Member's statement: Newry Police Station: 1985 Mortar Attack
Member's statement by Mr Jonathan Buckley on .
- MLA
- Mr Jonathan Buckley
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 3 March 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Newry Police Station: 1985 Mortar Attack
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4825701
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Over the past few weeks, we have discussed in the House the deaths of four IRA terrorists who set out with murderous intent to kill police officers. Today, I will talk about the carnage that such gangs created for police families. Forty years ago, on 28 February 1985, the Provisional IRA launched a despicable mortar bomb attack on the police station in Newry. The attack killed nine RUC officers and injured over 40 others. It would become the highest death toll ever recorded or suffered by the RUC. A 50 lb mortar bomb was launched off the back of a lorry on to the top of a Portakabin in which serving officers were having their lunch. The nine dead officers ranged in age from 19 to 40 years old. Seven of them were male and two female, while seven of them were Protestant and two Catholic.
John Dowd, Denis Price, Alexander Donaldson, Paul McFerran, Ivy Kelly, David Topping, Geoffrey Campbell, Sean McHenry and Rosemary McGookin: officers killed while serving our community. That is the type of action for which the First Minister, Michelle O'Neill, said there was no alternative. Those are the types of officers who face trauma to this day. Forty were injured on that day, and people who set out to do a day's work, protecting communities, were killed. We cannot go silent, folks. We cannot allow the narrative to be rewritten. Those officers set out to protect life. That stands in stark contrast to the actions of the cowards who attempted to take theirs.
That was not the only attack. Following that successful attack in Newry, the IRA carried out a further nine mortar bomb attacks. The loss for the policing family was hugely significant. Those were men and women who had signed up to protect the rule of law. We must never fall silent in honouring their memory. We must never allow the narrative to be rewritten. We must always mark their sacrifice. Over 300 officers were killed during the Troubles. They will never be forgotten.
340 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.43 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.59).
- Subject area: Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism.
- The overall probability was low and the text did not adopt any identity-based framing.
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 | 0.42 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.10 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.13 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.21 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.28 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.07 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.43 | Between thresholds |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.59 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.26 |
| Adopts it | 0.15 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism | 0.47 |
| Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice) | 0.28 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.24 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.01 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:03 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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