It is fifty years since the Ulster Unionist politician John Taylor was shot and injured by the IRA

It is 50 years since the former Ulster Unionist politician John Taylor was shot by the IRA.
News Letter front page from Saturday February 26 2022, reporting the shoothing of John Taylor 50 years ago, taken from News Letter archivesNews Letter front page from Saturday February 26 2022, reporting the shoothing of John Taylor 50 years ago, taken from News Letter archives
News Letter front page from Saturday February 26 2022, reporting the shoothing of John Taylor 50 years ago, taken from News Letter archives

The gun attack the then Stormont MP and junior Home Office minister, 34, happened on February 25 1972 in Armagh.

The assassination attempt on Mr Taylor (who is now a crossbench peer, Lord Kilclooney) was made amid a rapidly deteriorating security situation, weeks after Bloody Sunday and days after the Aldershot bomb. By the end of 1972 it would be the most violent year of the Troubles.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

On Saturday February 26 1972, half a century ago, the News Letter reports: “It was just five minutes before six o’clock when two gunmen crept out of an entry behind Mr. Taylor’s parked car in Russell Street and fired a burst from a Thompson sub-machine gun at point blank range.”

The report continues: “Mr. Taylor, whose wife is expecting a baby in three weeks, was rushed to Armagh City Hospital where he underwent a ‘relatively minor’ operation. Later, in an ambulance he was transferred to Belfast.

“The assassination attempt stunned the Province. From all quarters, from Protestant and Roman Catholic, from Unionist and Nationalist, and from close colleagues and the general public, came immediate and shocked reaction.”

Mr Taylor needed surgery on his jaw. He would later become an MP, MEP and Ulster Unionist deputy leader.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The News Letter reported that the attackers were from the Provisional IRA but in fact they were Official IRA, including Joe McCann, who was killed by soldiers later that year, aged 24. A trial of two Parachute Regiment veterans accused of murdering McCann collapsed last year.

Lord Kilclooney, 84, yesterday declined to speak on the anniversary. He told this newspaper: “I am in rude health and my brain is still active. I have been in the Lords Ukraine debate from 10 o’clock this morning.”

In 2016, when the two soldiers were charged, Lord Kilclooney pointed out that no-one had been charged with his shooting, and added: “Things are getting crazy in Northern Ireland when we start prosecuting people for events almost 50 years ago ... next we will be prosecuting King William for fighting the Battle of the Boyne.”