1989 Jonesborough Ambush
Encyclopedia
The Jonesborough ambush took place on 20 March 1989 near the Irish border outside the village of Jonesborough, County Armagh
, Northern Ireland
. Two senior Royal Ulster Constabulary
(RUC) officers, Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Robert Buchanan, were shot dead in an ambush by the Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade
. Breen and Buchanan were returning from an informal cross-border security conference in Dundalk
with senior Garda
officers when Buchanan's car — a red Vauxhall Cavalier
— was flagged-down and fired upon by IRA gunmen. Buchanan was killed outright whilst Breen, suffering gunshot wounds, was deliberately shot in the back of the head after he had left the car waving a white handkerchief. They were the highest-ranking RUC officers to be killed during the Troubles
.
Nobody was ever charged with the killings. There have been allegations that the attack was the result of collusion between the Gardai and Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). There have also been allegations, by former RUC Special Patrol Group
officer John Weir
, that Breen had links with loyalist
militant group Down Orange Welfare
. Canadian judge Peter Cory investigated the killings in 2003; his findings were published in a report. This led to the Government of the Republic of Ireland setting up the Smithwick Tribunal
, a judicial inquiry into the double shooting which opened in Dublin in June 2011.
in Dundalk
, County Louth
, Republic of Ireland
. The unscheduled meeting had been arranged that morning by Buchanan over the telephone.The telephone call was made on an open, unsecured line. The meeting began at 2.00 p.m. inside the office of Garda Chief Superintendent John Nolan, where they had drawn up plans for a co-ordinated effort between the RUC and Gardai against the lucrative, cross-border Provisional IRA smuggling operations in the area.Breen was due to meet with Customs and Excise officials the following morning. The two RUC officers were travelling without a police escort in Buchanan's unmarked car, which was a red Vauxhall Cavalier
with the registration number KIB 1204. It was not armoured-plated and didn't have bullet-proof glass. Both officers were unarmed, as it was against regulations to transport weapons into the Republic of Ireland, and they were not in uniform. Buchanan drove away from the Dundalk Garda station after the meeting had ended at 3.15 p.m. and turned off the main Dublin-Belfast road, taking a detour outside the town back to Northern Ireland.
At around 3.40 p.m., they crossed the Northern Ireland border at Border Check Point 10. It was a dark, overcast wintry day. Yards up ahead, at the top of a hill on the tree-lined Edenappa Road outside Jonesborough, armed volunteers from the Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade
waited in ambush. The site the IRA chose was in "dead ground", meaning that they could not be seen by the nearby British Army
observation post. The secluded back road was considered a "no-go area" for the security forces as it was regularly patrolled by the local IRA. According to the Cory Collusion Inquiry Report, which was the findings of an investigation into the shootings by Canadian judge Peter Cory, as Buchanan reached the hilltop he was flagged down by an armed IRA man standing in the middle of the road wearing Army battle fatigues and camouflage paint on his face. Another armed man, dressed likewise, stood in a ditch by the roadside. Buchanan, thinking that a British Army vehicle checkpoint was in progress, slowed down and stopped. At that moment, a stolen cream-coloured Litace van, which had been following behind the Cavalier, overtook the officers and pulled into the laneway of an empty house opposite Buchanan's car. Four more armed IRA men wearing battle fatigues and balaclavas leapt out of the van. They approached the Cavalier and immediately began shooting, mainly at the driver's side, hitting the two officers. Buchanan made two frantic attempts to reverse, but he was killed and the car reversed at an angle. It backed against a wall with Buchanan's foot still deeply pressed down on the accelerator. Breen, despite his gunshot wounds, managed to stumble out of the car, waving a white handkerchief at the gunmen in a gesture of surrender. According to eyewitnesses, one of the gunmen walked over to him and fired a shot into the back of his head. Breen died instantly. A gunman then opened the car door on the driver's side and shot Buchanan once in the head, although he was already dead behind the wheel.
After removing security documents from the Cavalier and personal belongings from Breen's body, the IRA gunmen drove away from the scene of the killings; they were heard by witnesses to have cheered and shouted "Hurrah" as the van sped northwards.
The RUC at Forkhill
received an emergency call at 3.45 p.m. reporting that there were two dead men on Edenappa Road. The police arrived on the scene at 3.54 p.m., where they found Breen lying dead on the roadside; alongside the body was his pen, a pair of eyeglasses and the white handkerchief that he had been carrying. His wallet, warrant card and pager were missing. His personal diary which contained the telephone numbers of other senior RUC officers was also taken. Buchanan's body was behind the wheel of his car, with his seatbelt still fastened. The police positively identified the dead men as Harry Breen and Robert Buchanan. Although the crime scene was cordoned off, the police were unable to remove the bodies or inspect the area due to a sudden snowstorm, therefore the bodies were not taken away until the following morning after they had been checked for booby-trap bombs. When the security forces inspected the scene, they found Kleenex tissue and a Lucozade bottle, but later forensic tests on the items did not find any fingerprints or saliva. Ballistic testing showed that the weapons used in the attack were two .223 Armalite
rifles, one Ruger Mini-14 and a 7.62 Short rifle. A total of 25 rounds had been fired in the attack, 11 of the bullets had struck the car's front windscreen. One of the Armalites had last been used in a helicopter attack at Silverbridge on 23 June 1988 and the other Armalite had been used in the killing of alleged Garda informer Eamonn Maguire on 1 September 1987 at Cullaville.
It was learned during the RUC CID
investigation that, on the afternoon of the shootings, the IRA had set up four checkpoints on each of the four roads leading out of Dundalk: the Dundalk-Omeath, Dundalk-Carrickmacross, Dundalk-Newry, and the Dundalk-Forkhill, where the ambush occurred. Minutes before Buchanan and Breen arrived at the ambush, the two IRA men wearing camouflage paint had set up a roadblock on the Jonesborough side of the hill. They stopped three southbound vehicles, and after ordering the drivers to park their cars on alternative sides of the road at right angles, the occupants were told to lie down on the roadside with their hands over their heads. This had ensured that Buchanan would be forced to slow, allowing only one car to pass through at a time, which left him with insufficient room to flee.
The cream-coloured van was spotted on 22 March by a helicopter patrol, but before the area could be secured for the police to investigate it, the van was destroyed by fire. It was found that it had been stolen from a church car park on 18 March. Although the Provisional IRA claimed responsibility for carrying out the attack, nobody has ever been charged with the killings.
