#Loughinisland massacre

[dougielombax]

30 years ago today.

I’m posting this because I study history.

And in case any stupid British armchair historians start bleating on about the usual crap.

The details are as follows.

Members of the UVF armed with machine guns (supplied by apartheid South Africa (who in turn bought them from Israel after they raided a PLO arms depot, idk the exact details beyond that) and the British government) burst into a pub in the village of Loughinisland and murdered 6 people. All of whom were innocent unarmed civilians.

It was also during the 1994 World Cup but that’s not strictly relevant.

It was believed that the attack was organised in cooperation with the RUC as well, with investigations pointing to evidence of collusion.

Why did they do this? Because they felt they ought to.

So they killed innocent people simply because that’s all they were capable of.

Because they viewed Irish people as being subhuman, soulless monsters deserving of death.

Which btw far too many idiots today still believe for some baffling reason, like what is this? 1875?

And which by the way we AREN’T!

Away with that shite!

Such attacks were hardly unusual for the UVF, most people they killed were innocent unarmed civilians.

Above: A memorial site dedicated to the victims of the attack.

Here’s an article from a few years ago too.

Also a link to one of the relevant investigations along with a relevant article.

Before any loyalists, or British or American far right fascist types or stupid Tories show up to bitch at me for posting about this, keep in mind that I study history!

I have an obligation to post about this stuff. As I’ve done for prior events on relevant dates.

So kindly shush up!

Feel free to reblog as well.

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in 1994 – Loughinisland Massacre | The UVF shot dead six Catholic civilians and wounded five others during a gun attack on a pub in Loughinisland, Co Down.

#OTD in 1994 – Loughinisland Massacre | The UVF shot dead six Catholic civilians and wounded five others during a gun attack on a pub in Loughinisland, Co Down.

While the Republic of Ireland – Italy game is going on, two members of the Loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force walk into The Heights Bar in Loughinisland, Co Down with assault rifles and kill six Catholics who are watching the game. One of the dead was 87-year-old Barney Green, the oldest victim of the Troubles. No satisfactory resolution to this appalling crime has been made. The original…

[thefivedemands]

Ex-prigioniero repubblicano vuole consegnare un lettera al Segretario di Stato per difendere il suo diritto alla pensione perchè vittima dei Troubles L'uomo, rimasto paralizzato in un attacco lealista, ha scritto una lettera destinata al Segretario di Stato per protestare contro le linee guida del governo britannico, sulla base delle quale potrebbe essergli negata la pensione riconosciuta alla vittime dei Troubles…

[tiarnanabhfainni]

i don't even like sinn féin that much but the handwringing from thatcherites over their electoral success is really too much to bear

"look at me im a british journalist, i think the ira were bad but that government collusion with murderers like the shankill butchers was an unfortunate consequence of intelligence work 😞"

[ivovynckier]

The trailer of Alex Gibney's documentary "No Stone Unturned".

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

By Christian Noakes

Police in Ireland’s occupied territory arrested investigative journalists Barry McCafferty and Trevor Birney on Aug. 31 in connection with the documentary “No Stone Unturned,” which they helped make. The film investigates the 1994 Loughinisland Massacre, in which members of the loyalist terrorist organization Ulster Volunteer Force opened fire on a pub, killing six and wounding five. This indiscriminate killing was meant to terrorize Catholics in the occupied six counties.

Commonly referred to as “Northern Ireland,” this portion of Ireland is still occupied by British forces and subjected to British law. The 1922 partition between this territory and the rest of Ireland has plagued the country, and it endangers the largely Catholic nationalist community cut off from their brothers and sisters in the Republic.

[andrewj98]

4.Perspective - Stuart Griffiths

In many ways photography is about perspective. It’s about how we see the world and as a photographer that is reflected through our photographs. I tried to do a bit of research into soldiers serving in Northern Ireland during the conflict. I came across the work of Stuart Griffiths.  At first I thought he was just a guy that took a few photographs during the Troubles, but as I started looking into his work in more detail I quickly realized that he had been a serving soldier in Belfast throughout the 1990s and his photography work was in response to the sheer boredom that he faced. Firstly, I think it’s important to look into the context of the time in which Stuarts’ photographs were taken. As the Northern Ireland conflict was beginning to come to an end, there was actually a surge in violence with the IRA increasingly bombing the mainland and Loyalist paramilitaries retaliating by murdering innocent Catholics.

“1993 was one of the darkest years of the Troubles, with IRA explosions on both sides of the Irish Sea and a series of Loyalist assassinations.” – Dr Eamon Phoenix

The Sean Graham bookmakers massacre, Shankill Bomb, Greysteel and Loughinisland were just some of the atrocities that were the backdrop to 1990s Northern Ireland. While all of this chaos was going on, Griffiths was based in various army barracks during NI tours. Once patrolling and operational duties were finished, the soldiers would come back to the barracks and spend hours just sitting about doing nothing.

