Archive discovery implicates British General Frank Kitson in McGurk’s Bar Bombing cover-up: families demand immediate arrest and questioning.
The McGurk’s Bar families have demanded that an independent police force immediately question British General Sir Frank Kitson under caution following the discovery of a secret British Army Log, which they believe proves that Kitson colluded with the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and disseminated lies about the McGurk’s Bar victims around 4 hours after the attack.
Author and activist Ciarán MacAirt, a grandson of two of the McGurk’s Bar victims, discovered an entry in a high-level British Military 39 Brigade Operations Log recorded at 1am on 5th December 1971 (Serial 12) which stated:
“RUC have a line that the bomb in the pub was a bomb designed to be used elsewhere, left in the pub to be picked up by Provisional IRA. Bomb went off and was a mistake. RUC press office have a line on it – NI should deal with them”.
Archive proves General Sir Frank Kitson, Brigade Commander (Bde Comd) of Belfast in December 1971, colluded with RUC to disseminate the heinous disinformation about the McGurk’s Bar victims just hours after the attack. This fabricated lie became the pretext of the bombing in the RUC and British Military cover-up when reported to British Government Ministers and the media.
The archive, discovered by MacAirt at the British National Archives in Kew, London, records that the order originated from “Bde Comd” which is the British military abbreviation for “Brigade Commander”. The Brigade Commander of 39 Infantry Brigade at the time was General Sir Frank Kitson, or Brigadier Kitson as he was then.
General Sir Frank Kitson
General Sir Frank Kitson (retired) rose to become Commander-in-Chief United Kingdom Land Forces (1982 – 1985) and Aide-De-Camp General to the British Queen (1983 – 1985).
Kitson is a renowned military author and counter-insurgency expert who oversaw Britain’s deployment, during the conflict in the North of Ireland, of in-depth interrogation techniques (including torture), psychological operations, pseudo-gangs and covert Special Force units like the Military Reaction Force (MRF) which murdered civilians with impunity.
Kitson also overhauled and re-developed the British Army’s information units which managed British information policy, propaganda and disinformation across the North of Ireland.
“This is absolutely critical evidence relating to the genesis of the McGurk’s Bar lie which blamed our loved ones for the massacre and allowed mass-murderers to roam free and murder again. The secret British Army record appears to confirm that General Sir Frank Kitson himself, the architect of gangs and counter-gangs on our streets, colluded with the RUC and disseminated this lie throughout British Army Brigade and Headquarters. This heinous lie was then fed to British Government Ministers and was published in the media, becoming the pretext for the bombing in the RUC cover-up.”
“This archival evidence confirms our long-held suspicion that Kitson colluded with the RUC to cover-up the McGurk’s Bar massacre. We demand that General Sir Frank Kitson is arrested for questioning immediately by an independent police force as the PSNI has deliberately failed to investigate this high-level British Army and RUC conspiracy. The PSNI has proved yet again that it is more interested in covering up for a sectarian police force in the past rather than investigating the McGurk’s Bar Massacre fairly and upholding the basic human rights of citizens murdered, injured and bereaved in the attack.”
Niall Ó’Murchú of Kinnear & Co. Solicitors stated:
“We engaged the PSNI five weeks ago in order to ensure that independent investigators questioned Kitson under caution immediately but, so far, PSNI has failed completely to respond to any of our many requests to deal with this serious matter. Collusion in the aftermath of the McGurk’s Bar massacre has long been established by Ciarán MacAirt’s discovery of many secret British State archives; but this is the very first document which shows that Kitson was personally involved in the atrocity.”
“This new evidence has clearly passed the threshold required to justify Kitson’s immediate questioning under caution. Nevertheless, the PSNI should not be involved with this investigation for two reasons: firstly, as a matter of law, the PSNI is not independent when it comes to investigating legacy cases, following the recent Court of Appeal judgment in the McQuillan case; secondly, the PSNI’s treatment of these families in particular during the last 13 years has been utterly disgraceful and has done little except re-traumatise them and perpetuate the McGurk’s Bar cover-up.”
“We have initiated this legal process because the Chief Constable has thus far failed to refer this matter to independent investigators, or even respond to us in any way.”
