Statement on Sinn Fein and PSNI by families of republicans murdered by UVF, with police help, in Cappagh, March, 1991

On March 3, 1991, pro-British terrorists of the Ulster Volunteer Force attacked people drinking at Boyle’s Bar in the village of Cappagh in the six counties (“Northern Ireland”).    They shot dead four people, three of whom were IRA members (Cappagh is a staunchly republican village).  Tommy O’Sullivan (51) was the civilian and was in the bar; John Quinn (23), Malcolm Nugent (20) and Dwayne O’Donnell (17) were the IRA Volunteers, who were shot in a car arriving in the car park.  Local IRA leader Brian Arthurs survived as patrons barricaded the doors when they heard shooting outside.  This was one of the many occasions in which loyalist killers collaborated with state forces.  Representatives of the families of the Cappagh Victims have released this statement, as Sinn Fein has been embracing the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), which is riddled with people involved in collaboration with loyalist killers, collaboration that is integral to the whole repressive apparatus of the British state in the occupied part of Ireland. – P.F.

Statement by Representatives of Families of Cappagh Victims

“On Sunday 3rd March 1991, our sons and brothers were stole from us, brutally murdered by agents of the state.

“Like many families out there who have lost their loved ones to state agents, the past can never be the past until we have the truth, until we have vindication that these deaths were wrong. We deserve recognition that these horrible acts were perpetrated upon us and that it should never have happened. We, as families have a right to the truth and any denial of this truth is a further act of vengeance on us.

“Any attempts to investigate the murders of our loved ones are faced with obstruction. The government fails to disclose material it holds that would allow us the truth to be established, inquests, ombudsman’s inquiries, litigation and police reviews that have been dragged on for decades for the sole purpose of delaying the process.

“The initial inquest was a whitewash! The forensics were deliberately sabotaged. The entire circumstances of the events leading up to the murders at Cappagh were never effectively investigated, despite the hard efforts of the people of Cappagh and Galbally.

“Collusion was planned, organised and politically cleared at the highest levels. The British state cultivated these organisations through a variety of agencies. They had a licence to kill which was facilitated by the state. By the time they were murdered, the British state had imbedded its policies of collusion throughout the north.

“Our loved ones were murdered in tandem with RUC officers, who were responsible for committing mass murder.

“We are on a journey that will not stop until we get the truth that our family members were murdered by the state and their proxies.

“It would suit Sinn Féin better if they held these people and their masters accountable rather than elevate them into a position of respectability that they have never earned nor deserve.’”

RIP Tommy
RIP John
RIP Malcolm
RIP Dwayne