Below is a response to Taylor's comments from a daughter of Kitty Irvine.
|
July 2008 It has taken John Taylor thirty six and a half years to frame this peevish and arrogant response to our families’ calls for an apology from him personally. This month, even the British government has seen fit to apologise for the black propaganda it peddled, wilfully besmirching the good name and innocence of my parents, Kathleen and John Irvine, and all the other men women and children who were slaughtered, maimed or injured in the McGurk’s Bar Massacre. To put this abject apology into context: a Western, First World country and so-called democracy has admitted that it intentionally used the massacre of blameless civilians to spin their lie that the blast was an enemy “own-goal”. The British black propaganda against our families, parroted by Taylor, cynically opened up another front in their dirty war against the Republican movement. The innocence of our loved ones mattered as little to them as it did to the British paramilitary bombers that Saturday night, the 4th December 1971. This was no “sexed-up dossier” but cold lie after lie after lie. On the back of it, media misinformation and the mismanagement of any serious investigation perverted the course of justice and considered the basic Human Rights of our families with contempt. Taylor, Home Affairs minister with security as his brief, used Stormont and his cabinet position to take his slur to a world audience. He was the axis of the lies that the British spun from Palace Barracks. There is absolutely no way that Taylor can now waive ministerial accountability or responsibility, even thirty seven and a half years later. Unquestioning trustfulness, naďveté or stupidity is no defence for his disregard for the truth or for the innocence of our families. His lies have run like an open sore through generations. We do not care whether John Taylor apologises or not for saying that the McGurk’s Bar Massacre was an IRA own-goal. We do, though, once more, demand that he apologises forthwith for inferring that our loved ones were not innocent victims. These men, women and children were not guilty of terrorism, either by complicity or association. How dare he quote “evidence from forensic experts” less than seventy two hours after the blast when it flew in the face of every single witness statement and negated the fact that definitive findings were not available until 11th February 1972? How dare he try to deny his own culpability by saying he “was acting in good faith as a minister”? How dare he, once again, be so arrogant to think that this is sufficient for us? Such conceit is a measure of the man himself. We also now demand that he names these “respected civil servants” that he wants us to imagine he believed blindly. If the words that he spoke were not his own, we demand to know whose they were. Let it be said, finally, that our families are not done with our examination of his role in promulgating these lies. We believe that the McGurk’s Bar Massacre was a British war crime, managed by their military and perpetrated by the loyalist counter-gang it controlled. As history has since proven, British military control of cabinet ministers, paramilitaries, the media and police investigations is the bedrock of collusion and cover-up. It must also be remembered that blind and unquestioning obedience was no defence for the Nazi ministers at Nuremberg. Patricia Irvine, daughter of Kathleen and John Irvine. |
Below is a response to John Taylor's comments by a son-in law of Jimbo Smyth.
|
I note in the article ‘I Won’t Say Sorry For Blaming the IRA’ in the Sunday Life, John Taylor says he refused to apologise for suggesting the McGurk’s Bar bombing was an IRA ‘own goal’. He also seeks to off-load the blame to civil servants who made the information available to him at the time. From the view of the families of the survivors, nothing is further from the truth than his latest statement. They were asking him to apologise for the inaccurate, untrue statements lies and black propaganda that Army spokesmen, RUC spokesmen and he engaged in within hours of the bombing. That propaganda, blackening the character and good name of the victims with the stigma of being responsible for the tragedy themselves, went on for days, weeks, months and years after the event. Mr Taylor has had several opportunities to correct the inaccurate statements he made. Eye witnesses' statements were made within days of the explosion, the full forensic report was made available to the RUC in February 1972, further evidence was given at the official inquest in June 1972, and Robert Campbell, UVF, made a confession in 1977. All golden opportunities for Mr Taylor to make an apology to the families of the victims. But from Mr Taylor, silence.
It wasn’t until Michael Connarty MP, criticised him in the House of Commons' recent debate on the Historical Enquiries Team (HET), that he reacted. Now he seeks to blame some civil servant for giving him the information at the time. What a pathetic excuse for not apologising and saying ‘Sorry’ to the families of the victims. He claims he will make a statement to remove the pain and distress. I would suggest the families will see it as a reflection of the character of Mr. Taylor - HOLLOW!
Tommy McCready, husband of Margaret (née Smyth).
|
Below is an open letter to John Taylor (Lord Kilclooney in the British House of Lords) who, as Home Affairs Minister in 1971, told the world that the McGurk's Bar Massacre was caused by a bomb inside the building and not one that was deposited on its threshold - the inference being that it was an "own goal" and not a terrorist act perpetrated by British paramilitaries.