A- Six month deportation
reprieve for Malachy McAllister-Less than 48 hours before his scheduled deportation,
Senators and Congressmen supporting Malachy McAllister were told that Acting Secretary of Homeland
Security Kevin McAleenan would grant a six month stay. Belfast born Hibernian
and key member of the AOH National FFAI Committee, Malachy McAllister was
scheduled to be deported on April 30th, after 23 years, in America. He was
ordered deported because he had been jailed as a Republican political prisoner
for his alleged role in an attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary. The
reprieve, achieved after intense campaigning led by National President Jim
McKay and Treasurer Sean Pender, will end in six months without legalization
before the deadline. Malachy McAllister had fled to America after a British
agent led loyalist attack on his home. He became, as Senator Chuck Schumer
described, “a valued member of the Irish American community who has done
nothing but productive things since seeking asylum following an assassination
attempt on him and his family.”
Because
he arrived in America after the original list of Irish political deportee
cases, he was omitted from the cases settled by Clinton’s Attorney General
Janet Reno in 1997.Ironically the immigration judge who denied McAllister’s
claim for asylum in 2000,was current President Trump’s sister Maryanne Trump
Barry. She implored the Attorney General to use his discretion to allow the
McAllister family to stay in America. McAllister has had his deportation stayed
multiple times in response to Senate and
Congressional
bills. Senator Lindsay Graham as head of the Judiciary Committee made a request for Malachy to be granted a six
month stay but DHS refused. This refusal was followed by Congressional and
Senate campaigning for Malachy, helped by the Irish government and Cardinal
Dolan. Senators Schumer and Menendez, along
with Congressmen Engel, Pascrell, King, Smith and Neal were in the
forefront of a bipartisan effort. McAllister had to submit an airplane ticket to
Ireland to DHS on April 15th and was making final preparations for his family
when Senators and Congressmen were notified that McAleenan would give the six
month stay. This is a temporary reprieve not a permanent solution. AOH
Immigration and FFAI are working with other Irish American groups get a permanent
legal status for Malachy. A possibility, suggested by AOH Immigration Chair Dan
Dennehy would be a “TRIG Exemption,” exempting the actions for which
Malachy was imprisoned from barring him from staying in America. His acts were
part of a conflict that ended more than 21 years ago. Terrorism Related
Inadmissibility Grounds (TRIG) can be exempted for the Irish conflict by the
Secretaries of State and Homeland Security in consultation with the Attorney
General.
B–New Stormont Talks follow tragic Derry death-British Prime Minister
Theresa May and Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadker made a joint statement setting up
new talks to restart the Stormont Assembly, dormant since January 9,2017. The
announcement came after both heads of government attended the funeral of respected
young journalist Lyra McKee, along with many Irish party leaders. Ms. McKee had
been tragically killed in Derry by members of the New IRA ,who had fired at the
PSNI constabulary during rioting. Her death inspired an outpouring of grief and
anger and an emotional appeal at her funeral by Fr. Martin Magill. Stormont
collapsed after the late Martin McGuinness resigned over the refusal of First
Minister Arlene Foster to stand aside during an inquiry into the Renewable Heat
Initiative scandal. Last year an apparent DUP-Sinn Fein agreement collapsed on
Valentine’s Day 2018,when the DUP reneged on a compromise proposal allowing an
Irish language Act along lines of similar measures in Scotland and Wales. Irish
Foreign Minister Simon Coveney held a follow-up press conference with British
Secretary Karen Bradley. Some of the difficulties with talks immediately
surfaced. DUP MP Ian Paisley Jr. demanded that Dublin should
“butt-out” if they want to see talks succeed while members of the
Ulster Unionist Party complained that “Dublin seem to be getting more
information than we are.”
C-May gets Halloween
extension to avoid “no deal” Brexit- The European Union granted Britain’s
plea for more time before its exit from
the European Union. Brexit, set for March 29th was given a new deadline of
October 31st. The postponement allows Britain six additional months to avoid a
“no deal” Brexit, without any trade or customs agreements. May was
forced to ask the EU for a more time after Westminster voted down her 599 page
Withdrawal Agreement with the EU. The EU is not expected to redo this
agreement, reached only after lengthy negotiations. She requested a longer
postponement but the EU granted 6 months. May is now in talks with the opposition Labour
Party to get votes for her Withdrawal Agreement. “Brexiting” after May
22nd will require Britain to elect
candidates to the European Parliament. Britain could also cancel Brexit by
revoking their Article 50 withdrawal notice. May faces continued calls to step
down. Brexit threatens economic disaster for Ireland. The Withdrawal Agreement,
included a “backstop” to avoid a disastrous hard border across Ireland.
