Claudy bomb anniversary: Fresh investigation prompted by priest letter to News Letter

The failure to identify and prosecute those responsible for the bombing of Claudy 50 years ago has meant much of what happened has been shrouded in doubt, rumour, and allegation.

One of the more comprehensive investigations carried out in the past five decades culminated in a 2010 report by the Police Ombudsman’s Office into the initial RUC investigaton of the massacre.

The ombudsman’s investigation, which found that the suspected role of a Catholic priest who died in 1980 in the attack had been covered up by the church, state and RUC leadership, followed a decision by PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Sam Kincaid to review the initial police investigation.

In December 2002, months after the 30th anniversary of the attack, the assistant police chief told the families of those killed in the attack that a letter that came to be known as the ‘Father Liam letter’ would be included in the investigation.

In September 2002, a two-page typed letter purporting to be from a Catholic priest based in England would ar rive with two people – Ian Starrett and Mary Hamilton.

Mrs Hamilton, who owned the Beaufort Hotel on Church Street and was injured in the bombing, had gone on to pursue a career in local politics and was at the time the deputy mayor of Derry City Council.

Mr Starrett, meanwhile, was a reporter for the News Letter who had written extensively about the Claudy bombing – including the coverage of the 30th anniversary.

In an article by Mr Starrett outlining the contents of the letter, its author – referred to as Father Liam – states that he had attended seminary at the same time as a priest who had been “sent to south Derry”.

The author, whose true identity has never been publicly revealed, described how in 1972 he went to see Father James Chesney in Malin Head, Co Donegal, and how during a late-night conversation the other priest broke down and confessed how he led the unit which planted the Claudy bombs.

The letter’s authenticity has been strongly disputed. The Catholic Church, for example, has pointed out how the letter’s author refers to the priest in question as “John”, rather than Fr Chesney’s true name of James or Jim.

The report in Mr Starett’s article also states that the letter’s author had promised to come forward, but this has never happened.

The significance of the letter published on September 17, 2002 in the News Letter, however, is that it made public suspicions about the role of the late Father Chesney and prompted a re-examination of the role in the Catholic priest in the bombing. Sadly, the full truth about what happened has never been made public.