Greysteel massacre
Encyclopedia
The Greysteel massacre took place on the evening of 30 October 1993 in Greysteel
, County Londonderry
, Northern Ireland
. Three members of the Ulster Defence Association
(UDA), a loyalist
paramilitary group, attacked a crowded pub
with firearms, killing eight civilians and wounding thirteen. The group claimed responsibility using the covername "Ulster Freedom Fighters" and said that the pub was targeted because it was in an Irish nationalist
and Catholic area.
(IRA) bomb prematurely exploded in a fish shop on Shankill Road, west Belfast
. Eight Protestant civilians, a UDA member and an IRA member were killed. The IRA's intended target was a meeting of UDA leaders including brigadier Johnny Adair
, which was to take place above the shop. Unbeknownst to the IRA, the meeting had been rescheduled. Shortly after two IRA members, Thomas Begley
and Sean Kelly, entered the shop dressed as deliverymen and carrying the time bomb under a tray, it exploded accidentally, killing Begley instantly, along with the nine others inside the shop at the time. This became known as the Shankill Road bombing
.
The UDA launched a number of "revenge attacks" for the bombing. Later that day, it shot a Catholic delivery driver after luring him to a bogus call at Vernon Court, Belfast. He died on 25 October. On 26 October, the UDA shot dead another two Catholic civilians and wounded five in an attack on the Council Depot at Kennedy Way, Belfast.
s, entered the "Rising Sun Bar" in Greysteel, County Londonderry. There were about 70 people inside attending a Halloween
party, and so the masked men were not noticed until they produced an AK-47
and a 9mm.semi-automatic pistol, and started shooting into the packed crowd inside the lounge area. The leading gunman, Stephen Irwin (who was carrying the AK-47) yelled "trick or treat
" as he opened fire. The scene was chaotic as people inside the lounge began to scream in panic, with women pleading for mercy from the gunmen. Six of those killed were Catholic civilians and two were Protestant civilians. None had any known political role or affiliation within the Troubles
. The killers, laughing, then made their escape in their getaway car—an Opel Kadett which was driven by Torrens Knight
. Afterwards they were said to have boasted about the killings.
The following day, the UDA claimed responsibility for the attack using the covername "Ulster Freedom Fighters" (UFF). Its statement said that the "Greysteel raid" was "the continuation of our threats against the nationalist
electorate that they would pay a heavy price for last Saturday's slaughter of nine Protestants". A West Belfast UDA
member said that his organisation "had information that senior IRA men drank in the Rising Sun ... Unfortunately they were not there on Halloween but our boys acted on the briefing they had been given".
The pub is still open in Greysteel. There is a memorial to the victims outside the building that says: May their sacrifice be our path to peace.
, five men were arrested for the attack. The gunmen had been Stephen Geoffrey Irwin and Jeffery Deeney, with Torrens Knight having stood by the pub's door armed with a shotgun. All three were members of the UDA's North Antrim & Londonderry Brigade. In 1995 they were convicted along with two others for involvement in the attack. The men were later released under the terms of the Belfast Agreement
.
Torrens Knight received eight life sentences for the Greysteel massacre, together with four more for the Castlerock killings. He served seven years in prison before paramilitary prisoners were granted a general release under the Belfast Agreement
. There remain rumours that he was a paid Royal Ulster Constabulary
(RUC) informer.
Stephen Irwin had his release licence suspended after he was accused of slashing a football supporter with a knife. In 2005, he received a four year prison sentence for that attack. This meant that he also now has to serve the eight life sentences he received for the Greysteel massacre. In 2006 he abandoned an appeal against the sentences.
In 2007, the Ulster Political Research Group
responded to what they called a "two-year hate campaign" in the media against Torrens Knight, who drove the gunmen to the Rising Sun, and declared that he had not and never had been in the pay of MI5
or any other branch of the security services.
In October 2007, a Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland investigation concluded that police did not have any prior knowledge that could have helped them prevent the Greysteel attack. The investigators did not find any evidence that Torrens Knight was protected from the law.
Greysteel
Greysteel or Gresteel is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies to the east of Derry and to the west of Limavady on the main A2 coast road between Limavady and Derry, overlooking Lough Foyle...
, County Londonderry
County Londonderry
The place name Derry is an anglicisation of the old Irish Daire meaning oak-grove or oak-wood. As with the city, its name is subject to the Derry/Londonderry name dispute, with the form Derry preferred by nationalists and Londonderry preferred by unionists...
, 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...
. Three members of the Ulster Defence Association
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association is the largest although not the deadliest loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles"...
(UDA), a 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...
paramilitary group, attacked a crowded pub
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
with firearms, killing eight civilians and wounding thirteen. The group claimed responsibility using the covername "Ulster Freedom Fighters" and said that the pub was targeted because it was in an Irish nationalist
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
and Catholic area.
Background
On 23 October 1993, a Provisional Irish Republican ArmyProvisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
(IRA) bomb prematurely exploded in a fish shop on Shankill Road, west Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
. Eight Protestant civilians, a UDA member and an IRA member were killed. The IRA's intended target was a meeting of UDA leaders including brigadier Johnny Adair
Johnny Adair
Jonathan Adair, better known as Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair is the former leader of the "C Company", 2nd Battalion Shankill Road, West Belfast Brigade of the "Ulster Freedom Fighters" . This was a cover name used by the Ulster Defence Association , an Ulster loyalist paramilitary organisation...