The funerals for the two officers were held on 23 March.
In 2005, in his statement before the Dail, then Irish Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Michael McDowell
, described the killings as "an appalling act of savagery".
, County Down
, Henry Alexander "Harry" Breen had joined the RUC on 5 May 1957. He served as a sergeant in Lurgan
and then inspector in Newry
and Banbridge before being promoted to the rank of superintendent in 1980. He held posts in the Complaints and Discipline and Inspectorate Branch. He received his last promotion on 8 February 1988 when he was made Chief Superintendent as the Division Commander in the RUC's "H" Division, which was based in Armagh city
and encompassed a large area of County Armagh
and south Down. He was well respected within the force and had been commended twice and highly recommended another two times. He had been awarded the RUC Service Medal and the Police Long-Service and Good Conduct Medal. He was married to June and the father of two children: Gillian and David. As the divisional commander for South Armagh, Breen was the most senior policeman to have been killed during the Troubles.
Journalist Joe Tiernan described the six-feet tall, solidly-built Breen as a "hard man" with a cold, remote personality who seldom made trips to the Republic of Ireland. Breen's former colleagues maintained that he had been a "gentleman of the old school, who always carried a dress handkerchief in his suit pocket". An autopsy report found that he had been hit on both the left and right sides of his body. He had been wounded in the head, abdomen, upper-right shoulder and arm.
Robert James "Bob" Buchanan held the difficult and potentially dangerous post of Border Superintendent for "H" Division. He was based in Newry. This post made him responsible for all cross-border matters and, in particular, the liaison between the RUC and the Garda Siochana. He had joined the RUC on 13 August 1956 and lived in the village of Moira, outside Lurgan. He was married to Catherine, by whom he had a son, William, and a daughter, Heather. He had written a book on the history of the Kellswater Reformed Presbyterian Church, located outside Ballymena
, County Antrim
; it was published after his death. In his spare time, he preached as a lay Presbyterian minister, and, according to Tiernan, he was a deeply religious man much liked by the Gardai with whom he had a good working relationship. In the role of Border Superintendent, Buchanan often met with Garda officers in the Republic. His job also meant that he was known to the local Provisional IRA. He was 5'9 with a large, heavy-set build, and had been described as a man of utter integrity and a dedicated police officer. He was scheduled to be promoted and transferred to Newtownards
the week following his death.
The autopsy found a number of fragment wounds on the right side of his head. He also had many fragment wounds on the front of his right shoulder and his upper chest; two major fragments had gone right through his chest. He had a lacerated lung and much internal bleeding. The autopsy also showed that he had been shot in the head at close range, most likely after he was already dead.
suggested that the IRA had been tipped off about the return route that Breen and Buchanan had planned to take by a rogue Garda known as "Garda X". Just before he left Armagh police station to meet Buchanan at Newry station (whence they would travel south together in Buchanan's Cavalier), Breen had confided to Staff Officer Sergeant Alan Mains that he had a sense of foreboding about his trip to Dundalk because he had believed a named Garda detective sergeant was in the pay of a notorious IRA man living on the Armagh–Louth border and would pass on information to him. Despite Breen's misgivings, however, at 1.50 p.m. the two officers left Newry for Dundalk and their 2.00 p.m. meeting with the Gardai. In the 11 weeks before the killings, Buchanan had attended a total of 24 cross-border conferences with the Gardai at the Dundalk, Carrickmacross and Monaghan Garda stations. He had driven his red Vauxhall Cavalier to all of the meetings. He reportedly had never been worried about his safety whilst driving unarmed through the staunchly republican
, IRA-dominated south Armagh countryside as he believed that "God would protect him". Breen had only attended one meeting in the Republic, in February 1989.
Journalist Kevin Myers
published an article in the Irish Times on 10 March 2000 regarding the allegations of collusion between the Garda mole and the IRA which had led to the deaths of Breen and Buchanan. Myers' article provoked David Trimble
MP
for Upper Bann
, MLA
(and future First Minister of Northern Ireland) to write a letter to the Taoiseach
Bertie Ahern
TD
on 25 March 2000, calling for an inquiry into the allegations of collusion. Jeffrey Donaldson
, MP for Lagan Valley
, used his parliamentary privilege in the House of Commons on 13 April 2000 to suggest that the named Garda detective sergeant passed on information to the IRA about the meeting in Dundalk which facilitated their ambush of the RUC officers. He also requested a Tribunal of Inquiry into the allegations.
In his investigation, Judge Cory opined that the Dundalk Garda station was most likely under IRA surveillance during the conference as a Garda had seen a blue or grey-coloured Cavalier driving slowly through the station's car park whilst the meeting was ongoing, and the driver seemed to have been "looking around". At 2.30 p.m., another car—a red Ford Capri with Northern Ireland registration plates—slowly drove past the station three times. Superintendent Buchanan normally parked his car in front of the station. Unknown to either Breen or Buchanan, the latter's Cavalier had already been identified by the IRA as an "RUC vehicle" and they had tailed the car on one of Buchanan's earlier visits to Dundalk. The two policemen were also unaware that a British Army surveillance team had watched and noted IRA "dickers" following Buchanan's car but had failed to warn RUC Special Branch
of this. Prompt notification by the Army or M15
would have precluded Breen and Buchanan from crossing the border on 20 March 1989 in a targeted car. Shortly before coming upon the scene of the killings, a civilian witness had observed Army helicopters patrolling over the area. At 11.00 a.m. on the morning of the killings, the Edenappa Road had been declared "out of bounds" by the security forces, yet this information was not relayed to the officers before they set out on their journey across the Irish border. There had been unusually high levels of IRA radio traffic recorded in south Armagh that day.
, a judicial inquiry into the events surrounding the killings. The investigations by Judge Peter Smithwick were completed by July 2006 and the public hearings in Dublin began on 7 June 2011; they are due to be concluded in November 2011. At the tribunal, Breen's family was represented by solicitor John McBurney and solicitor Ernie Waterworth represented the Buchanan family.
Before the public hearings began, members of the Smithwick Tribunal's legal team met with three former senior IRA volunteers, one of whom had a command role in the operation to kill the two officers.
