Prospect of ‘amnesty’ weighs heavily on Teebane atrocity victims

Some of those bereaved and injured by the 1992 Teebane bomb blast have said the prospect of an effective amnesty for Troubles murders is placing an additional stress on victims.
By Mark Rainey
Published 18th Jan 2022, 17:03 BST
The roadside service on Sunday to mark the 30th anniversary of the Teebane bombing in Co Tyrone. Photo: Colm Lenaghan/ PacemakerThe roadside service on Sunday to mark the 30th anniversary of the Teebane bombing in Co Tyrone. Photo: Colm Lenaghan/ Pacemaker
The roadside service on Sunday to mark the 30th anniversary of the Teebane bombing in Co Tyrone. Photo: Colm Lenaghan/ Pacemaker

Eight Protestant workmen – who were on their way home from carrying out work at an Army base in Omagh – were killed and six others injured when the IRA detonated a large roadside bomb as their minibus passed the Teebane crossroads in Co Tyrone.

Cecil James ‘Jimmy’ Caldwell was one of those who died.

His widow, Jean Caldwell, said concerns over a potential amnesty for terrorists weighed heavily on her mind on the weeks leading up to the 30th anniversary earlier this week.

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“It makes me so angry to think that if there was an amnesty then all those murders – UDA, UVF, IRA – they are all going to walk away scot-free,” she said.

“Us, the widows, the mothers, fathers are left to suffer. And the point is, what was it all for?”

The anniversary of the murderous attack was marked with a roadside service at the site of the blast on Sunday.

Mrs Caldwell added: “Normally I wouldn’t get emotional but on Sunday the tears wouldn’t stop.

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“When I woke up on Sunday morning I didn’t want to get out of bed.

“Sunday was awful, and even my two daughters said that the whole week it was like a weight was on my shoulders.”

Speaking to the News Letter ahead of the service, she said: “The thought that someone might come forward with new information, or that some new evidence might be found, crosses my mind nearly every day.

“And what annoyed me was when they tried to bring forward an amnesty. Because I knew there would never be justice then. That would be very hard to take.

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Speaking to the media just before the service on Sunday Ruth Forrest, the sister of victim David Harkness, said she also opposes any form of amnesty as she has “never given up hope of justice”.

One of those who survived the attack said that even though convictions are unlikely, the “hope that someone might be brought to justice should not be closed off to victims”.

READ: Troubles legacy legislation delayed until after NI Assembly elections claim

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