Debate contribution: Kingsmills Massacre: Police Ombudsman’s Report
Debate contribution by Mr Timothy Gaston on .
- MLA
- Mr Timothy Gaston
- Party at the time
- Traditional Unionist Voice
- Date
- 4 November 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Kingsmills Massacre: Police Ombudsman’s Report
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4626077
Read the official Assembly record
Text
My one small issue with the motion is the fact that it does not clearly attribute the murders of 5 January 1976 to the IRA. Even by the blood-soaked standards of the brutal IRA campaign, the Kingsmills massacre stands out as a particularly evil act. There are some in the House who maintain that there was no alternative to such slaughter; no alternative to ordering men off their work van on the side of a dark rainswept road as they tried to return home to their families; no alternative to picking out the Protestants in that group and telling the lone Roman Catholic worker to get away from the scene; no alternative to firing over 130 round in less than a minute into the backs of 10 men; and no alternative to saying "Finish them off" before a murderer fired another burst into the heap of bodies that lay on the ground. It is worth noting that not only does the IRA continue to maintain the fiction that it was not involved in the murders but, at the time, it issued a statement that claimed:
"The Irish Republican Army has never initiated sectarian killings, and sectarianism of any kind is abhorrent to the Republican Movement".
It went on to clinically add:
"If the loyalist elements responsible for over 300 sectarian assassinations in the past four years stop such killing now, then the question of retaliation from whatever source will not arise."
I have no problem in saying that the brutal murders by loyalists were wrong. The lead party in this House, which continues to be overseen by the IRA army council cannot say the same about IRA murders. It will only condemn Kingsmills today because of the fiction that it was not an IRA massacre. To call for the Police Ombudsman to release its findings while maintaining such a position is utter hypocrisy. Let us not forget either that the party to my left was happy to have Barry McElduff not only as a councillor but as chairperson of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council in 2022-23 after his sickening mockery of the massacre on its anniversary in 2018. It is long past time that the Police Ombudsman released its report. The sole survivor of the atrocity deserves nothing less, even if he will not get any truth or justice from this House. Alan Black is on record as saying of his workmates so callously murdered that day:
"They are crying out from the grave, and I hear them."
When I reflected on that, I recalled how scripture records that not only does Alan Black hear that cry but that it is heard in the presence of the Almighty. Revelation 6 records the cry of the martyrs and reads:
"How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?"
There will come a day of accountability for Kingsmills. It is shameful that this House, which claims to administer justice, is prepared to turn a blind eye to the continuing role of the organisation responsible in overseeing the lead party of this Government.
523 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations
Jev’s structured answers met every documented threshold for a qualifying culture-war activity.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.76 (qualifying needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not qualifying).
- Criteria met: Identity framing (0.77).
- The text adopts the identity-based framing in its own voice (0.68).
- Subject area: Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations.
- All qualifying thresholds were met.
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
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.77 | Yes |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.31 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.09 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.47 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.39 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.22 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.76 | Above qualifying threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.10 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.22 |
| Adopts it (chosen) | 0.68 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.84 |
| Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism | 0.10 |
| Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice) | 0.06 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:30 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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