The Tribunal heard from retired Garda Chief Superintendent Tom Curran, who was based in Monaghan
at the time of the killings. He stated that in 1988 an informer told him of an IRA death threat against Buchanan. The man had allegedly said: "There's a fella crossing the border there to see you and he is going to be shot." Curran — who had met Buchanan many times and regarded him as a friend — was worried and duly informed Eugene Crowley, the assistant commissioner of crime and security at Garda headquarters in Dublin, about the threat. Curran never told Buchanan about the threat as he didn't want Buchanan to think that the Garda Siochana was trying to stop him coming to the Republic. In 1987, Buchanan had called to Curran's office to discuss RUC concerns about the Garda detective sergeant at Dundalk station who was "unnecessarily associating" with the IRA. Buchanan asked Curran to convey his message to Garda headquarters, which he did in person. Assistant Commissioner Crowley (now deceased) did not, however, seem interested in what Curran had to say about the possible collusion. This detective sergeant was the same man whom Breen had discussed with Sgt Alan Mains before setting out for Dundalk. This man was also on first name terms with the then RUC Chief Constable
Sir John Hermon
. Breen's widow June maintained that many times before the ambush, Breen had given her instructions that in the event of his death Hermon was not to be invited to attend his funeral.
Ian Hurst, a former member of Force Research Unit
(FRU), sent a written statement to the Tribunal. In the document, Hurst alleged that up to 25 IRA operatives had been involved in the ambush, both directly and indirectly. According to Hurst, about one quarter of them were British agents. British agent and IRA Intelligence Officer Stakeknife
had been aware of the plot as he was responsible for gathering the information that had led to the ambush. Hurst's evidence has led the chairman of the Ulster Unionist Party
North Down Association (and former RUC officer) Colin Breen to suggest that, had the information been passed on by Military Intelligence to the RUC or Garda Siochana, the double killing could have been prevented. Agent Kevin Fulton
, who spied on the IRA for Military Intelligence, alleged that his senior IRA commander was told by another IRA volunteer that on the day of the killings, the South Armagh IRA was informed by one of the Gardai (known as "Garda B") that the two RUC officers were inside the Dundalk Garda station. Fulton had been in Dundalk that same day.
Retired Garda Detective Sergeant Sean Gethins told the Tribunal that the IRA team at Jonesborough had initially planned to kidnap and interrogate Breen. He was to be questioned about internal security leaks that led to the May 1987 ambush
of an IRA active service unit
(ASU) by the SAS
in Loughgall which had resulted in the deaths of eight IRA volunteers and a civilian. According to Gethins, Breen was targeted by the IRA after he had given television interviews in the days following the Loughgall ambush. Kevin Fulton suggested British agents who took part in the ambush at Jonesborough had shot Breen and Buchanan lest they reveal the names of informants whilst under torture. Ian Hurst, in his statement confirmed that the IRA's original plan had been to kidnap the two RUC officers and interrogate them at a secure location in the Irish Republic. Once the IRA unit had extracted all possible information from the two men, they would have executed them. Hurst claimed to have received the information from agent Stakeknife's long-term handler. He also added that sanction for the ambush and killing of such high-ranking RUC officers as Breen and Buchanan would have come from the highest echelons of the IRA's Northern Command
.
A former RUC assistant chief constable told the Tribunal that Breen and Buchanan had been warned against going to Dundalk at a meeting on 16 March 1989, but that they had disobeyed orders. Breen's widow, however, denied that her late husband had attended the meeting as he had spent that day with her. Indeed Breen's diary recorded that on 16 March he was on leave. The security conference with Gardai in Dundalk had actually been set up after a dinner at Stormont House
on 6 March, which had been attended by both Breen and Buchanan. It was there that Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Tom King
had suggested the meeting after receiving reports from an Army colonel about the cross-border smuggling activities of a well-known IRA man whose property straddled the Armagh/Louth border. According to Sgt Alan Mains, Breen was "specifically directed to speak with the Guards [Gardai] and the Army, and to come up with some kind of reply for the Chief Constable and the Secretary of State". Breen allegedly had much information about the smuggler. A former RUC Special Branch chief, however stated to the Tribunal that both Breen and Buchanan had been opposed to carrying out the operation against the smuggler as there was not enough substantial information on which to base it. When it was suggested to Tom King that the proposed operation was "ill-advised and dangerous", he reportedly struck the table and insisted that it was to go ahead.
stated in his affidavit that he was given weapons for the Ulster Volunteer Force
's Mid-Ulster Brigade
by a group of County Down
loyalists called Down Orange Welfare
(DOW). The group was made up of former and serving members of the security forces. Weir alleged that Breen belonged to this organisation. Weir's affidavit was published in 2003 in the Barron Report, which was the findings of an official investigation commissioned by Irish Supreme Court Justice Henry Barron
into the UVF’s 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings
. At the time Weir allegedly met Breen at a DOW meeting, Breen was a chief inspector in Newry. The UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade was commanded by Robin "the Jackal" Jackson
from 1975 to the early 1990s. Over 50 killings have been attributed to Jackson, according to David McKittrick
in Lost Lives, and he was an alleged RUC Special Branch agent. Weir also claimed that Breen was fully aware of collusion between certain RUC officers and loyalist paramilitaries such as Jackson. Furthermore, he claimed to have witnessed a conversation between Breen and another inspector in which they were discussing with approval the association of two named RUC officers with Robin Jackson. When Weir later told Breen of his own involvement in the sectarian killing of Catholic chemist William Strathearn (for which he was convicted), Breen had advised him to "forget about it". Weir's allegations are strongly denied by Breen's former RUC colleagues.
Sir Maurice Gibson
and his wife, Cecily, Lady Gibson as they were returning home from a holiday. The couple was blown up shortly after their car crossed the Northern Ireland border on the main Dublin-Belfast road. They had just left their Garda escort and were approaching the rendezvous point with their RUC escort when the explosion occurred. Collusion was also suspected in the killings but the investigation into the bombing by Judge Cory revealed that the IRA had most likely carried out the attack without any assistance from outside agencies.
Ian Lisles, a retired British Army brigadier who served 14 years in Northern Ireland—much of the time in south Armagh—suggested to the Tribunal that the IRA could not have mounted the operation in less than three hours; it most likely had required between five to eight hours of advance preparation. He maintained that the IRA were too professional an organisation to have attempted an ad hoc ambush on such short notice as would have been the case had the attack been carried out upon being alerted by a Garda mole as to the presence of the two senior RUC officers inside the Dundalk station.
