​Charles Armstrong murder: Eyewitness recounts IRA car bomb blast exactly 40 years on – and says Sinn Fein position on protecting Arab civilians ‘is rank hypocrisy’

He was extremely active in the loyal orders, was a part-time UDR major, and sat on the boards of several schools as well as Armagh Planetarium.

Jim Speers, a former UUP councillor who served for 46 years and recently retired, was the man who was conversing with him at literally the moment he was blown up.

It had been an IRA bomb, and Mr Speers commented that Sinn Fein's recent enthusiasm for the rights of Palestinians under bombardment struck him as "rank, rank hypocrisy".

Mr Speers, now aged 77, remembered that it had been about 11pm on "a dark old frosty night" when he, Mr Armstrong, and other councillors were leaving a meeting at Palace Demesne in Armagh city.

Mr Speers estimated he was only about the width of car away from the blast, and that they had been having an entirely ordinary conversation about the cold and whether councillor Armstrong had any anti-freeze for his vehicle.

This banal exchange was to be his final words.

Councillor Armstrong had just thrown his council papers into the car, and was leaning in to grab some de-icer fluid when the bomb underneath detonated.

Incredibly, Mr Speers escaped with only a scratch to his forehead. The force of the explosion appeared to have been directed upwards.

Mr Speers recalls that the personal protection weapon carried by the victim was found some 75 yards away, and "his hand – and his wedding ring on it – were found at the other side of the car park".

"The immediate reaction was just horror and despair," he told the News Letter.

"He was a first-class, decent man. One of the best. He was a gentleman in every way - a quiet, honest, unassuming gentleman."

Asked whether the passage of time has helped heal the wounds of that day, Mr Speers said: "I doesn't heal it with me. It's as live today in my mind as it was any day from when it happened. I recall it clearly. It's something I'll never forget – never forget."

According to the book Lost Lives, councillor Armstrong had been 54, had eight children, and had been treasurer of Co Armagh Grand Orange Lodge for some 15 years, as well as a member of the Royal Black Preceptory.

Among those who tried to help in the immediate wake of the blast was SDLP councillor Pat Brannigan, who died in 2020, and among those who had paid tribute to him was the SDLP's Seamus Mallon who said councillor Armstrong had been "a friend to all councillors," not just unionists.

The book also quotes Gerry Adams as having said in the wake of the bomb that killing UDR members was "perfectly legitimate in a state of war", adding that if he was in the IRA he would "have no compunction at all" about doing so.

Mr Speers believes all those involved in the attack got away, probably escaping over the border.

Asked about Sinn Fein's vocal advocacy on behalf of Palestinians suffering under Israeli bombs, Mr Speers said: "It's just as normal: pure hypocrisy in the extreme.

"[The IRA] killed people here: men, women, children, babies. You name it, they did it.

"And Sinn Fein have said recently it was essential, it was necessary, there was no other path. Absolutely unbelievable! Scandalous!

"It's rank, rank hypocrisy in the extreme for them to be talking about caring about innocent civilians."