Member's statement: Teebane Bombing: Anniversary

Member's statement by Mr Keith Buchanan on 19 January 2026.

MLA

Mr Keith Buchanan

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

19 January 2026

Type

Member's statement

Business

Members' Statements

Heading

Teebane Bombing: Anniversary

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5321973

Read the official Assembly record

Text

The past weekend marked another anniversary of one of the most harrowing atrocities of the Troubles: the Teebane bombing on 17 January 1992. On that winter evening, eight Protestant workmen were murdered and five others injured when a massive IRA roadside bomb destroyed their minibus at Teebane crossroads between Cookstown and Omagh. They were tradesmen — tradesmen; nothing more — ordinary, hard-working individuals returning home after a day's work at Lisanelly army barracks. They were targeted solely because of the contracts that their employer, Karl Construction, undertook. Their murder was an act of pure brutality. The blast was heard for many miles; indeed, it shook the windows of my home. The Provisional IRA's Tyrone brigade — "brigade"? I say "cowards" — claimed responsibility, attempting to justify the unjustifiable by labelling the men as collaborators. That narrative was as false then as it is now. To this day, no one has been convicted for that atrocity — no one. That continuing absence of justice deepens the pain for the families left behind. There must never be a hierarchy of victims. Every life taken during the Troubles deserves truth, accountability and remembrance. I again urge anyone with information about terrorist activity during that period to take it to the police. Silence only protects those who inflicted suffering on their neighbours. To those who carried out the attack and fled the scene, I say this, and I want you to listen and listen clearly: you may have evaded earthly justice, but you will never escape justice on the weight of what you did. Every day, you will think about what you did. You will think about the sight of that minibus coming down that road and how you pressed the button. You know who you are. To the people who rang to tell them that the minibus was on its way, I also say, "You know who you are". You have evaded justice here, but you will never evade it in the next world. That is fundamentally clear. Not a day will pass when the memory of your actions does not return to haunt you — it will — and there will be a reckoning beyond this world that no one — absolutely no one — can avoid. When you look at your children or grandchildren at Christmas, tell them what you did; tell them the coward that you were to kill absolutely innocent people. If tragedies happen to you, your family or your community, have a good, long think about what you did and what you inflicted. It will come back on you. Today, we remember with respect eight decent men whose lives were stolen: Gary Bleeks, Cecil Caldwell, Robert Dunseath, Oswald Gilchrist, David Harkness, Bobby Irons, Richard McConnell and Nigel McKee.

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

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:12 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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