Member's statement: Reavey Family Killings

Member's statement by Ms Aoife Finnegan on 15 June 2026.

MLA: Ms Aoife Finnegan
Party at the time: Sinn Féin
Date: 15 June 2026
Type: Member's statement
Business: Members' Statements
Heading: Reavey Family Killings
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5613335

Text

"We were watching TV when I noticed the barrel of a gun coming through the front door."
Those were the words of 17-year-old Anthony Reavey as he recalled the night on which his family were slaughtered by the notorious Glenanne gang. Within moments, Anthony and his brothers John Martin and Brian were caught in a hail of gunfire as masked men burst into their home in Whitecross on 4 January 1976. John Martin and Brian were killed, and Anthony, having witnessed the horror unfold before his eyes, would later succumb to his injuries. Three innocent lives were stolen because they were Irish and Catholic. From listening to Anthony's account, you could be forgiven for thinking that he was speaking about the hatred and violence that we have witnessed on our streets in recent days. The targets may be different, but the actors are the same. There is the same sectarian mindset and the same belief that fear and violence can be used to terrorise communities. The difference in the Reaveys' case is that those responsible were not only loyalist gunmen but individuals linked to the very state forces supposedly charged with protecting the public. Fifty years later, the Reavey family are still fighting for the truth. What has emerged in court is nothing short of scandalous. The court heard that crucial documents relating to the Glenanne gang and the weapons used in those murders were withheld from previous investigations, including those of the Historical Enquiries Team and Operation Denton. Information that should have been available to investigators was kept hidden for decades. The court heard how a British Army-issued Sterling sub-machine gun — the British Army said that it was stolen from a UDR base — was used in the murders of the Reavey brothers and linked to a series of other killings. It also heard evidence pointing once again to the involvement of serving members of the UDR and the RUC alongside loyalist paramilitaries. Perhaps most shocking of all is that the Ministry of Defence held information relating to the disappearance of that weapon and failed to disclose it in previous investigations. Families were told that investigations had been completed, reports were written and conclusions were reached, yet vital evidence remained buried in state files. That was not administrative oversight; it was information held by the state and withheld from those seeking the truth. The courage, dignity and determination shown by Eugene Reavey and his family over the past five decades has been extraordinary. They have never given up, and they have never stopped demanding the truth about who murdered their loved ones and why crucial information was concealed. Last week, the British Prime Minister said that the state must hold itself to the highest standards. The evidence heard in court last week shows just how badly the British state failed that test. The Reavey family deserves truth —.
The family deserves accountability.
After 50 years of obstruction, concealment and —
— delay, they deserve justice.

497 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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