UUP leader points finger at Sinn Fein who have ‘no shame in justifying’ attacks like Teebane

Reflecting on the memorial service held yesterday to remember the eight workmen killed at Teebane, UUP leader Doug Beattie pointed the finger at Sinn Fein who continue to justify the IRA’s campaign of terror.
By Graeme Cousins
Published 17th Jan 2022, 18:21 BST
Remains of the van in which eight workmen were killed in an IRA landmine explosionRemains of the van in which eight workmen were killed in an IRA landmine explosion
Remains of the van in which eight workmen were killed in an IRA landmine explosion

On this day in 1992 (January 17) an IRA bomb killed eight Protestant workmen who had been travelling in a minibus past Teebane crossroads between Cookstown and Omagh.

Six others were injured.

The men’s firm was targeted because it carried out work for the security forces.

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Mr Beattie commented: “On January 17, 1992 eight men were travelling home in a work van after a day’s honest toil. They did not make it home to their loved ones because the IRA decided to plant a roadside bomb at Teebane crossroads in County Tyrone.

“Thirty years on the survivors still live with the pain caused by injuries on that day and the families of those who died all live with the pain of loss.

“Nobody has been found guilty of this crime, there has been no inquiry into this atrocity, no Ombudsman has sought to shine a light.

“To this very day, Sinn Fein politicians have no shame in justifying the bloody campaign of the IRA and attend commemorations of those involved in IRA violence.

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“In May 2020 Mary Lou McDonald described it as ‘a justified campaign.’ Those words speak for themselves.”

Mr Beattie added: “As I stood yesterday at the service to remember the innocent working men who were murdered that day, the contrast between those men, and the cowards who murdered them could not have been starker.

“My thoughts as always are with the innocent victims of terror and their families.”

Victims’ campaigner Kenny Donaldson said the attack was motivated by “naked ethnic and sectarian hatred”.

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