Event named in honour of IRA man Jim Lynagh 'cynical and offensive' says Ulster Unionist
An event named in honour of dead IRA man Jim Lynagh is both cynical and offensive, accoridng to an Ulster Unionist councillor.
Victor Warrington made the remarks about the upcoming Volunteer Jim Lynagh Winter School event at the former St Eugene’s Primary School on Knocks Road outside Lisnaskea in Fermanagh tomorrow.
It is billed as involving talks about “republicanism in the Tyrone, Fermanagh and the border counties, past, present and future” and “Palestine, Ireland and the Black and Tans: imperialism past, present and future”.
A flyer for the event says it is organised by the Peadar O’Donnell Socialist Republican Forum and hosted by the Robert Emmet and Matt Fitzpatrick 1916 Societies.
The school closed in 2013, and in recent years it has been used by a community group.
The Catholic Church says that it has not owned the site for the last four years, and neither the Department of Education nor Education Authority have any involvement with it.
Lynagh was one of the eight IRA men shot dead by the SAS at Loughgall in 1987.
He was nicknamed ‘The Executioner’ and was believed to have led the Loughgall gang and to have been involved in a number of deaths (the exact number is unknown).
Councillor Warrington said: “The latest stunt in south Fermanagh to push the republican narrative is nothing short of disgraceful: a so called ‘winter school’ named after Jim Lynagh, a terrorist who, along with seven of his fellow thugs, was shot dead on his way to attack Loughgall police station in 1987.
"Hosting such an event in a disused primary school outside Lisnaskea is as cynical as it is offensive, turning what was once a place of learning into a lesson for terrorism.
"Jim Lynagh and his gang weren’t heroes, freedom fighters, or patriots.
"They were unrepentant killers whose only legacy is one of bloodshed and misery.
"Now, with the help of ex-hunger striker Tommy McKearney [one of the speakers at the event], this so called ‘school’ is nothing more than an attempt to airbrush history and romanticise terrorism.
"It’s a propaganda exercise dressed up as education, and the people of south Fermanagh aren’t fooled.
"As someone born in Rosslea, I know full well what republican terrorism really meant for our communities.
"It wasn’t liberation they were after; it was annihilation.
"Their campaign was one of pure sectarian hatred, a calculated attempt at genocide against anyone who didn’t bow to their warped ideology.
"It’s sickening that in 2025 some still think it’s acceptable to glorify murderers and rewrite the past.
"No amount of spin will change the truth: these men were terrorists, not teachers, and the only lesson they leave behind is one of shame and destruction.”