Léitheoir: ‘The Killing of the Reavey Brothers: British Murder and Cover-Up in Northern Ireland by Eugene Reavey reviewed

‘The Killing of the Reavey Brothers: British Murder and Cover-Up in Northern Ireland by Eugene Reavey is an excellent and well written publication which sheds a clear light upon certain shocking and controversial events which took place during the conflict in the north of Ireland fifty years ago, and which still resonate today.

It tells how the author’s three young brothers were massacred in January 1976 by the UVF in their home in Whitecross, South Armagh.

In doing so the book uncovers a culture of silence and lies, duplicity, collusion and murder which characterised the British government’s role in what is euphemistically referred to as The Troubles.

This diligently researched work is based on meticulous evidence-gathering, and its careful recounting of cruelty and terror committed against innocent civilians will surprise and shock even those people who would consider themselves well informed about troubles-related events in the north.

What the book describes in accurate detail are actions which we now describe as war crimes, with the British security forces and government complicit in perpetrating, colluding in, denying and finally covering up systematic murders. The devastating consequences of these crimes on ordinary, decent people are compellingly portrayed, as are the courage and dignity of the Reavey family in confronting injustice and lies.

Anyone who is familiar with and appalled by the genocide in Palestine and the role of the British government in complicity, dishonesty and cover- up will recognise and will not be surprised by this pattern. To quote W B Yeats: They are at their old tricks yet.

Before presenting the life-changing and life-consuming events and their consequences which form the focus of the book, the book sets the context with reminiscences of childhood in a small rural community as part of a large, loving and hard-working family. Participation in the GAA and in striving for a better life through education were very important to this community, and there was not a great deal of familiarity with the violence which was starting to escalate in Derry and Belfast, despite a growing awareness of discrimination and injustice.

Neighbourliness and rural decency are convincingly conveyed before everyday tranquillity is replaced by fear caused by a sustained murder campaign carried out by what Reavey describes as the loyalist killing machine.

Such unaccustomed violence makes the actions of paramilitary assassins and collaborators in the security forces even more repugnant and reprehensible. This situation, and acts of retaliation by republicans against the security forces, go a long way to explaining the reality beneath the common perception of South Armagh as ‘bandit country’. The book gives equal and sympathetic coverage, and condemnation, of the deaths of Protestant members of the community whether they were members of the security forces or civilians.

The shocking murders of the Reavey brothers, and of three members of the O’Dowd family almost simultaneously on 4 January 1976, were claimed by the UVF as part of a co-ordinated campaign of terrorist attacks, and were followed the next day by the horrific slaughter of ten Protestant men returning from work in Kingsmills, Co. Armagh, an atrocity attributed to, although never claimed by, the IRA.

These events brought the north to the brink of civil war as the prospect of bloody retaliation terrified the whole community. Within a few months the Dublin/Monaghan bombings claimed the lives of thirty-three civilians in the most horrific crime of the conflict in terms of lives lost.

Reavey not only gives a vivid account of the atmosphere of terror and suspicion in the South Armagh community but he also presents compelling evidence that the perpetrators of the Reavey and O’Dowd killings, and the bombings in the Irish Republic, consisted of local UVF members, aided and protected by named members of the UDR and RUC, and with the complicity of British army personnel.

The involvement of Captain Robert Nairac in these acts of terror is persuasively asserted with strong documentary evidence. The role of the ‘Glenanne gang’ in these sectarian outrages, and their involvement in the Miami Showband massacre, with Nairac’s participation again, is explored, and, controversially, evidence is presented to link Nairac to the Kingsmills slaughter as well.

The concluding chapters demonstrate how negligent and inadequate the police investigation into the murder of his brothers was, with evidence going missing, witnesses not being interviewed and suspects not being investigated.

Thanks to the determination and persistence of Eugene Reavey, a Historical Enquiries Team (HET) exonerated him after Ian Paisley made irresponsible and untruthful allegations in Parliament about his (Reavey’s) being involved in the Kingsmills killings. The British government disbanded the HET before its final report could be published.

The book illustrates how every initiative promised by successive British governments to deliver justice to the families in the north of Ireland who suffered loss in controversial killings raised hopes which were cynically dashed at the last minute.
One of the most astonishing, and significant, discoveries made during Reavey’s investigations is that the British government has put an eighty-four-year embargo on the release of files relating to the Reavey murders. Clearly, there is something very discreditable to be suppressed.

Eugene Reavey displays the same determination as the Bloody Sunday families to resist the cynical ‘long game’ played by British governments to suppress the truth about their crimes.

The most significant conclusion presented by the book is to be found in Eugene Reavey’s statement: ‘Although the Troubles in Northern Ireland are over, the battle for truth and justice, for so many families, goes on.’

This book is an essential addition to the growing list of titles which add to our knowledge of the past and indeed the present state of affairs in this part of Ireland.