Jonesborough, County Armagh
Jonesborough, known before the Plantation of Ulster as Bollanclare , is a small village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, one kilometre from the border with County Louth in the Republic of Ireland in the Ring of Gullion. It is about 8 kilometres south of Newry. In the 2001 Census it had a...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. Two senior Royal Ulster Constabulary
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
(RUC) officers, Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Robert Buchanan, were shot dead in an ambush by the Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade
Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade
The South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army operated during the Troubles in south County Armagh. It was organised into two battalions, one around Jonesborough and another around Crossmaglen. By the 1990s, the South Armagh Brigade was thought to consist of about 40 members,...
. Breen and Buchanan were returning from an informal cross-border security conference in Dundalk
Dundalk
Dundalk is the county town of County Louth in Ireland. It is situated where the Castletown River flows into Dundalk Bay. The town is close to the border with Northern Ireland and equi-distant from Dublin and Belfast. The town's name, which was historically written as Dundalgan, has associations...
with senior Garda
Garda
Garda may refer to:* An Garda Síochána, the national police of the Republic of Ireland* Lake Garda, a lake in northern Italy.* Garda , a commune on the shores of the Italian Lake Garda in the province of Verona....
officers when Buchanan's car — a red Vauxhall Cavalier
Vauxhall Cavalier
The Vauxhall Cavalier is a large family car sold primarily in the UK by Vauxhall Motors, the British division of General Motors , from 1975 to 1995...
— was flagged-down and fired upon by IRA gunmen. Buchanan was killed outright whilst Breen, suffering gunshot wounds, was deliberately shot in the back of the head after he had left the car waving a white handkerchief. They were the highest-ranking RUC officers to be killed during the Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
.
Nobody was ever charged with the killings. There have been allegations that the attack was the result of collusion between the Gardai and Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). There have also been allegations, by former RUC Special Patrol Group
Special Patrol Group
The Special Patrol Group was a unit of Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, responsible for providing a centrally-based mobile capability for combating serious public disorder and crime that could not be dealt with by local divisions....
officer John Weir
John Weir (loyalist)
John Oliver Weir , is an Ulster loyalist born in the Republic of Ireland. He served as an officer in Northern Ireland's Royal Ulster Constabulary's Special Patrol Group , and was a volunteer in the illegal Ulster Volunteer Force...
, that Breen had links with loyalist
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
militant group Down Orange Welfare
Down Orange Welfare
Down Orange Welfare was an loyalist paramilitary vigilante group active in Northern Ireland during the 1970s. Active in rural areas of County Down, the group faded after failing to win support away from larger paramilitary groups such as the Ulster Defence Association.The group was established in...
. Canadian judge Peter Cory investigated the killings in 2003; his findings were published in a report. This led to the Government of the Republic of Ireland setting up the Smithwick Tribunal
Smithwick Tribunal
The Smithwick Tribunal is a judicial inquiry being held in Blackhall Place, Dublin, Ireland, into the events surrounding the murders of Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Robert Buchanan of the Royal Ulster Constabulary...
, a judicial inquiry into the double shooting which opened in Dublin in June 2011.
The shootings
On the afternoon of Monday 20 March 1989, Chief Superintendent Harry Breen (51) and Superintendent Robert Buchanan (55), both senior, high-ranking Protestant officers in the RUC, were returning from an informal security conference with senior officers of the Garda SiochanaGarda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
in Dundalk
Dundalk
Dundalk is the county town of County Louth in Ireland. It is situated where the Castletown River flows into Dundalk Bay. The town is close to the border with Northern Ireland and equi-distant from Dublin and Belfast. The town's name, which was historically written as Dundalgan, has associations...
, County Louth
County Louth
County Louth is a county of Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Louth. Louth County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. The unscheduled meeting had been arranged that morning by Buchanan over the telephone.The telephone call was made on an open, unsecured line. The meeting began at 2.00 p.m. inside the office of Garda Chief Superintendent John Nolan, where they had drawn up plans for a co-ordinated effort between the RUC and Gardai against the lucrative, cross-border Provisional IRA smuggling operations in the area.Breen was due to meet with Customs and Excise officials the following morning. The two RUC officers were travelling without a police escort in Buchanan's unmarked car, which was a red Vauxhall Cavalier
Vauxhall Cavalier
The Vauxhall Cavalier is a large family car sold primarily in the UK by Vauxhall Motors, the British division of General Motors , from 1975 to 1995...
with the registration number KIB 1204. It was not armoured-plated and didn't have bullet-proof glass. Both officers were unarmed, as it was against regulations to transport weapons into the Republic of Ireland, and they were not in uniform. Buchanan drove away from the Dundalk Garda station after the meeting had ended at 3.15 p.m. and turned off the main Dublin-Belfast road, taking a detour outside the town back to Northern Ireland.
At around 3.40 p.m., they crossed the Northern Ireland border at Border Check Point 10. It was a dark, overcast wintry day. Yards up ahead, at the top of a hill on the tree-lined Edenappa Road outside Jonesborough, armed volunteers from the Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade
Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade
The South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army operated during the Troubles in south County Armagh. It was organised into two battalions, one around Jonesborough and another around Crossmaglen. By the 1990s, the South Armagh Brigade was thought to consist of about 40 members,...
waited in ambush. The site the IRA chose was in "dead ground", meaning that they could not be seen by the nearby British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
observation post. The secluded back road was considered a "no-go area" for the security forces as it was regularly patrolled by the local IRA. According to the Cory Collusion Inquiry Report, which was the findings of an investigation into the shootings by Canadian judge Peter Cory, as Buchanan reached the hilltop he was flagged down by an armed IRA man standing in the middle of the road wearing Army battle fatigues and camouflage paint on his face. Another armed man, dressed likewise, stood in a ditch by the roadside. Buchanan, thinking that a British Army vehicle checkpoint was in progress, slowed down and stopped. At that moment, a stolen cream-coloured Litace van, which had been following behind the Cavalier, overtook the officers and pulled into the laneway of an empty house opposite Buchanan's car. Four more armed IRA men wearing battle fatigues and balaclavas leapt out of the van. They approached the Cavalier and immediately began shooting, mainly at the driver's side, hitting the two officers. Buchanan made two frantic attempts to reverse, but he was killed and the car reversed at an angle. It backed against a wall with Buchanan's foot still deeply pressed down on the accelerator. Breen, despite his gunshot wounds, managed to stumble out of the car, waving a white handkerchief at the gunmen in a gesture of surrender. According to eyewitnesses, one of the gunmen walked over to him and fired a shot into the back of his head. Breen died instantly. A gunman then opened the car door on the driver's side and shot Buchanan once in the head, although he was already dead behind the wheel.
