‘The DUP & The Loyalists’  by Donal Lavery

As a 25 year old, I’m conscious of the fact that unlike many of you who will read this, I did not live through the long ordeal that was the conflict in the North of our country. But nonetheless, I was born prior to the ceasefires and I grew up in a home that was directly impacted by state-resourced, Unionist-directed murder gangs. My grandfather’s brother, Martin Lavery, was shot dead while wrapping Christmas presents in front of his young children, by state agents and killers within the Ulster Volunteer Force. Nobody was ever brought to justice for this crime. But the irony is, my grandfather was later to become a Belfast City Councillor, and every day in work he passed someone who we all knew was directly implicated in the assassination.

Now, many nationalist families have been affected by the brutality of Crown terrorism, so I don’t sekk your sympathy. But what I do want to reveal to you is a number of pertinent details which I feel are particularly relevant to the issue of political parties with links to paramilitary organisations. Recently, my family received a report from the Police Ombudsman’s Office into Martin’s killing, which revealed that the RUC knew the murder was to take place at least 48 hours in advance but did nothing to stop it. The report also confirmed that the same guns used to murder Martin in front of his wife and children, were those that had been smuggled in from South Africa by Loyalist terror groups. The kind Noel Little was reported to be involved in.

Additionally, we were told that these same guns were transported around the Orange State, having been used by the “Glenanne Gang” and in the Loughlinisland massacre. One key piece of he puzzle in all of this is that the shipment of arms that was brought in to the North was divided up between different paramilitaries – including the Ian Paisley’s “Ulster Resistance” group. The same group which Emma Pengelly’s father, Mr Little, was arrested in France over alleged gun-running for.

This is no shock that Unionist politicians had links to gun-smugglers, shadowy assassins and serial killers. For in 1999, former UDR soldier David Jordan broke down and asserted that his patrol killed nationalist Councillor Patsy Kelly in 1974. But the seminal aspect to the case was that he also implicated founding DUP member and later MLA, Oliver Gibson, in the killing – another UDR soldier. Controversially, Gibson was never questioned nor charged by the RUC concerning the murder.

Adding insult to injury, former DUP Communities Minister Paul Givan MLA, blocked the release of key papers regarding the killing of my relative shortly after he took over the department. The case is currently under Judicial Review in an attempt to have these documents released as soon as possible. For a party always keen to talk about “terrorism” they have a cavalier sense of denial when it comes to the acknowledgement of the pro-state terrorism which some of their associates were routinely involved in. No amount of confidence and supply with any British government will persuade the world that some of those sitting on the Unionist benches were not directly involved with Crown mercenaries – like former DUP Councillor, George Seawright. If they want a genuine reconciliation process, they might begin by injecting an overdue impetus of truth for the victims of their heinous past activities.

http://ulsterherald.com/2014/02/08/murdered-trillick-councillors-family-hopeful-as-ombudsman-set-to-re-open-case/