, which was to take place above the shop. Unbeknownst to the IRA, the meeting had been rescheduled. Shortly after two IRA members, Thomas Begley
Thomas Begley
Thomas Begley , was a volunteer in the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army...
and Sean Kelly, entered the shop dressed as deliverymen and carrying the time bomb under a tray, it exploded accidentally, killing Begley instantly, along with the nine others inside the shop at the time. This became known as the Shankill Road bombing
Shankill Road bombing
The Shankill Road bombing was carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army on 23 October 1993 and is one of the most notorious incidents of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The Provisional IRA's intended target was a meeting of loyalist paramilitary leaders, which was to take place above...
.
The UDA launched a number of "revenge attacks" for the bombing. Later that day, it shot a Catholic delivery driver after luring him to a bogus call at Vernon Court, Belfast. He died on 25 October. On 26 October, the UDA shot dead another two Catholic civilians and wounded five in an attack on the Council Depot at Kennedy Way, Belfast.
The massacre
On the evening of 30 October, three UDA members, two of whom were wearing blue boiler suits and balaclavaBalaclava
A balaclava , also known as a balaclava helmet or ski mask, is a form of cloth headgear that covers the whole head, exposing only part of the face. Often only the eyes or eyes and mouth are left exposed...
s, entered the "Rising Sun Bar" in Greysteel, County Londonderry. There were about 70 people inside attending a Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
party, and so the masked men were not noticed until they produced an AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
and a 9mm.semi-automatic pistol, and started shooting into the packed crowd inside the lounge area. The leading gunman, Stephen Irwin (who was carrying the AK-47) yelled "trick or treat
Trick or Treat
Trick or Treat is a 1952 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The cartoon, which takes place on Halloween night, follows a series of pranks between Donald Duck and his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie who are aided by Witch Hazel...
" as he opened fire. The scene was chaotic as people inside the lounge began to scream in panic, with women pleading for mercy from the gunmen. Six of those killed were Catholic civilians and two were Protestant civilians. None had any known political role or affiliation within 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...
. The killers, laughing, then made their escape in their getaway car—an Opel Kadett which was driven by Torrens Knight
Torrens Knight
Torrens Knight is a Northern Ireland loyalist and alleged police informer, who belonged to the "North Antrim & Londonderry Brigade" of the Ulster Defence Association . He was part of the UDA unit that carried out the Greysteel massacre where eight people lost their lives...
. Afterwards they were said to have boasted about the killings.
The following day, the UDA claimed responsibility for the attack using the covername "Ulster Freedom Fighters" (UFF). Its statement said that the "Greysteel raid" was "the continuation of our threats against the nationalist
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
electorate that they would pay a heavy price for last Saturday's slaughter of nine Protestants". A West Belfast UDA
UDA West Belfast Brigade
The UDA West Belfast Brigade is the section of the Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Defence Association based in the western quarter of Belfast in the Greater Shankill area...
member said that his organisation "had information that senior IRA men drank in the Rising Sun ... Unfortunately they were not there on Halloween but our boys acted on the briefing they had been given".
The pub is still open in Greysteel. There is a memorial to the victims outside the building that says: May their sacrifice be our path to peace.
Convictions
Shortly after the massacreMassacre
A massacre is an event with a heavy death toll.Massacre may also refer to:-Entertainment:*Massacre , a DC Comics villain*Massacre , a 1932 drama film starring Richard Barthelmess*Massacre, a 1956 Western starring Dane Clark...
, five men were arrested for the attack. The gunmen had been Stephen Geoffrey Irwin and Jeffery Deeney, with Torrens Knight having stood by the pub's door armed with a shotgun. All three were members of the UDA's North Antrim & Londonderry Brigade. In 1995 they were convicted along with two others for involvement in the attack. The men were later released under the terms of the Belfast Agreement
Belfast Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement , sometimes called the Stormont Agreement, was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process...
.
Torrens Knight received eight life sentences for the Greysteel massacre, together with four more for the Castlerock killings. He served seven years in prison before paramilitary prisoners were granted a general release under the Belfast Agreement
Belfast Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement , sometimes called the Stormont Agreement, was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process...
. There remain rumours that he was a paid 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) informer.
Stephen Irwin had his release licence suspended after he was accused of slashing a football supporter with a knife. In 2005, he received a four year prison sentence for that attack. This meant that he also now has to serve the eight life sentences he received for the Greysteel massacre. In 2006 he abandoned an appeal against the sentences.
In 2007, the Ulster Political Research Group
Ulster Political Research Group
The Ulster Political Research Group is an advisory body connected to the Ulster Defence Association , providing advice to them on political matters...
responded to what they called a "two-year hate campaign" in the media against Torrens Knight, who drove the gunmen to the Rising Sun, and declared that he had not and never had been in the pay of MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
or any other branch of the security services.
In October 2007, a Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland investigation concluded that police did not have any prior knowledge that could have helped them prevent the Greysteel attack. The investigators did not find any evidence that Torrens Knight was protected from the law.
See also
- Timeline of Ulster Defence Association actionsTimeline of Ulster Defence Association actionsThis is a timeline of actions by the Ulster Defence Association , a loyalist paramilitary group formed in 1971. Most of these actions took place during the conflict known as "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland....
- Castlerock killings, a UDA mass-shooting in March 1993
- Loughinisland massacre, a UVF mass-shooting in June 1994
- Marie JonesMarie JonesSarah Marie Jones is a Belfast-based actress and playwright. Born into a working class family, Jones was an actress for several years before turning her hand to writing.-Charabanc/DubbelJoint:...
' play, A Night in NovemberA Night in NovemberA Night in November is a 1994 monodrama written by Marie Jones about one man's struggle with national identity during The Troubles in Northern Ireland.-Plot summary:...
, recalls the massacre and its effect on one Protestant football fan living in Belfast. - List of massacres in the United Kingdom