Jim Allister: New Lodge inquest chance to ‘blacken name’ of army

A new inquest into the deaths of six men believed to have been shot dead by the army in north Belfast is another example of an imbalance in the legacy process, Jim Allister has said.
The troubled streets of Belfast in the 1970sThe troubled streets of Belfast in the 1970s
The troubled streets of Belfast in the 1970s

The Attorney General, Brenda King, has ordered the inquest to examine the circumstances of the deaths in 1973.

A number of those killed were later revealed to be members of the IRA..

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Ms King wrote to victims’ group Relatives For Justice (RFJ), informing it of her decision to hold an inquest

The six men who died were James McCann, James Sloan, Anthony Campbell, Ambrose Hardy, John Loughran and Brendan Maguire.

An RFJ spokesman said it was acknowledged that two of the men were “IRA personnel,” but described them as not being “on active service at the time.”

However, the IRA’s ‘roll of honour’ book Tirghra lists three of the deceased as “volunteers”.

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The men, referred to as the New Lodge Six, were killed in two separate shooting incidents.

Their families believe soldiers were responsible for all the killings and that a one-day inquest in 1975 failed to properly examine the deaths.

A number of unionists and former security forces members have repeatedly claimed that the majority of legacy inquests are focused on those killed by the state, despite the overwhelming majority of people who died having been killed by terrorists.

Jim Allister said: “This, like the vast bulk of legacy inquests, is part of Sinn Fein’s attempt to rewrite the past and legitimise the IRA campaign of terror.

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“Remember that the Stormont Castle Agreement agreed £19 million in funds for legacy inquests – a figure which dwarfed the £6.5 million for the Historical Investigations Unit for overhanging Historical Enquires Team cases.

“While innocent victims of terrorists have been left with the crumbs in terms of the provision for legacy cases there is a fortune of public money being spent on blackening the name of the Army and RUC.”

The TUV leader added: “The latest announcement of an inquest into these killings is, I fear, another part of this process.”

RFJ casework manager Mike Ritchie said: “They claimed that all six were in the IRA but that is obviously not the case. Two were IRA personnel but not on active service at the time.”

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Willie Loughran, the brother of John Loughran, described his deaths as an unprovoked attack on the New Lodge community that has left a deep trauma and many questions.

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