15/2/12 PACEMAKER BELFAST. Pastor Barrie Halliday with the PSNI death threat letter which he was issued with alongside Kingsmill massacre family members. Picture CHARLES MCQUILLAN/PACEMAKER
THE pastor involved in organising a march in memory of 10 Protestant workmen murdered by the IRA at Kingsmills has called for the Roman Catholic priest in Whitecross and a member of the Reavey family to engage in a public handshake as the march passes through the village.
On January 4, 1976, UVF men shot dead five Catholic men – two from the Reavey family in Whitecross and three from the O’Dowd family in Gilford. Two others were also shot, one of whom – a third Reavey brother – died from a brain haemorrhage almost a month later.
The Kingsmills massacre took place the following day.
Pastor Barrie Halliday – who this week received a death threat – has helped Families Acting for Innocent Relatives (FAIR) plan a parade along the route taken by the men shot dead in 1976.
The Parades Commission has placed restrictions on the march, which will go through the village of Whitecross.
They include only the sole survivor of the attack – Alan Black – and two relatives of each of the 10 men murdered being allowed to walk part of the route (through Whitecross) on February 25.
The commission has also ruled that there should be no placards, flags or banners in the procession and that it begins and disperses promptly.
Last night, Pastor Halliday said: “There is a need for around 100 people representing the families, including Willie Frazer and myself, to march through Whitecross and meet and shake hands with the local priest and a member of the Reavey family.
“That would do unbelievable good for the community. There needs to be a public handshake because we have to move on. We have to live together. If they do that it will not go unnoticed and we will certainly repay it.”
On Wednesday Pastor Halliday, who has the full support of the victims’ families, confirmed police had informed him of a death threat.
“The message to me from the PSNI was that if we do proceed through the village of Whitecross my church will be ‘burnt to the ground’ and I will be ‘shot dead’.”
He said that while he has been inundated with messages of support from his own community, “I’ve not had much support from Roman Catholics, which is not normal”.
He added: “I am also disappointed that nationalist politicians are even today still stoking the fire. I have done everything possible to take provocation out of the march.”
Last night, when asked about Pastor Halliday’s calls for more people to be allowed to take part in the march, a spokesman for the Parades Commission said: “The Parades Commission will be making no further comment at this stage.
“The commission hopes to have reached an outcome, recognising the needs of immediate family members of those killed or injured at Kingsmills, that will allow the people of Whitecross to stand shoulder to shoulder with them; and the commission hopes it allows people from all backgrounds in the area to stand together recognising the hurt and loss of people across the community divide during a particularly troubled part of our history.”
The News Letter was unable to contact Whitecross parish priest, Very Rev Michael Rogers, last night.
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Weather for Belfast
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
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