Devotion to local community cost UDR major his life

Ivan Toombs, 42, a married father-of-five from Warrenpoint, was killed on January 16, 1981 when two IRA gunmen burst into his office at Warrenpoint harbour and shot him at close range.

He was rushed to Daisy Hill Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.

Son Paul was only 16 when his father was murdered. Forty years later, he recalls how a strong sense of duty kept the UDR officer and his family embedded in the Warrenpoint community despite being wounded in a murder bid five years previously.

“Not only was he first and foremost a family man, he was also very much involved in his local community. Warrenpoint was his home town and the Toombs family is one of the oldest families in Warrenpoint,” Paul Toombs said.

“He felt a very strong pull to want to be there. There is a famous quote that just about sums up my dad – ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing’.

“That’s what dad was all about. It was about the community, and that somebody had to stand in there to keep the peace until the politicians could get it sorted.”

A keen sportsman, the senior Customs officers played hockey for Newry Olympic and is a former chairman of the club. He was also a talented rugby, soccer and cricket enthusiast.

Paul said: “He was a scoutmaster, on the church committee, a member of the golf club and sports clubs. He was part and parcel of society and that is what he strove for in life.”

Paul said his family declined the offer of a full military funeral as they didn’t want to put any Catholic neighbours off from attending.

The pen picture of Ivan Toombs in a SEFF victims’ group tribute describes him as a “God fearing Christian man who ultimately believed in the power of good, he was a man who believed in the sanctity of life and he believed that irrespective of the actions of terrorism that ultimately good would overcome evil”.

Co-worker Eamon Collins was charged with involvement in the murder but was never convicted. Collins later wrote a book about his time in the IRA in which he recounts how he helped plan Mr Toombs’ murder.

“When I set out to kill Ivan Toombs I was setting out to kill a UDR uniform. What it brought home to me is that you can never kill a uniform, you can only kill a person,” Collins wrote.

Mr Toombs had survived a previous attack on his life, in August 1976, when his car was sprayed with gunfire as he was driving to work through Newry.

Although seriously wounded, he managed to retain control of his car until he reached the Customs station where emergency medical assistance was summoned.

The approaching 40th anniversary of his father’s murder is a difficult time for his family, Paul said.

On the subject of justice and forgiveness for all those involved in the murder, he said: “Forgiveness is conditional, and someone would have to seek forgiveness before I could say I have forgiven them.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s loyalist or republican paramilitaries trying to justify their actions, absolutely no way was the taking of anybody’s life justifiable. Not one murder.

“But somebody has to say, ‘it was wrong and I’m sorry about it to gain forgiveness.’

“As a Christian I believe we are all accountable for our actions. We may not face justice in the courts of this land, we may not find out the truth, I have left it up to God.

“When I became a Christian I asked Christ to forgive me for my sins. That is the Biblical model and I don’t see any difference.”

Paul added: “We have all made lives for ourselves and just want to get on as best we can. We want the best for our grandchildren, for them to be proud of where they’re from, without all the tie-ins that we have in the Province.

“Do we want to sacrifice justice for truth? Do we lower the bar of justice to fit the [peace] process? I don’t think so. I think we need to set the bar high, where a society needs that bar to be. We need that solid foundation.”

READ: Lack of justice adds to anguish of Glenanne base bomb survivor

READ: Injured ex-UDR man’s epic challenge to boost mental health services

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers — and consequently the revenue we receive — we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content.

Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Alistair Bushe

Editor