|
7th May 2008 Dear Mr. Taylor, I am the daughter of Kathleen Irvine who was murdered with fourteen other innocents - women, men and children - in the McGurk’s Bar Massacre on the 4th December 1971. This slaughter was the single greatest loss of civilian life throughout the whole of the war until the Omagh atrocity in 1998. Nevertheless, the British authorities conspired to manage misinformation and mismanage any serious investigation into the bombing. Instead, the slain, the injured and their families were stigmatized with lies spun from Palace Barracks: the bomb was an “own goal”; either it was in transit or the people in the bar were being schooled in bomb-making. Just days after the carnage, you yourself felt confident enough to tell Stormont and the world “that forensic evidence supports the theory that the explosion… took place inside the building” even though it was contrary to every single witness statement. Considering that the victims’ families believe the British authorities to have colluded with the loyalist gang in the murders of their loved ones and that you, as Minister of State for Home Affairs (in charge of security), were so well-placed to have made such an assertion, obviously, you will be coming forward to make a statement to the Police Ombudsman and/or Historical Enquiries Team? In the mean time, answer the victims’ families this: did you knowingly peddle this heinous lie on behalf of the British Intelligence Services or were you duped into lending weight to their cover-up? Either way, we believe it is time that you recognise that your words have run raw, like an open sore, through generations of our families. I look forward to your response. Patricia Irvine, daughter of Kathleen and John Irvine. |
Below is a press release from one of victims' families.
|
Released by the Irvine Family An article, published in a Scottish newspaper on the 28th January 2007, has only come to the attention of the families of the innocent victims of the McGurk’s Bar Massacre. It has been linked below: Its secret source, a convicted loyalist terrorist, has detailed how the British government and military trained, armed and directed loyalist gangs and counter-gangs not only against Republican combatants, but also unarmed civilians for no reason except their faith. By targeting innocent men, women and children whose perceived religion was Roman Catholic, the British authorities sought to instil fear in this particular religious minority and drain any potential support for an Irish Republican cause. As recorded in the campaign website, www.themcgurksbarmassacre.com, the family of Kathleen (Kitty) Irvine, one of the fifteen innocents slaughtered by British paramilitaries on the 4th December 1971, have always believed that these same governing authorities were guilty of complicity in the carnage. Furthermore, we affirm that they grossly abused their powers by deliberately managing media misinformation and mismanaging any serious investigation after the fact. As we have learned from Britain’s involvement in the likes of Kenya, Aden and Malaya, collusion, cover-up and murder are entrenched within the British military’s modus operandi. We believe that the McGurk’s Bar Massacre was the first bloody signpost of how the British war-machine was to wage its dirty campaign in the northeast of Ireland. The road thenceforth led directly to Bloody Sunday, the New Lodge Six, the Dublin and Monaghan bombings (to name but a few of many such state-sponsored atrocities) and beyond. The family of Kitty Irvine know this for certain: no doubt, the source of the above article will be accused of fantasy or profiteering as with any other whistle-blower of the dirty war in the northeast of Ireland; the British authorities will try to stymie any further investigation into their own government’s and army’s felonies; indeed, International Law will still play sop to the politics of the day; but History will attest to our rectitude in this instance – the British government and British military are guilty of war crimes against Irish men, women and children. The Irvine Family |
Below is an open letter from the youngest child of Kitty Irvine to Robert James Campbell, the only person ever convicted for the McGurk's Bar Massacre:
|
December the 4th is the 35th anniversary of my mother's murder, and I am writing this letter to her murderer, Robert James Campbell.
Dear Mr. Campbell, I was only 14 years old when you killed my mother, Kathleen Irvine. I can remember that day as if it was yesterday. Can you? I am sure you can. After all, it was on that day you and three of your cohorts massacred 15 innocent men, women and children. I, along with other members of my family, have learned of some of the events that took place that day. Let me remind you: You sat in the car in Henry Street after the security forces cleared the area, waiting for the men to leave the front of The Gem Bar. That is where the bomb was supposed to be placed, but, because of the people outside the bar, you could not get planting it as planned. So, after half an hour of waiting you chose the softer target of McGurk's family-run pub. It was of no concern to your gang that this pub had no political affiliation and was packed with innocent civilians only interested in a punt or a pint. As long as they were Roman Catholics, you did not care. After you had planted the bomb that took my mother from me, you raced towards Little Italy and dumped your car. The pick-up you had arranged lost his nerve and drove past you so you walked round to St. Anne's Cathedral and there one of your colleagues rang a bar on the Shankill Road to arrange another mode of transport. This arrived another half an hour later, picked you up and drove you the two miles back to your drinking dens in the Shankill past police roadblocks and army posts. At no stage after the bombing were you stopped or searched even though a ring of steel had been thrown over the area and you and your gang skulked only five minutes away in the shadows of St. Anne's. Indeed, the police did not even find the car you had dumped. The news the next day was that IRA personnel were waiting to transport the bomb when it blew up and demolished the pub. It is a conspiracy of lies that each one of the victims' families has had to live with for two generations. It was not until 7 years later that you made one hell of a mistake and killed an innocent Protestant and for that you had to pay. At your interrogation you admitted to the bombing of McGurk's Bar, as you could not live with the pain anymore. I have lived with it for 35 years but the total truth may help alleviate some of its hurt. Nevertheless, I know that you have found it a difficult truth to tell for it is one that needs strength and lays bare the evils of sectarian hatred and collusion with the security forces. Now again I ask you to tell me the whole truth and let me live out my days knowing that my mother's name and the names of all the other victims are cleared. You can do that to help clear your conscience and teach your children the truth. Let us all learn the true story of that fateful night.
Pat Irvine, daughter of Kitty. |