The Five Demands

No ‘hope of Claudy Bombing truth’(Newsletter)

Republicans are waiting for the families of IRA victims to die and can never be trusted to tell the truth, a relative of a Claudy bombing victim has claimed.

On Tuesday, some of the Claudy relatives will mark the 40th anniversary of the atrocity, which claimed the lives of nine people, at the memorial in the Co Londonderry town.

But Gordon Miller, who lost his 60-year-old father David as he went to the aid of those cut down in the first blast, said he would not be attending the memorial and admitted he has given up any hope of justice.

The IRA has never admitted responsibility for the triple bombings.

Speaking to the News Letter, Mr Miller said too many years had passed without answers either from republicans or the police.

“To be honest, it is too late now for us. It’s been too long, there will be no justice or truth,” he said.

“That is something which we have to face up to now.

“Not for one minute do I think that Sinn Fein or Martin McGuinness will ever tell the truth. They cannot be trusted.

“What they want is for people like myself to die off, so that they never have to face up to what they did. There are a few relatives of Claudy who have already passed away.

“The IRA has never even admitted responsibility, so how can you ever expect to find who was involved in the bombing? It is never going to happen.”

In 2010, the Police Ombudsman found that high-level talks between the then secretary of state and the Catholic church led to Fr James Chesney, a suspect in the attack, being moved to Donegal, thus escaping any investigation.

A fresh investigation into Claudy was launched by the PSNI after the case was passed to them from the Historical Enquiries Team.

However, Mr Miller says he has not been given any updates from police in recent times.

He said: “I haven’t heard anything from the police in well over a year. I am not angry or surprised about that. I know that they will probably not get anybody for this.

“As I have said it’s too late now. Martin McGuinness was the IRA commander in Londonderry at that time, and now he’s sitting up there at Stormont – so why would he ever want to tell us what happened?

“Even if they did come forward, how could you ever believe them anyway? They don’t care about us now after 40 years.”

He added: “After the [Police Ombudsman report] there maybe was a bit of hope, but that is gone now. It has been the same thing for 40 years, you are given a little bit of hope now and again, but it never comes to anything.”

In a statement, the PSNI confirmed that their investigation was ongoing.

“Following a review of the case, police inquiries are being conducted into the atrocity at Claudy in what is a substantial and complex incident,” a PSNI spokesman said.

“However, resources to complete these inquiries have to be balanced against competing current and historical demands within the crime operations caseload.

“For investigative and operational reasons, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.

“Our thoughts are with victims and their families at this difficult time.”

In the Police Ombudsman report RUC detectives who investigated the bombings believed that Fr Chesney was “the IRA’s director of operations in south Londonderry and was alleged to have been directly involved in the bombings and other terrorist incidents”.

The victims were Kathryn Eakin who was just eight years old; Elizabeth McElhinney, 59; Joseph McCloskey, 39; Rose McLaughlin, 52; Patrick Connolly, 15; Arthur Hone, 38; David Miller, 60; James McClelland, 65 and William Temple, 16.