After removing security documents from the Cavalier and personal belongings from Breen's body, the IRA gunmen drove away from the scene of the killings; they were heard by witnesses to have cheered and shouted "Hurrah" as the van sped northwards.
Aftermath
Forkhill
Forkhill or Forkill is a small village in south County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is within the Ring of Gullion, near Slieve Fuad. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 366.- Name :...
received an emergency call at 3.45 p.m. reporting that there were two dead men on Edenappa Road. The police arrived on the scene at 3.54 p.m., where they found Breen lying dead on the roadside; alongside the body was his pen, a pair of eyeglasses and the white handkerchief that he had been carrying. His wallet, warrant card and pager were missing. His personal diary which contained the telephone numbers of other senior RUC officers was also taken. Buchanan's body was behind the wheel of his car, with his seatbelt still fastened. The police positively identified the dead men as Harry Breen and Robert Buchanan. Although the crime scene was cordoned off, the police were unable to remove the bodies or inspect the area due to a sudden snowstorm, therefore the bodies were not taken away until the following morning after they had been checked for booby-trap bombs. When the security forces inspected the scene, they found Kleenex tissue and a Lucozade bottle, but later forensic tests on the items did not find any fingerprints or saliva. Ballistic testing showed that the weapons used in the attack were two .223 Armalite
ArmaLite
ArmaLite is the name of a small arms engineering facility founded in the early 1950s, and once associated with the Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation. ArmaLite was formally incorporated as a subdivision of Fairchild on October 1, 1954...
rifles, one Ruger Mini-14 and a 7.62 Short rifle. A total of 25 rounds had been fired in the attack, 11 of the bullets had struck the car's front windscreen. One of the Armalites had last been used in a helicopter attack at Silverbridge on 23 June 1988 and the other Armalite had been used in the killing of alleged Garda informer Eamonn Maguire on 1 September 1987 at Cullaville.
It was learned during the RUC CID
Criminal Investigation Department
The Crime Investigation Department is the branch of all Territorial police forces within the British Police and many other Commonwealth police forces, to which plain clothes detectives belong. It is thus distinct from the Uniformed Branch and the Special Branch.The Metropolitan Police Service CID,...
investigation that, on the afternoon of the shootings, the IRA had set up four checkpoints on each of the four roads leading out of Dundalk: the Dundalk-Omeath, Dundalk-Carrickmacross, Dundalk-Newry, and the Dundalk-Forkhill, where the ambush occurred. Minutes before Buchanan and Breen arrived at the ambush, the two IRA men wearing camouflage paint had set up a roadblock on the Jonesborough side of the hill. They stopped three southbound vehicles, and after ordering the drivers to park their cars on alternative sides of the road at right angles, the occupants were told to lie down on the roadside with their hands over their heads. This had ensured that Buchanan would be forced to slow, allowing only one car to pass through at a time, which left him with insufficient room to flee.
The cream-coloured van was spotted on 22 March by a helicopter patrol, but before the area could be secured for the police to investigate it, the van was destroyed by fire. It was found that it had been stolen from a church car park on 18 March. Although the Provisional IRA claimed responsibility for carrying out the attack, nobody has ever been charged with the killings.
The funerals for the two officers were held on 23 March.
In 2005, in his statement before the Dail, then Irish Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Michael McDowell
Michael McDowell
Michael McDowell is a Senior Counsel in the Bar Council of Ireland and a former politician. A grandson of Irish revolutionary Eoin MacNeill, McDowell was a founding member of the Progressive Democrats political party in the mid-1980s...
, described the killings as "an appalling act of savagery".
The victims
A native of BanbridgeBanbridge
Banbridge is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road. It was named after a bridge built over the Bann in 1712. The town grew as a coaching stop on the road from Belfast to Dublin and thrived from Irish linen manufacturing...
, County Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
, Henry Alexander "Harry" Breen had joined the RUC on 5 May 1957. He served as a sergeant in Lurgan
Lurgan
Lurgan is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and in the north-eastern corner of the county. Part of the Craigavon Borough Council area, Lurgan is about 18 miles south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway...
and then inspector in Newry
Newry
Newry is a city in Northern Ireland. The River Clanrye, which runs through the city, formed the historic border between County Armagh and County Down. It is from Belfast and from Dublin. Newry had a population of 27,433 at the 2001 Census, while Newry and Mourne Council Area had a population...
and Banbridge before being promoted to the rank of superintendent in 1980. He held posts in the Complaints and Discipline and Inspectorate Branch. He received his last promotion on 8 February 1988 when he was made Chief Superintendent as the Division Commander in the RUC's "H" Division, which was based in Armagh city
Armagh
Armagh is a large settlement in Northern Ireland, and the county town of County Armagh. It is a site of historical importance for both Celtic paganism and Christianity and is the seat, for both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland, of the Archbishop of Armagh...
and encompassed a large area of County Armagh
County Armagh
-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...
and south Down. He was well respected within the force and had been commended twice and highly recommended another two times. He had been awarded the RUC Service Medal and the Police Long-Service and Good Conduct Medal. He was married to June and the father of two children: Gillian and David. As the divisional commander for South Armagh, Breen was the most senior policeman to have been killed during the Troubles.
Journalist Joe Tiernan described the six-feet tall, solidly-built Breen as a "hard man" with a cold, remote personality who seldom made trips to the Republic of Ireland. Breen's former colleagues maintained that he had been a "gentleman of the old school, who always carried a dress handkerchief in his suit pocket". An autopsy report found that he had been hit on both the left and right sides of his body. He had been wounded in the head, abdomen, upper-right shoulder and arm.
