Top IRA figure Brendan 'Bik' McFarlane 'was a ruthless terrorist who will be remembered with revulsion' says DUP MLA Brian Kingston as Bayardo bar attacker buried
Brendan ‘Bik’ McFarlane will be remembered with “revulsion” because of his career as a “ruthless terrorist”, a DUP MLA has said.
Brian Kingston was reacting to remarks made at the former IRA man’s graveside in Milltown Cemetery today, after the 74-year-old died in hospital following a short illness last Friday.
There was a service outside McFarlane’s home – a terraced house just off the Cliftonville Road in north Belfast – at noon, at which priest Gary Donegan spoke.
Mourners then proceeded to Milltown Cemetery in west Belfast where fellow former IRA man Gerry Kelly MLA delivered an address.
Present were leading Sinn Fein figures including Gerry Adams and John Finucane.
McFarlane had been part of an IRA gang which shot up and bombed the Bayardo Bar on the Shankill Road in 1975, killing five random Protestants.
He was caught by an army patrol driving the car involved in the attack, and was ultimately given five life sentences.
He was one of the leaders of the IRA prisoners in the Maze during the 1981 hunger strike, and was one of the architects of the 1983 Maze breakout in which inmates stabbed and shot their way out of the prison.
He was suspected of being involved in the kidnap of businessman Don Tidey following his escape – a kidnapping which led to a policeman and soldier being shot dead in the Republic of Ireland as they attempted to rescue him.
In Milltown Cemetery, Mr Kelly told mourners: “He witnessed thousands of Catholics being driven from their homes. He watched the British army on TV in Derry. And closer to home in Ardoyne and wider north Belfast, loyalist death squads were killing so many people.
"For Bik, the question was how he could be oppose the naked sectarianism, the supremacism, the discrimination, and the brutality of the unionist regime and its RUC, and the British government and its military forces.
"He was determined to defend his community.”
North Belfast MLA Mr Kingston (whose constituency covers both the Shankill and McFarlane’s home district of Ardoyne) told the News Letter: “Bik McFarlane was no stranger to brutality and sectarianism. Far from defending his community, he was convicted of a brutal bomb-and-shooting attack on the Shankill Road in which five people were killed, including a 17-year-old girl.
"His actions as an IRA leader only deepened the suffering of many people during the Troubles. Thankfully the majority of people didn't follow his lead, and we pay tribute to the security forces who ultimately defeated the IRA campaign of terrorism.
"Sinn Fein need to stop indulging in the shameful glorification of past acts of terrorism, at a time when others would seek to perpetuate such violence."
As to how McFarlane will be remembered on the Shankill, Mr Kingston said: "Only with revulsion for the innocent lives taken. And not just on the Shankill but elsewhere he was active as a ruthless terrorist."
Mr Kelly had also gone on to tell mourners: “He [McFarlane] supported the negotiations for the Good Friday Agreement and used his very strong influence talking to others.
“He was a huge part of getting me elected as an MLA for North Belfast in 1998.
“He had no interest in becoming an elected representative but was a driving force in North Belfast and increasing our vote, election after election...
“Irish unity of course will not just happen. We need to make it happen, working together by continuing to put our shoulders to the wheel as Bik did all his life. We will finish the task ahead.
“We will achieve a united Ireland, a new republic for the rights and identity of all people living on this island of whatever persuasion or background will be welcomed.
“That will be the most fitting tribute we can give to our friend and comrade Bik McFarlane.”