“My early photos were mostly about boredom, photographing for the sake of photographing. I had the idea that these images would be a starting point to paintings or drawings.” – Stuart Griffiths – Para Turned Photographer

“Hopefully they capture how mundane a lot of military life was. It's a fairly subversive viewpoint of the British army in Northern Ireland. How dull and depressing it was at times.” - Stuart Griffiths - VICE

Much of his work from Northern Ireland was snapshot photography. It wasn’t practical to carry around professional camera equipment so he used a disposable camera, however I personally feel this gives his work a unique perspective. We see what he saw. This isn’t work from a press photographer photographing a soldier. This is a soldier photographing a soldiers’ life. It’s from their perspective. It what they saw and what they got up to. This makes the images raw and gives the viewer a realistic glimpse into what life was like for a soldier on duty. It may also help change the viewpoint as to how soldiers were perceived here. This is open for debate.

Pigs Disco 

This is the name of Stuart’s book published in 2013. The name of the book refers to the disco the soldiers had at Palace Barracks every Sunday Night. I recently purchased the book and ever since I got it, I’ve found it really fascinating. Within the book there’s various snapshots of soldiers messing around, sleeping or posing for the camera. We’ve got to remember Griffiths was a Paratrooper. That particular regiment was hated within the nationalist community for the part they played in Bloody Sunday. Thirteen innocent Catholics were murdered by Paratroopers after a civil rights march.  The book showcases a side of life we’ve never really seen. It challenges the narrative that the regiment was full of murdering monsters. Instead we see young lads in their late teens or early 20s being silly, trying to have a good time amid grim circumstances and trying to just enjoy their youth.

[johnreynolds162me-blog]

Two Northern Irish journalists arrested over the alleged theft of confidential documents relating to the Loughinisland massacre were told their bail would only be extended if they agreed not to talk about aspects of the case.

[lollipoplollipopoh]

🇮🇪 Documenting the Troubles: Journalism and justice over N Ireland | The Listening Post (Feature) by Al Jazeera English On August 31, 2018, Northern Irish journalists Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey awoke to loud knocks at the doors of their Belfast homes. "My street outside my home was filled with police," McCaffrey told The Listening Post's Daniel Turi. "They informed me they wanted to search my house for materials relating to the documentary, No Stone Unturned. The first thing they did was they sought to seize all digital materials: mobile phones, laptops, computers." No Stone Unturned, directed by Academy Award-winner Alex Gibney, investigates the Loughinisland massacre - the killing of six unarmed Catholics in 1994 - towards the end of Northern Ireland's 30-year sectarian conflict known as "the Troubles". The paramilitary group the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) claimed responsibility for the attack, but no one was ever brought to trial. No Stone Unturned presents new evidence - principally, a confidential draft of a report written by a police ombudsman, that states, during their original investigation, police identified one of their suspects as an informant embedded in the UVF. Birney, the film's producer, and McCaffrey, an investigative journalist, were arrested by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), a branch of the UK police force, but have not so far been charged. Among the reasons given by the PSNI for their arrests was suspected "unlawful disclosure of information" under the UK Official Secrets Act. At the time of writing, they are serving bail and have won permission to challenge the legality of the search warrants used. They informed me they wanted to search my house for materials relating to the documentary, No Stone Unturned. The first thing they did was they sought to seize all digital materials: mobile phones, laptops, computers. Barry McCaffrey, investigative reporter, No Stone Unturned The arrest of journalists in the UK is extremely rare. However, documenting Northern Ireland's Troubles has always been a contentious pursuit for British and Northern Irish journalists, because of both the continuing threat posed by the Irish Republican Army's (IRA) brutal bombing campaign - which targeted civilians, and also the counterinsurgency operation being waged by the British government - the so-called "dirty war" that included the incarceration and torture of terror suspects without trial. During the conflict, varying degrees of censorship were felt at media outlets across the industry, but especially in television. The best-known case is the so-called "Broadcast Ban of 1988-94", a law that prohibited the voices of members of certain political and paramilitary organisations being broadcast on TV or radio. Less widely known, however, is that journalists trying to televise the Troubles faced restrictions, albeit of a less formal nature, from much earlier. Starting in the early 1970s, following intense government pressure, the BBC required all items produced on Northern Ireland to be vetted by senior management. Documentaries were particularly suspect, especially those looking into the IRA or detailing abuses by British forces, and many were vetoed by the BBC's Controller for Northern Ireland. Government pressure on the BBC had a chilling effect. Regulators and executives at independent production companies, wary of the consequences of straying beyond certain boundaries, also began to censor. Overall, scores of productions - documentaries, news reports and even music videos - were banned, censored or delayed during the Troubles. Today, over two decades on from the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland's historic peace deal signed in 1998, censorship is viewed as a thing of the past. However, while the conflict may be formally over, the estimated 3,000 unsolved killings left in its wake have kept the Troubles very much alive in the media. Cases involving allegations of "collusion" - shorthand for British government complicity in crimes committed by paramilitary groups, and where investigations by state authorities have often fallen short - have seen journalists take up the role of would-be detectives. It's a role that continues to cause controversy, as the fall-out over No Stone Unturned has demonstrated. "The point that the police ombudsman Michael McGuire made in relation to No Stone Unturned was that it couldn't be left up to just investigative journalists and the police ombudsman's office to investigate the past," says Susan McKay, a freelance journalist who writes for The Irish Times. "It's too big for that; there are too many unsolved cases, there are too many unanswered questions. So, while that is the case, inevitably journalism is going to step in." - Subscribe to our channel: https://ift.tt/291RaQr - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://ift.tt/1iHo6G4 - Check our website: https://ift.tt/2lOp4tL

