Widow of Rev Robert Bradford: His IRA killers will have to answer to God

The widow of the Rev Robert Bradford and the brother of Kenneth Campbell took part in an event to mark the 40th anniversary of the two men’s murders at the weekend.
By Graeme Cousins
Published 14th Nov 2021, 18:43 BST
Updated 14th Nov 2021, 18:47 BST
Norah Bradford, widow of former MP Robert Bradford, and Roy Campbell (left), brother of Ken Campbell, with Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug BeattieNorah Bradford, widow of former MP Robert Bradford, and Roy Campbell (left), brother of Ken Campbell, with Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie
Norah Bradford, widow of former MP Robert Bradford, and Roy Campbell (left), brother of Ken Campbell, with Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie

The ceremony had been organised by the Ulster Unionist Party to mark the brutal IRA murders of the 40-year-old MP and the 29-year-old caretaker of Finaghy Community Centre on November 14, 1981.

The men were killed by IRA gunmen posing as painters who entered the community centre while Rev Bradford was carrying out constituency business.

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Current UUP leader Doug Beattie was in attendance on Saturday along with former leader David Trimble.

Norah Bradford, the widow of Rev Bradford, laid flowers in memory of both her husband and Mr Campbell during the ceremony, which was also attended by Mr Campbell’s brother Roy.

On the day his brother was murdered, retired shipyard worker Mr Campbell, who still lives near the community centre, recalled hearing two bursts of gunfire and then a neighbour came to the door asking him to come to the centre.

“When I got up there, Ken was lying on the ground at the door. I took his arm and the pulse was still beating but after two or three minutes it was gone,” he told BBC News NI.

“The kids had to run past my brother’s body to get out.”

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Rev Bradford, a former Methodist minister and member of the Orange Order, was the only MP murdered in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

Ken Campbell was outside talking to his police bodyguard on the Saturday morning when three gunmen disguised as workmen arrived at the centre where work was being carried out.

Mr Campbell was shot first before the gunmen burst into an office where the South Belfast MP was speaking to constituents and opened fire, killing him instantly.

No one has ever been convicted of the murders.

Rumours have persisted over the years that intelligence services knew that an attack was planned but did not intervene in order to protect an IRA informer.

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Mr Campbell said he has lodged a complaint with the police ombudsman, but has been warned that it is currently stuck in a backlog of more than 400 Troubles-related cases.

Mrs Bradford said that her focus was not on achieving criminal convictions.

“At this point it’s not a priority for me. I leave that to God,” she said.

“Nothing gets past God, he knows exactly who was involved and ultimately they will have to face him.

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“I can let that all go. I don’t have to carry it. And that is a message of hope.”

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