Member's statement: Loughinisland Massacre

Member's statement by Mrs Cathy Mason on 22 June 2026.

MLA: Mrs Cathy Mason
Party at the time: Sinn Féin
Date: 22 June 2026
Type: Member's statement
Business: Members' Statements
Heading: Loughinisland Massacre
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5637675

Text

As the World Cup once again captures the attention of millions across the globe, many people in South Down are remembering a very different World Cup. On 18 June 1994, Ireland celebrated a famous victory over Italy. Six innocent men were murdered in the Heights Bar in Loughinisland as they watched that match. Adrian Rogan — "Frosty" — Malcolm Jenkinson, Barney Green, Dan McCreanor, Patsy O'Hare and Eamon Byrne were shot dead simply for gathering with friends and neighbours to support their national team. I was six years old at the time; the same age as some of the children who lost their fathers that evening. Like so many children across Ireland, I remember the excitement of that World Cup, but, for those children and the community of Loughinisland, that joy was stolen in an instant. What followed the massacre was decades of obstruction, concealment and denial. The weapon used in the Loughinisland massacre did not appear out of thin air; it was linked to the 1980s loyalist arms shipment associated with Ulster Resistance, with weapons later distributed among loyalist paramilitary organisations. I remind Members that Ulster Resistance was launched publicly in 1986 with the support and participation of senior unionist figures, including leading members of the DUP of the time. The images from the Ulster Hall in November 1986 show Ian Paisley and others standing publicly at that launch. Paisley declared that he was prepared to give Ulster Resistance his undivided support. Many of those imported weapons later entered the hands of loyalist paramilitary organisations, including elements of the UDA and the UVF. One of those weapons would ultimately be used to murder six innocent men in the Heights Bar. More than 30 years later, many of the weapons remain unaccounted for, while families are still denied the full truth about how they came to be used against their loved ones. Families are entitled to ask difficult but legitimate questions. What did senior DUP figures know about the acquisition and distribution of those weapons? What discussions took place between political figures and those involved in organising the Ulster Resistance arms importation? Given that weapons linked to an organisation publicly launched with the involvement of senior DUP figures were later connected to multiple loyalist attacks, does the DUP accept any political responsibility for the circumstances that allowed those weapons to arrive here and to be used? From Loughinisland to Bellaghy and from the Ormeau Road to Greysteel, families have encountered the same grim reality: a pattern of collusion, concealment and protecting agents and institutions. It is a pattern of denying families the truth. The Police Ombudsman's investigation of Loughinisland laid bare that reality. Intelligence was withheld, informers were protected and evidence was destroyed. The findings were clear: collusion was a significant feature of what happened before, during and after those murders. Thirty-two years on, families are still fighting for answers, and we stand with them. No matter how many obstacles are placed in their path, the families in Loughinisland continue to prove that truth is stronger than secrecy —
— and justice is stronger than collusion.

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

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