Few people can be unaware that Arlene Foster’s father, an RUC officer, was attacked by the IRA in 1979. She has frequently told how her father, a policeman, was shot as he went to check on farm animals and was wounded in the head. Alert rockets were fired to summon help. Mr Kelly survived for over thirty years after the attack, but it has left a deep mark on Mrs Foster..
Ten years earlier, in 1969, Sammy Devenny was an undertaker in Derry: a quiet, mild-mannered man with no involvement in politics. He was attacked in his home in the Bogside by members of the RUC. They beat him so badly, he died the following July. He left a wife, six daughters and three sons. Years later his wife Phyllis told me how she took her three sons aside and made it clear that no retaliation for what had happened would come from their family. Fifteen thousand people attended Sammy Devenny’s funeral in July 1969.
Thirty years later, his son Harry spoke of the attack: “To the people responsible, ours was just another Catholic house in the Bog. Once the door opened they didn’t care who they hit And the litany of lies, the showcase of inquiries, gave them the one thing that they’ve used ever since, a licence to kill.”
Few people can be unaware that Jean McConville was abducted and killed by the IRA, who believed that she was passing information to British forces. She left behind a family of ten children. She is particularly well known for two reasons: she was one of the ‘disappeared’ – that is, people who were abducted and buried secretly in a remote area; and because opponents of Gerry Adams have repeatedly claimed he was linked to the killing.
Mike Nesbitt, later leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, is reputed to have said “Joan who?” when the name of Joan Connolly was mentioned in a discussion of victims.
Joan Connolly was one of ten victims killed in Ballymurphy over several days in 1971 by the British Parachute Regiment. There are differing accounts of how she died. Some reports say she was standing in her doorway when shot, others that she was going to the aid of a young boy, Noel Philips, who had been shot and wounded. In either event, she was hit several times in the head and body. Eyewitnesses claim she was refused emergency medical attention, as she cried out for help. The mother of eight bled to death.
There are a number of things about these killings that are particularly disturbing. The first is the contrast between the public awareness of the attack on Arlene Foster’s father, John Kelly, who was an RUC man and who was wounded; and the public level of awareness about Sammy Devenny.
Sammy Devenny was uninvolved in politics in any way but was killed by the RUC; John Kelly was an RUC officer and was fortunate enough to survive an IRA attack.
Jean McConville left a parentless family of ten behind her; Joan Connolly left a parentless family of eight behind her. Jean McConville was shot because it was claimed she was passing information to the British military. Joan Connolly was shot because she was an easy target.
The Chief Justice, Declan Morgan, has requested funding for inquests into some eighty deaths, including that of Joan Connolly. His request was blocked by the DUP, whose leader is Arlene Foster.
It is difficult not to suspect that, in the blocking of funding for these inquests, incriminating information about the security forces is being protected. It is also difficult to believe that Arlene Foster, whose own family suffered in the conflict, appears to be the person who is making sure that other families affected by the conflict do not get the truth about their loved ones’ deaths.
Footnote: the belated attempts in recent days by the UVF to claim they were involved in the Ballymurphy shootings should be regarded as just that:belated. Why has the UVF never spoken of their involvement over the decades? Those seeking the truth of what happened should focus firmly on getting the requested inquest and ignore those trying to divert attention.
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