Kingsmill families: There seems to be more concern about the rights of dead terrorists than the rights of living victims

In 2013 the attorney general ordered a new inquest into the murder of our relatives in the sectarian massacre at Kingsmill in 1976.

One of the principal reasons for his direction was that he wanted a new inquest to establish who was responsible for the murders.

We were promised that there would be the maximum possible transparency. Sadly, that has not happened.

The authorities north and south have failed to provide that transparency, relying on excessive secrecy and alleged national security concerns.

Regrettably, they have not been adequately checked by the coronial system who have allowed claims of public interest immunity to prevail over the family and the public’s right to know who carried out this dastardly action.

This has now reached its lowest point with the continuing refusal of the inquest to identify two deceased IRA suspects.

The families first requested their identities be disclosed four years ago, but four years on we still await a decision.

The PSNI have sought to prevent their names being made public, even though one is dead over 35 years and the other ten years.

Our relatives lost their anonymity in 1976 when they were butchered on the back roads of South Armagh but it seems the police, who failed to bring anybody to justice for this massacre, are more concerned about the rights of dead terrorists than living victims.

Unfortunately, they have been aided in this quest by the inquest who have failed to date to lift the cloak of secrecy surrounding these two suspects and as a result have destroyed the families faith in this Inquest.

The absurdity of this position of is that one of the chief suspects for the murders, Paddy O’Kane has been publicly identified in television and newspaper reports in recent days but this inquest has to date shied away from naming him.

The other suspect, Seamus Hueston died in 1984 , was buried with full IRA honours and has been named in newspaper reports as the man known as the major who directed this atrocity. We are now in a position where we are obtaining more information about who was responsible from media coverage than from the inquest tasked with establishing responsibility.

We had also sought answers from An Garda Sicohana about their knowledge of the massacre and subsequent investigation but in recent times have been left with the impression that the inquest have not fully taken on board our concerns and are seeking to restrict the questions we wished the Garda to answer.

Since this inquest began some of those mostly directly impacted by the atrocity, including Bea Worton and Jean Lemmon have died.

When Bea Worton died in July 2019 it was widely reported that she had died without seeing justice for her murdered son and that one of her abiding wishes was for those who had carried out the massacre to be publicly named.

The RUC failed to deliver justice for her son and this inquest failed to identify those responsible for the murder before she went to her grave.

It is in honour of the memory of those who died at Kingsmill and those who campaigned for justice for the victims that we, the remaining families, have now reached the view that justice, truth and transparency shall not be delivered in this forum and have taken the decision to withdraw from the inquest.

It is now a matter for the coroner as to how he intends to restore the families and public faith in this inquest.