Robert James "Bob" Buchanan held the difficult and potentially dangerous post of Border Superintendent for "H" Division. He was based in Newry. This post made him responsible for all cross-border matters and, in particular, the liaison between the RUC and the Garda Siochana. He had joined the RUC on 13 August 1956 and lived in the village of Moira, outside Lurgan. He was married to Catherine, by whom he had a son, William, and a daughter, Heather. He had written a book on the history of the Kellswater Reformed Presbyterian Church, located outside Ballymena
Ballymena
Ballymena is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and the seat of Ballymena Borough Council. Ballymena had a population of 28,717 people in the 2001 Census....
, County Antrim
County Antrim
County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...
; it was published after his death. In his spare time, he preached as a lay Presbyterian minister, and, according to Tiernan, he was a deeply religious man much liked by the Gardai with whom he had a good working relationship. In the role of Border Superintendent, Buchanan often met with Garda officers in the Republic. His job also meant that he was known to the local Provisional IRA. He was 5'9 with a large, heavy-set build, and had been described as a man of utter integrity and a dedicated police officer. He was scheduled to be promoted and transferred to Newtownards
Newtownards
Newtownards is a large town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. Newtownards is the largest town in the Borough of Ards. According to the 2001 Census, it has a population of 27,821 people in...
the week following his death.
The autopsy found a number of fragment wounds on the right side of his head. He also had many fragment wounds on the front of his right shoulder and his upper chest; two major fragments had gone right through his chest. He had a lacerated lung and much internal bleeding. The autopsy also showed that he had been shot in the head at close range, most likely after he was already dead.
Provisional IRA statement
On the radio news at 11.00 p.m. on 22 March 1989, the following statement was made:Allegations of collusion
The ambush outside Jonesborough had been carefully planned and successfully executed. Since the killings there have been allegations of collusion between the Garda Siochana and the Provisional IRA. Journalist Toby HarndenToby Harnden
Toby Harnden is an Anglo-American journalist and author. He has been US editor of The Daily Telegraph since 2006.-Background:...
suggested that the IRA had been tipped off about the return route that Breen and Buchanan had planned to take by a rogue Garda known as "Garda X". Just before he left Armagh police station to meet Buchanan at Newry station (whence they would travel south together in Buchanan's Cavalier), Breen had confided to Staff Officer Sergeant Alan Mains that he had a sense of foreboding about his trip to Dundalk because he had believed a named Garda detective sergeant was in the pay of a notorious IRA man living on the Armagh–Louth border and would pass on information to him. Despite Breen's misgivings, however, at 1.50 p.m. the two officers left Newry for Dundalk and their 2.00 p.m. meeting with the Gardai. In the 11 weeks before the killings, Buchanan had attended a total of 24 cross-border conferences with the Gardai at the Dundalk, Carrickmacross and Monaghan Garda stations. He had driven his red Vauxhall Cavalier to all of the meetings. He reportedly had never been worried about his safety whilst driving unarmed through the staunchly republican
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
, IRA-dominated south Armagh countryside as he believed that "God would protect him". Breen had only attended one meeting in the Republic, in February 1989.
Journalist Kevin Myers
Kevin Myers
Kevin Myers is an Irish journalist and writer. He writes for the Irish Independent and is a former contributor to The Irish Times, where he wrote the "An Irishman's Diary" opinion column several times weekly...
published an article in the Irish Times on 10 March 2000 regarding the allegations of collusion between the Garda mole and the IRA which had led to the deaths of Breen and Buchanan. Myers' article provoked David Trimble
David Trimble
William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, PC , is a politician from Northern Ireland. He served as Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party , was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland , and was a Member of the British Parliament . He is currently a life peer for the Conservative Party...
MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Upper Bann
Upper Bann
Upper Bann can refer to:*Upper Bann *Upper Bann...
, MLA
Member of Legislative Assembly
A Member of Legislative Assembly, or MLA, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to the Legislature of a State in the Indian system of government...
(and future First Minister of Northern Ireland) to write a letter to the Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
Bertie Ahern
Bertie Ahern
Patrick Bartholomew "Bertie" Ahern is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 26 June 1997 to 7 May 2008....
TD
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...
on 25 March 2000, calling for an inquiry into the allegations of collusion. Jeffrey Donaldson
Jeffrey Donaldson
Jeffrey Mark Donaldson, MP is a Northern Irish politician and Member of Parliament for Lagan Valley belonging to the Democratic Unionist Party...
, MP for Lagan Valley
Lagan Valley
Lagan Valley is an area of Northern Ireland between Belfast and Lisburn. The Lagan is a famous river that flows into Belfast Lough. For a section, the river forms part of the border between the counties of Antrim and Down....
, used his parliamentary privilege in the House of Commons on 13 April 2000 to suggest that the named Garda detective sergeant passed on information to the IRA about the meeting in Dundalk which facilitated their ambush of the RUC officers. He also requested a Tribunal of Inquiry into the allegations.
In his investigation, Judge Cory opined that the Dundalk Garda station was most likely under IRA surveillance during the conference as a Garda had seen a blue or grey-coloured Cavalier driving slowly through the station's car park whilst the meeting was ongoing, and the driver seemed to have been "looking around". At 2.30 p.m., another car—a red Ford Capri with Northern Ireland registration plates—slowly drove past the station three times. Superintendent Buchanan normally parked his car in front of the station. Unknown to either Breen or Buchanan, the latter's Cavalier had already been identified by the IRA as an "RUC vehicle" and they had tailed the car on one of Buchanan's earlier visits to Dundalk. The two policemen were also unaware that a British Army surveillance team had watched and noted IRA "dickers" following Buchanan's car but had failed to warn RUC Special Branch
Special Branch
Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security in British and Commonwealth police forces, as well as in the Royal Thai Police...
of this. Prompt notification by the Army or M15
M15
-In firearms and military equipment:* M15 mine, a United States anti-tank mine* M15 rifle, a United States military rifle* Grigorovich M-15, a Russian World War I-era biplane flying boat* M15 pistol, a General Officer's variant of the M1911A1-In transportation:...
would have precluded Breen and Buchanan from crossing the border on 20 March 1989 in a targeted car. Shortly before coming upon the scene of the killings, a civilian witness had observed Army helicopters patrolling over the area. At 11.00 a.m. on the morning of the killings, the Edenappa Road had been declared "out of bounds" by the security forces, yet this information was not relayed to the officers before they set out on their journey across the Irish border. There had been unusually high levels of IRA radio traffic recorded in south Armagh that day.