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in Irish History | 18 June:

#OTD in Irish History | 18 June:

1264 – The Parliament of Ireland meets at Castledermot in Co Kildare, the first definitively known meeting of this Irish legislature. 1329 – The Bishop of Ossory is charged with fomenting feuds among the magnates; he flees to England and then, when summoned before the king, he flees to Rome. The king (Edward III, aged seventeen) warns the pope against him. 1769 – Robert Stewart, Viscount…

[seachranaidhe]

Loughinisland suspect pictured helping to erect UUP election posters

Ronald Hawthorne (left) pictured holding the ladder helping put up election posters

A man who narrowly escaped death in the Loughinisland massacre has asked to meet with a UUP council candidate after a suspect in the loyalist atrocity was pictured helping put up his election posters.

Ulster Unionist Alan Lewis said he did “not wish to comment” on the photograph of Ronnie Hawthorn, who was named…

[thefivedemands]

STRAGE DI LOUGHINISLAND, 25 ANNI DOPO

STRAGE DI LOUGHINISLAND, 25 ANNI DOPO

Potrebbe essere un giorno qualunque, invece a Loughinisland è il venticinquesimo anniversario del massacro all’Heights Bar, che uccise sei uomini

Un operaio sta lavorando all’ingresso del pub e sorride.

Qualche cliente si è fermato per una pinta dopo il lavoro.

Sotto un arco, una coppia si sta godendo un tranquillo drink. Un gentleman anziano se ne sta seduto per conto suo. Un altro sorride.

La…

[political-affairs]

Alan Fisher (broadcast journalist)

 Born and raised in Motherwell, he wrote for his local newspaper, 'The Motherwell Times' while still attending the town's Dalziel High School. A regular presenter on Hospital Radio Law from the age of sixteen, he also appeared several times on BBC Radio Scotland's Sunday Club, a current affairs programme for teenagers presented by Malcom Wilson. On leaving school, he was accepted to study journalism at what was then Napier College of Commerce and Technology in Edinburgh. On completing the course, he received a number of job offers but opted to join Moray Firth Radio in Inverness. He worked there for 11 months as a journalist and presenter of the station's Sunday breakfast show before moving to Northsound Radio in Aberdeen.

 His work - including a number of exclusive reports and interviews - brought him to the attention of the bosses at what was then Grampian Television (now STV North) and he was offered the post of reporter/presenter on the main evening news programme North Tonight. His time there included covering stories such as the 1986 Chinook helicopter disaster, the Piper Alpha oil rig explosion and Aberdeen FC's 1990 Scottish FA Cup win. After six years in the North East, he moved back to the Central Belt of Scotland as a reporter and regular presenter of Scotland Today on Scottish Television. During his time with the Glasgow based broadcaster, he reported from Saudi Arabia, the Gulf and Dubai ahead of the first Gulf War; and from Kuwait and Southern Iraq in its immediate aftermath. He also presented an investigation into a sinister extortion racket operating across Scotland, which led to questions being asked in the House of Commons. During the 1990/91 season, he was a regular match day reporter on Radio Clyde's 'Superscoreboard' Sports programme.

  National TV

When GMTV took over the Breakfast franchise on ITV, he was appointed Ireland correspondent setting up its bureau in Belfast. In three years in Northern Ireland he reported on a number of significant violent incidents and killings including the Shankill Road Bombing, the Greysteel and Loughinisland Massacres as well as travelling to report on war in Bosnia. He was also the regular stand-in correspondent in the Washington DC bureau. Having covered the first steps in the Northern Ireland peace process, he was transferred to London in 1995 on his appointment as Senior News Correspondent. In 1999, he was promoted to Chief Correspondent. While at GMTV, he reported on some of the world's biggest news stories, from the bombings in Bali and the invasion of Afghanistan to the London 7/7 attacks as well as the Death of Diana, Princess of Wales, becoming a familiar face on British TV screens. His coverage of the discovery of a missing schoolgirl in Brighton, live on air, was a significant part of GMTV's win in the National Television awards.

