Member's statement: Times Bar: 50th Anniversary of Bombing

Member's statement by Mr Phillip Brett on 16 June 2026.

MLA: Mr Phillip Brett
Party at the time: Democratic Unionist Party
Date: 16 June 2026
Type: Member's statement
Business: Members' Statements
Heading: Times Bar: 50th Anniversary of Bombing
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5623575

Text

The week before last, I was honoured to join hundreds of members of the lower north Belfast community as we came together to remember on its 50th anniversary the Times Bar bombing, which took place on 5 June 1976. The commemoration marked 50 years since a terrorist attack tore the heart out of the lower north Belfast community. The Times Bar, which is located at the junction of York Road and Mountcollyer Road, was, and still is, a part of everyday life in north Belfast. It was a familiar meeting place where local people gathered for companionship and conversation during our darkest days. On that June evening, republican terrorism brought devastation to that ordinary setting. Edward McMurray, aged 41, and Robert Groves, aged 45, were murdered in cold blood. Their only crime was to be ordinary members of our community out enjoying an evening with friends. Others were injured, and many more continue to carry the scars of that night. For the McMurray and Groves families, the effects of that bombing did not end when the debris was cleared. The pain, grief and loss that they experienced continues to have an impact on them. I place on record my sincere thanks to the York Road Historical Society for organising such a dignified event. In particular, I pay tribute to Jim Bolland and Brian Boyd, the current owner of the Times Bar, for the immense amount of work that they undertook. I also acknowledge the many organisations and individuals who supported the event. Most importantly, I thank the McMurray and Groves families, who were represented on the evening. Despite 50 years of pain and loss, they have continued to honour the memory of their loved ones with dignity and grace.
I am particularly grateful to them for allowing us to open a new memorial to Edward and Robert. As part of the commemoration, a new mural was unveiled, providing a lasting tribute from our community to those who were murdered in cold blood. Fifty years on, we remember those men with honour and pride, their lives taken by republican terrorists just because they were Protestants. Edward McMurray and Robert Groves will continue to be remembered proudly by the North Belfast community. Today and every day, we remember their families and loved ones.

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

Assessment

Uncertain: close call Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations

Uncertain: this record is published but not counted in any total.

Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.35 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
Criteria met: Identity framing (0.68).
The text adopts the identity-based framing in its own voice (0.87).
Subject area: Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations.
The answers did not meet either automatic threshold.

This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.

Jev’s structured answers

Probability that each statement is true of this text (0 = no, 1 = yes). A criterion counts as met at 0.60 or above.
Question	Probability	Met?
Identity framing	0.68	Yes
Sectarian or communal antagonism	0.22	No
Cultural grievance politics	0.21	No
Dog-whistle messaging	0.31	No
Controversy escalation	0.23	No
Legitimate policy scrutiny	0.05	No
Overall judgement	0.35	Between thresholds

Context and attribution (stance)
Option	Probability
No identity-based framing	0.07
Reports or questions it	0.00
Criticises or condemns it	0.06
Adopts it (chosen)	0.87

Subject area (top five)
Subject	Probability
Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations	0.55
Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice)	0.28
Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism	0.16
No identity-related subject	0.00
Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials	0.00

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:47 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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