Willie Frazer: Kingsmills hearing confirmed that IRA had ethnic cleansing policy on border

The South Armagh unit was more into targeting Protestants than targeting the British army indeed brigade staff Brian Keenan had talked about driving protestant farmers out and burning their farms.

Friday’s witness Sean O’Callaghan stated that the IRA were a sectarian organisation who had a clear hate for Protestants.

It seems to be the IRA had no shortage of volunteers whiling to carry out these acts of terrorism however when it came to the police the senior CID investigating officer in the area said he had no resources to investigate Kingsmills never mind the other atrocities.

It is now clear that Protestants in South Armagh were left to the mercy of the IRA, we now believe that only for the deployment of the Parachute Regiment in the area in 1976 and their success in apprehending a number of IRA men at Mountain House, in doing so they put fear into the IRA in the area.

That one success by the regiment curtailed IRA operations.

The Protestant community owe a debt to the Parachute Regiment for their protection.

Willie Frazer, Markethill