  Al Jazeera

He moved to Al Jazeera English before its launch, based at its London News Centre and has reported from across the globe including Afghanistan, Israel, Lebanon, Pakistan and many countries across Europe. His coverage from the war in Georgia was nominated for a number of awards. His reports were also part of the International News Emmy nominations Al Jazeera English received for its coverage in Georgia and during the Israeli offensive in Gaza. He was a significant part of the team which covered the Egyptian Revolution for which the channel won a prestigious Peabody Award. A frequent blogger and Twitter user @AlanFisher, he is also a regular contributor to the station's website. On August 1st 2011, he announced via his website and later on Twitter that he had been appointed Senior Correspondent for Al Jazeera to be based in the Washington DC News Centre. In July 2012, he appeared on C-Span's 'Washington Journal' where he answered questions from the host and phone-in callers about the role of Al Jazeera globally and in the US. In August 2012, he anchored the station's coverage of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida. And in October 2012, co-anchored the station's coverage of the US Presidential and vice-Presidential debates.

  Other interests

He is a columnist with the highly regarded on-line current affairs magazine Scottish Review and is a patron of the Young UK Programme which aims to stretch the minds and broaden the horizons of young people. For his work with the programme, he was awarded 'The Inveramsay Medal'. He is a former trustee and member of the board of the charity The Institute of Contemporary Scotland. An accomplished conference host, he has spoken at many International events on the role of the media and coverage of breaking news. He is also an entertaining after dinner speaker. He has been a guest lecturer at the London School of Economics Summer School and spoken to journalism students around the world.

 He was a key speaker at the ICTD2012 Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. His contribution was described by one of the organisers as '"a brilliant tour-de-force". He previously chaired a highly rated session at the 2008 Edinburgh International Television Festival . In November 2010, he earned a Master of Arts Degree (MA) in Mass Communications from the University of Leicester in the UK and has contributed a chapter to an academic book on the reporting of the 2011 revolutions in North Africa and the Middle East - known collectively as 'The Arab Spring'. A collection of his writing on the 2012 US Presidential Campaign was published in December 2012. Entitled "Romney's Run" it followed the Republican campaign from the early days in Iowa until Mitt Romney's election night defeat in Boston. A keen cyclist, he has raised thousands of pounds for the British Heart Foundation. He has also appeared in the UK ITV series 'Bad Girls' where he played the role of a television reporter. He lives in Washington DC.

[ivovynckier]

I don’t know the first thing about “the troubles”, the civil war in Northern Ireland, but Alex Gibney’s documentary “No Stone Unturned” pulls you in all right. He zooms in on on the Loughinisland Massacre (1994), a terrorist attack where three men raided a pub where people were watching a football match on TV with assault rifles, killing six civilians and wounding five. Despite a mountain of forensic evidence - including the getaway car and the weapons - no arrests were ever made and the victims’ families were given the runaround time and again. Was there collusion between the police and the culprits? Gibney finds that there is: he names the suspects, one of them was an informer and another was… a British soldier who went rogue after hours. (He still lives a few kilometres down the road.) Watch this even if you’re hugely turned off by the IRA and the whole mess in Belfast. I am too - I only bought it because I’ve seen his other films - but I found this documentary very compelling. https://www.instagram.com/p/B9emQ-hj1F9/?igshid=u39k1jmyi9wz

[scannain]

RTÉ One to air Emmy-nominated doc No Stone Unturned on October 2nd

RTÉ One to air Alex Gibney's Emmy-nominated documentary No Stone Unturned on October 2nd #IrishDocumentary #NIStories

RTÉ One will broadcast No Stone Unturned the much talked about feature length documentary, on the Loughinisland Massacre, next month.

In 1994, six people were gunned down as they watched the World Cup in a small pub in a village in Northern Ireland. Decades later, family members looking for answers become increasingly convinced that the truth is being hidden from them. No-one has ever been…

[cosmotread-blog]

Journalists arrested for ‘stealing’ confidential Loughinisland material released

New Post has been published on https://www.cosmotread.com/2018/08/31/journalists-arrested-for-stealing-confidential-loughinisland-material-released/

Journalists arrested for ‘stealing’ confidential Loughinisland material released

Journalists arrested for ‘stealing’ confidential Loughinisland material released Two journalists arrested over the suspected theft of confidential material used in a documentary about the Loughinisland massacre have been released. Trevor Birney, 51, and Barry McCaffrey, 48, who had spent years in...