Moving ceremony in Bellaghy marks 50th anniversary of Colm McCartney

A ceremony has taken place in Bellaghy to commemorate the murdered Bellaghy man Colm McCartney.

On Colm’s 50th anniversary family gathered to remember their lost loved one. 

Colm (22) and his friend Sean Farmer (32) were shot and killed by loyalists in South Armagh on their way home from a Gaelic match.

A previous commemoration took place in South Armagh at the spot the pair were murdered.  A large group of family and friends from both families gathered at Altnamackin.

The young men became great friends through working in Newry.

They had and shared a love of football and had made the trip to see Derry take on Dublin in the All-Ireland semi final. 

Returning from the trip Colm intended on dropping Sean off at his home in The Moy, Co. Tyrone before heading back to Newry where he lived. 

Along the way the young men encountered a fake UDR checkpoint at Altnamackin. Instead they came the notorious loyalists the Glenanne Gang. 

The gang comprised members of the UDR, RUC and UVF, and is believed to have carried out more than 120 murders in the 1970s.

Sean was shot six times and died at the scene of the ambush. 

Both men were shot dead at the scene of the ambush. The gang fled the area in Colm’s car before burning it out.

It emerged at a later date that an RUC patrol was stopped at the fake UDR checkpoint. Despite concerns, the police or British army never investigated. 

A short time later Colm and Sean drove into the same area and were sadly murdered. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Pat Finucane Centre (@patfinucanecentre)

During the ceremony the family read out a poem ‘The Strand at Lough Beg’ written by Colm’s cousin Seamus Heaney, who is buried in the same cemetery. 

Representatives of Relatives for Justice and the Pat Finucane Centre spoke at the anniversary.  

CEO of Relatives for Justice Mark Thompson spoke at the event saying:

"Speaking Colm’s name, so that he’s remembered, is of such significant importance – important in terms of keeping his memory alive within his family - his ways, attributes, habits, and the indelible legacy he left with those closest to him; those who loved him and who still mourn him. Their oral history of Colm is alive when they speak his name and share their memories; and we are thankful to Jamesie and Betty. Such events- hopefully - provide solace to Colm’s family and reassurance that they are not on their own – that they are thought of, cared about, and respected - and that numerous people support them in their struggle for justice. And we all hope that these small gestures help ease the heavy burden that still weighs on them 50 years on, which I am sure never lessens. We recognise and acknowledge your loss and the terrible injustice suffered through three generations; but we also recognise and acknowledge your strength, determination and dignity in your long and ongoing battle for accountable justice." 

Mr Thompson continued saying: "It is also important and right that Colm’s memory survives, and that he is mentioned, and remembered, within his community and beyond - passing onto newer generations both the life he lived and the appalling circumstances of his and Sean’s callous, cruel, calculated and sectarian murder in the quagmire that was state collusion. To do otherwise would be to forget, which was never an option for the McCartney, Farmer, and countless other families. We take inspiration from their dedicated fight for truth and accountable justice. In that regard your bravery in facing the cowardice that took Colm from you is all the more remarkable. This evening we all bear witness to what happened to Colm and Sean. By being here we assist in collectively recovering the truth and demonstrate historical clarification of the facts laid bare in the face of lies – official state lies; our opposition protested with fitting dignity in line with that of Colm’s and Sean’s families.

"Of course, we also remember Colm’s parents, Rea and John, now deceased. They carried the awful burden of what happened – and of the journey they faced for daring to call out the authorities for their direct role in Colm’s murder – for daring to challenge the failure to investigate and holding to account those responsible. They faced an entire system – a state with all its resources intent on covering up the truth – a state with blood on its hands. However, armed only with right and truth and a determination of never giving up we now know the awful ugliness that lay behind Colm and Sean’s murders and many, many more. An ugliness that stains the ground where so many were felled by the sectarian hatred that sought to maintain this failed statelet through murder and intimidation. Challenging state lies, truth seeking, has hopefully brought some healing and recovery but there is still a distance to go in righting this terrible wrong. We are all with you in the time ahead.
 

"Liam Murphy encountering the killers…Memories of Sean and his indomitable spirit (Oct 2019) his love for his brother was something to witness and it was inspiring – our visit to Church Island where we journeyed – where he told me about their relationship to the poet Seamus Heaney and the poem he penned ….his beautiful spirit in terms of never giving up and his equally beautiful scepticism in always being vigilant and rightly not trusting the very system that were culpable – the British – the Art 2 case to the ECtHR – a declaration that there was never an independent investigation.

"His attention to detail not only in terms of Colm’s murder but many others also… (Sue his wife and clann). Like Damien Brown dying so tragically after Sean McCartney two grieving relatives battling for justice for their loved ones – two of their relatives murdered by the same hand – same policy – decades apart. Two poems penned. Two of Bellaghy’s finest. In the book Lost Gales Brian Farmer explains – “Over the years I’ve been to a great number of All-Ireland Football finals, and when the Artane Boys Band parade around the pitch and “Amhrán na bhFiann” plays, I can’t help but think back to Sean and Colm. I imagine them in Croke Park that day, just soaking up the whole build-up to the game, and that’s when the tears form and a tingle goes right down my spine. I take that moment before the game throws in to say a prayer for Sean and Colm.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Pat Finucane Centre (@patfinucanecentre)