Smithwick Tribunal
Judge Cory's investigation prompted the Irish Government to set up the Smithwick TribunalSmithwick Tribunal
The Smithwick Tribunal is a judicial inquiry being held in Blackhall Place, Dublin, Ireland, into the events surrounding the murders of Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Robert Buchanan of the Royal Ulster Constabulary...
, a judicial inquiry into the events surrounding the killings. The investigations by Judge Peter Smithwick were completed by July 2006 and the public hearings in Dublin began on 7 June 2011; they are due to be concluded in November 2011. At the tribunal, Breen's family was represented by solicitor John McBurney and solicitor Ernie Waterworth represented the Buchanan family.
Before the public hearings began, members of the Smithwick Tribunal's legal team met with three former senior IRA volunteers, one of whom had a command role in the operation to kill the two officers.
The Tribunal heard from retired Garda Chief Superintendent Tom Curran, who was based in Monaghan
Monaghan
Monaghan is the county town of County Monaghan in Ireland. Its population at the 2006 census stood at 7,811 . The town is located on the main road, the N2 road, from Dublin north to both Derry and Letterkenny.-Toponym:...
at the time of the killings. He stated that in 1988 an informer told him of an IRA death threat against Buchanan. The man had allegedly said: "There's a fella crossing the border there to see you and he is going to be shot." Curran — who had met Buchanan many times and regarded him as a friend — was worried and duly informed Eugene Crowley, the assistant commissioner of crime and security at Garda headquarters in Dublin, about the threat. Curran never told Buchanan about the threat as he didn't want Buchanan to think that the Garda Siochana was trying to stop him coming to the Republic. In 1987, Buchanan had called to Curran's office to discuss RUC concerns about the Garda detective sergeant at Dundalk station who was "unnecessarily associating" with the IRA. Buchanan asked Curran to convey his message to Garda headquarters, which he did in person. Assistant Commissioner Crowley (now deceased) did not, however, seem interested in what Curran had to say about the possible collusion. This detective sergeant was the same man whom Breen had discussed with Sgt Alan Mains before setting out for Dundalk. This man was also on first name terms with the then RUC Chief Constable
Chief Constable
Chief constable is the rank used by the chief police officer of every territorial police force in the United Kingdom except for the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police, as well as the chief officers of the three 'special' national police forces, the British Transport Police, Ministry...
Sir John Hermon
John Hermon
Sir John Hermon, OBE, QPM was the Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary from 1980-89.John Charles "Jack" Hermon, was born in Castletown, Islandmagee, County Antrim. He had a grammar school education and gave up an early career in accountancy to join the Royal Ulster Constabulary in 1950...
. Breen's widow June maintained that many times before the ambush, Breen had given her instructions that in the event of his death Hermon was not to be invited to attend his funeral.
Ian Hurst, a former member of Force Research Unit
Force Research Unit
Force Research Unit is alleged to be a name used by a covert military intelligence unit established by the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence in the Intelligence Corps of the British Army based at Templer Barracks, Ashford in Kent. The FRU is alleged to have been formed between 1980 and 1981...
(FRU), sent a written statement to the Tribunal. In the document, Hurst alleged that up to 25 IRA operatives had been involved in the ambush, both directly and indirectly. According to Hurst, about one quarter of them were British agents. British agent and IRA Intelligence Officer Stakeknife
Stakeknife
Stakeknife is the code name of an alleged spy who infiltrated the Provisional Irish Republican Army at a high level, while working for the top secret Force Research Unit of the British Army...
had been aware of the plot as he was responsible for gathering the information that had led to the ambush. Hurst's evidence has led the chairman of the Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
North Down Association (and former RUC officer) Colin Breen to suggest that, had the information been passed on by Military Intelligence to the RUC or Garda Siochana, the double killing could have been prevented. Agent Kevin Fulton
Kevin Fulton
"Kevin Fulton" is the pseudonym of Peter Keeley, a British agent from Newry, Northern Ireland who allegedly spied on the Provisional Irish Republican Army for British Military Intelligence....
, who spied on the IRA for Military Intelligence, alleged that his senior IRA commander was told by another IRA volunteer that on the day of the killings, the South Armagh IRA was informed by one of the Gardai (known as "Garda B") that the two RUC officers were inside the Dundalk Garda station. Fulton had been in Dundalk that same day.
Retired Garda Detective Sergeant Sean Gethins told the Tribunal that the IRA team at Jonesborough had initially planned to kidnap and interrogate Breen. He was to be questioned about internal security leaks that led to the May 1987 ambush
Loughgall Ambush
The Loughgall ambush took place on 8 May 1987 in the village of Loughgall, Northern Ireland. An eight-man Provisional Irish Republican Army group launched an attack on the village's Royal Ulster Constabulary station, but was ambushed by a British Army Special Air Service unit of twenty-five. The...
of an IRA active service unit
Active Service Unit
An active service unit was a Provisional Irish Republican Army cell of five to eight members, tasked with carrying out armed attacks. In 2002 the IRA had about 1,000 active members of which about 300 were in active service units....
(ASU) by the SAS
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
in Loughgall which had resulted in the deaths of eight IRA volunteers and a civilian. According to Gethins, Breen was targeted by the IRA after he had given television interviews in the days following the Loughgall ambush. Kevin Fulton suggested British agents who took part in the ambush at Jonesborough had shot Breen and Buchanan lest they reveal the names of informants whilst under torture. Ian Hurst, in his statement confirmed that the IRA's original plan had been to kidnap the two RUC officers and interrogate them at a secure location in the Irish Republic. Once the IRA unit had extracted all possible information from the two men, they would have executed them. Hurst claimed to have received the information from agent Stakeknife's long-term handler. He also added that sanction for the ambush and killing of such high-ranking RUC officers as Breen and Buchanan would have come from the highest echelons of the IRA's Northern Command
IRA Northern Command
Northern Command was a command division in the Irish Republican Army and Provisional IRA, responsible for directing IRA operations in the northern part of Ireland.-IRA:...
.
A former RUC assistant chief constable told the Tribunal that Breen and Buchanan had been warned against going to Dundalk at a meeting on 16 March 1989, but that they had disobeyed orders. Breen's widow, however, denied that her late husband had attended the meeting as he had spent that day with her. Indeed Breen's diary recorded that on 16 March he was on leave. The security conference with Gardai in Dundalk had actually been set up after a dinner at Stormont House
Stormont House
Stormont House is the headquarters of the Northern Ireland Office, it is situated in the Stormont Estate in Belfast in Northern Ireland....
on 6 March, which had been attended by both Breen and Buchanan. It was there that Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, informally the Northern Ireland Secretary, is the principal secretary of state in the government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State is a Minister of the Crown who is accountable to the Parliament of...
