Burrendale Hotel Newcastle hosting Sinn Fein commemoration for IRA man Paul Magorrian: Woman whose brother was shot in back by IRA says it is 'a kick in the teeth' for victims

Sandra Johnston was speaking as the Burrendale Hotel in Newcastle prepares to host a Sinn Fein event tomorrow for IRA 'adjutant' Paul Magorrian of the South Down Brigade of the IRA.

He was shot dead by the Army in Castlewellan in August 1974.

According to Troubles reference work ‘Lost Lives’, soldiers said he was aiming a gun at them when he was shot and that a rifle was found by his side.

The SDLP disputed the circumstances of his death, but An Phoblacht said he died “on active service”.

Previously, Castlewellan GAC publicly rejected Sinn Fein's attempt to book their club for the event, after which the venue was moved to the Burrendale.

Terror victims led by the South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF) have asked the hotel management for a meeting, but received no response.

Neither the hotel nor Sinn Fein have acknowledged repeated inquiries by the News Letter on the matter over the past month.

Sandra Johnston's brother Alan Johnston was murdered in Kilkeel in 1988.

THE MURDER OF ALAN JOHNSTON

He was walking into Kilkeel Joinery Works where he worked at 8am when an IRA man approached from behind and shot him in the back. He died shortly after.

He was a part-time member of the UDR.

At his funeral Rev David McCaughey condemned that the IRA for saying they had been involved in "a brave action in Kilkeel".

He added: "An assassin came from behind when Alan was carrying his lunchbox in one hand and a set of tools in the other and, without a chance to defend himself, took his life away."

A Kilkeel man was jailed for life later that year for passing on information about Alan to an IRA man in Dundalk.

‘JUST VERY SAD’

Sandra said: "It is just very sad, really, that the hotel which is in the middle of the community is going to host something like this.

"I was shocked to be honest, because I know they have tried to hold the events in the GAA club in Castlewellan and they refused to have it.

"It has probably put the hotel into a bit of a position but there has been no communication from the Burrendale at all in response to us."

Sandra is chairperson of Mourne Action for Survivors of Terrorism (MAST) and is due to take part in an event in Newcastle organised for the same time, for victims traumatised by the events.

She says the hotel has not responded to MAST or any of its members who have contacted it.

"It sort of makes you feel like, well, they don't care about the community who suffered at the hands of the IRA."

IRA MURDERED 30 PEOPLE IN SOUTH DOWN

She estimates that the IRA murdered some 30 people in south Down during the Troubles.

"What we want to focus on at our own service in Newcastle and just have an act of remembrance.

"Things like this dig up the past for innocent victims. This glorification of terrorism taking place in the Burrendale is basically another kick in the teeth for anyone who's lost a loved one.

"I'd say 90% of the families of innocent victims have never got justice for the murders.

IMPACT OF ALAN’S MURDER

"Alan never even saw it coming," she said of her brother's murder. "It's pretty cowardly to shoot someone in the back.

"I was the youngest (20) and he was the next youngest (23). So we were very close. He was very close to my parents, being the youngest boy."

His mother did not want him to join the UDR, she said, but he argued, ‘If I could at least save one life, it'll all be worth it’.

She was at home in bed when the family learned of her brother's murder.

"I went downstairs to my mum. She was standing with one of the police officers, and I said to her, 'is this true, mum? Was it our Alan?’

"And she said, 'I'm sorry, love, but it is'.

"My reaction was just disbelief really.

"It just broke my parents, they never got over it. They both died at 65 from ill health brought on by losing their youngest boy.

"The grief has never stopped because the pain goes very deep. We were a very close family.

"Alan is just dearly missed by us all. He's missed out on all our big life events. He's missed out on nieces and nephews being born - there's always an emptiness at any family event that just can't be filled."

ALTERNATIVE EVENT

The MAST chairperson said the joint alternative event on Fiday 16 August will be an opportunity for reflection and prayer, hosted by her group and SEFF.

The service will be led by Canon Rev Alan Irwin whose father and uncle were also murdered by the terror group.

The family of Samuel Pollock, murdered by PIRA in 1982 in Newcastle, is also expected to attend.

The event begins at 7.30pm at the front of the Newcastle centre on the main street, next to Newcastle cenotaph tomorrow, Friday 16 August.

LOCAL COUNCILLOR’S VIEW

Local DUP Councillor Alan Lewis says he read many local newspaper clippings from the time of Magorrian's death.

"Paul Magorrian was in a tree with a sniper rifle about to attack an army patrol when he was shot by the army," he claimed.

Mr Lewis, whose family have lived in the area for generations, says Magorrian was a well known figure in the community before his death.

"Around that stage there were a lot of Protestant shops and businesses burnt out and had their windows broken. After every time it happened it was painted outside, 'Paul was here'.

"These attacks took place within the same town - Protestant houses, Protestant shops and businesses attacked and always the same name written outside. 'Paul was here'.

"There were always stories around here that if there was an IRA checkpoint in the area Paul McGorrian never wore a balaclava. He would have been standing at IRA checkpoints and he was the only one who never wore a balaclava. He thought that he owned that town. That was always what was said about him around Castlewellan."

The Sinn Fein constituency office of Chris Hazzard MP in the town is controversially named after Magorrian and another IRA man Peter McNulty, who was killed in a premature bomb explosion.

LOCAL HISTORY BOOK

Mr Lewis also referred to more history about Magorrian from a local history book published in 2019, The History of Kilmegan and Surrounding Area.

The book says: "With the emergence of the new professional IRA in 1969 Paul become a volunteer in the south down brigade, where he quickly gained the reputation as a shrewd operator, who often managed to avoid capture courtesy of his quick thinking taking part in police and army ambushes, barrack attacks and sniping from Bunkers Hill at police and army roadblocks along the Newcastle Road."

A local social media commemoration for Magorrian in 2020 said he was shot dead on the edge of Bunkers Hill wood.

The estate where he was shot does indeed back onto a wood that would give good views of the Newcastle Road where he reportedly regularly fired on security force checkpoints.

One newspaper clipping said: "He was shot after soldiers spotted a man aiming a rifle at them in St Malachy's Housing Estate. When challenged, the man cocked the gun and the soldiers opened fire."