Open invitation to Kingsmills Massacre commemoration

South Armagh Victims campaigner William Frazer has given an open invite for people to attend the annual memorial service at the scene of the Kingsmills Massacre in south Armagh.
By The Newsroom
Published 2nd Jan 2019, 15:27 BST
Updated 10th Jan 2019, 11:32 BST
Kingsmills Massacre survivor Alan Black after a recent hearing of the inquest into the murders.Kingsmills Massacre survivor Alan Black after a recent hearing of the inquest into the murders.
Kingsmills Massacre survivor Alan Black after a recent hearing of the inquest into the murders.

The IRA stopped a bus of civilian workers at Kingsmills as they returned home from work on 5 January 1976. Gunmen pulled the only Catholic man out before shooting the remaining ten Protestants dead, in the what the Historical Enquiries Team branded “sectarian savagery”.

An ongoing legacy inquest into the attack began in June 2016. Although it has never been claimed by the IRA, ballistics tests found all weapons belonged to it. The commemoration service will begin at 10:45am on Saturday 5 January at the roadside memorial,

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Mr Frazer said: “Annually the families gather in dignified reflection to remember those who were brutally murdered by the IRA. The world now knows and accepts that there was an unjustified campaign of ethnic cleansing within South Armagh. “The romantic narrative of Irish revolutionaries is far displaced from the sectarian reality suffered by many people who lived and worked within this area.

“I will be publicly updating the families on the current inquest. Those suspects with On-The-Run letters may be able to hide behind the courts but I’ll ensure their names are made public. Locals know who they are, it’s about time were given the publicity they deserve.

“The Kingsmills families will not be deterred by obstruction or deflection, their campaign for Truth and Justice continues.” Ten innocent men were murdered, he added.

Related topics:IRA