Tom King
Tom King, Baron King of Bridgwater
Thomas Jeremy King, Baron King of Bridgwater, CH, PC , is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet from 1983–92, and was the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Bridgwater in Somerset from 1970-2001...
had suggested the meeting after receiving reports from an Army colonel about the cross-border smuggling activities of a well-known IRA man whose property straddled the Armagh/Louth border. According to Sgt Alan Mains, Breen was "specifically directed to speak with the Guards [Gardai] and the Army, and to come up with some kind of reply for the Chief Constable and the Secretary of State". Breen allegedly had much information about the smuggler. A former RUC Special Branch chief, however stated to the Tribunal that both Breen and Buchanan had been opposed to carrying out the operation against the smuggler as there was not enough substantial information on which to base it. When it was suggested to Tom King that the proposed operation was "ill-advised and dangerous", he reportedly struck the table and insisted that it was to go ahead.
Down Orange Welfare
Former Special Patrol Group (SPG) officer and convicted murderer John WeirJohn Weir (loyalist)
John Oliver Weir , is an Ulster loyalist born in the Republic of Ireland. He served as an officer in Northern Ireland's Royal Ulster Constabulary's Special Patrol Group , and was a volunteer in the illegal Ulster Volunteer Force...
stated in his affidavit that he was given weapons for the Ulster Volunteer Force
Ulster Volunteer Force
The Ulster Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in late 1965 or early 1966 and named after the Ulster Volunteer Force of 1913. The group's volunteers undertook an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles...
's Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade formed part of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force in Northern Ireland. The brigade was established in Lurgan, County Armagh in 1972 by its first commander Billy Hanna. The unit operated mainly around the Lurgan and Portadown areas. Subsequent leaders of the...
by a group of County Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
loyalists called Down Orange Welfare
Down Orange Welfare
Down Orange Welfare was an loyalist paramilitary vigilante group active in Northern Ireland during the 1970s. Active in rural areas of County Down, the group faded after failing to win support away from larger paramilitary groups such as the Ulster Defence Association.The group was established in...
(DOW). The group was made up of former and serving members of the security forces. Weir alleged that Breen belonged to this organisation. Weir's affidavit was published in 2003 in the Barron Report, which was the findings of an official investigation commissioned by Irish Supreme Court Justice Henry Barron
Henry Barron
Henry Barron was an Irish judge. He sat on the Irish Supreme Court from 1997 until his retirement in 2000. He was the first Jew to hold this position....
into the UVF’s 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings
Dublin and Monaghan Bombings
The Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974 were a series of car bombings in Dublin and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. The attacks killed 33 civilians and wounded almost 300 – the highest number of casualties in any single day during the conflict known as The Troubles.A loyalist...
. At the time Weir allegedly met Breen at a DOW meeting, Breen was a chief inspector in Newry. The UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade was commanded by Robin "the Jackal" Jackson
Robin Jackson
Robert John "Robin" Jackson, known as the Jackal was a Northern Irish loyalist who held the rank of brigadier in the Ulster Volunteer Force during the period of violent religious and political conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles.From his home in the small village of Donaghcloney,...
from 1975 to the early 1990s. Over 50 killings have been attributed to Jackson, according to David McKittrick
David McKittrick
David McKittrick is a Belfast-born journalist who has reported on Northern Ireland since 1971.-Professional career:McKittrick began his career as a reporter for the East Antrim Times. He joined the Irish Times in 1973 as a reporter in Belfast, becoming Northern editor in 1976 and London editor in...
in Lost Lives, and he was an alleged RUC Special Branch agent. Weir also claimed that Breen was fully aware of collusion between certain RUC officers and loyalist paramilitaries such as Jackson. Furthermore, he claimed to have witnessed a conversation between Breen and another inspector in which they were discussing with approval the association of two named RUC officers with Robin Jackson. When Weir later told Breen of his own involvement in the sectarian killing of Catholic chemist William Strathearn (for which he was convicted), Breen had advised him to "forget about it". Weir's allegations are strongly denied by Breen's former RUC colleagues.
Doubts regarding Garda collusion
Investigative journalist Paul Larkin, in his book A Very British Jihad: collusion, conspiracy and cover-up in Northern Ireland, claimed that Breen was a leading officer in the SPG. He dismissed claims of collusion between the Gardai and IRA, pointing out that, because South Armagh (known as "Bandit Country") was controlled by the IRA and was a "no-go area" for the security forces, the IRA would not have needed Gardai help to carry out the ambush. Judge Peter Cory stated in his report that the Provisional IRA had developed sophisticated intelligence-gathering techniques which enabled them to monitor the telephone calls and radio transmissions of the police and Army. Less than two years before the Jonesborough ambush, the IRA detonated a remote-controlled car bomb which killed Lord Justice of AppealLord Justice of Appeal
A Lord Justice of Appeal is an ordinary judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, and represents the second highest level of judge in the courts of England and Wales-Appointment:...
Sir Maurice Gibson
Maurice Gibson
Sir Maurice Gibson PC was a Lord Justice of Appeal in Northern Ireland, he was killed, along with his wife Cecily, Lady Gibson, during an attack by the Provisional Irish Republican Army ....
and his wife, Cecily, Lady Gibson as they were returning home from a holiday. The couple was blown up shortly after their car crossed the Northern Ireland border on the main Dublin-Belfast road. They had just left their Garda escort and were approaching the rendezvous point with their RUC escort when the explosion occurred. Collusion was also suspected in the killings but the investigation into the bombing by Judge Cory revealed that the IRA had most likely carried out the attack without any assistance from outside agencies.
Ian Lisles, a retired British Army brigadier who served 14 years in Northern Ireland—much of the time in south Armagh—suggested to the Tribunal that the IRA could not have mounted the operation in less than three hours; it most likely had required between five to eight hours of advance preparation. He maintained that the IRA were too professional an organisation to have attempted an ad hoc ambush on such short notice as would have been the case had the attack been carried out upon being alerted by a Garda mole as to the presence of the two senior RUC officers inside the Dundalk station.