Brexiteers within Prime Minister Theresa May’s Tory Party, joined with the DUP,
to oppose the “backstop” or safety net that would have only begun if
a full trade agreement was not reached by the end of 2020.
D-Threat to bring Britain to
a standstill over trooper charges- With as many as 200 former British Army troopers and
Royal Ulster Constabulary members now under investigation for Troubles’
murders, former troopers are now threatening to bring Britain and the north to
a standstill unless Westminster gives them an amnesty. The threats were made at
a rally outside Belfast City Hall, called in support of the single British
paratrooper charged for the Bloody Sunday murders. The rally was attended two
DUP MPs Jeffrey Donaldson and Gavin Robinson. Donaldson called investigations
of British troopers a “witch hunt”. Meanwhile Tory back-benchers are
now preparing a bill for an amnesty in the form of a statute of limitations to
include Troubles killings in the north along with killings in Iraq and
Afghanistan. At the same time the mother of a Derry child shot dead by the RUC
with a plastic bullet in 1981, has been told that the file on her 15 year old
son will be sealed until 2059. Helen Whitters appealed to British Secretary
Bradley to open her son Paul Whitters’ file now saying that “I will not be
alive and no one who actually knew Paul will be alive” in 2059. Also the
Ballymurphy Massacre Inquest heard testimony from a trooper who had married a
woman from Ballymurphy and was in the area on leave. He said British troopers
made up “ghost gunmen” to justify opening fire. He had been
threatened by a British Army Captain, called a traitor and assaulted at his
home by members of the Parachute Regiment to silence him. The inquest
continues.
MARK
THOMPSON-MARK McGOVERN BOOK LAUNCH TOUR
Mark Thompson and Professor Mark McGovern are launching a new book
COLLUSION- COUNTERINSURGENCY in NORTHERN IRELAND in May and are
planning to do an American launch from June 1st to June 10th.
This groundbreaking book will put the lie to the claim that
Britain forces were responsible for only about only 10% of the north’s
killings and expose how they armed, directed, paid and protected their loyalist
agents to carry out hundreds of killings
then denied any blame.
They have asked AOH help to plan and organize this tour.
I have a personal interest in the book because my close friend
Liam Ryan, who lived near me in the Bronx and was murdered at the Battery
Bar in Ardboe, (a site visited during the FFAI tour) is one of the cases of
collusion included in the book.
I am asking for your ideas
and help to set up the most effective schedule for them including book
launch venues-political support-colleges-embassy receptions etc along with
events where we can bring in people and help defer expenses.
FFAI TOUR-CHRISTMAS APPEAL RECIPIENTS
The following groups received donations from your contributions
to the Christmas Appeal. These groups and amounts were based on written
applications and recommendations from the National FFAI Committee with final
determination by our National officers.
Every designated donation to approved groups was honored
and groups named for designated donations got additional monies because we
wanted contributions to reflect your feelings.
1-Relatives for
Justice-supports the relatives of those killed or injured in the
conflict-fights for legacy justice-provides counseling and support services
with offices in Belfast and Dungannon-involved with campaigns like Ballymurphy
inquest-, headed by Mark Thompson, and Carmel Quinn is one of the trustees.
2-Pat Finucane Centre-Human
Rights Advocacy group-based in Derry named after slain civil rights lawyer Pat
Finucane- headed by Paul O’Connor, and connected to campaigns like Bloody
Sunday.
3-Holy Cross Ardoyne-headed
by Fr. Gary Donegan, is actually the Houben Centre dedicated to peace with
justice in the sectarian flashpoint of Ardoyne.
4- EALU-(means Escape in
Irish)is a center for Republican ex-political prisoners located in Dungannon,
East Tyrone, we visited their offices and they provide an array of services
including job training ,counseling for ex-prisoners and families, legacy
issues, education classes in Irish culture, language and history.
5-Greater New Lodge
Commemoration Committee-maintains a memorial garden and commemorations for IRA
Volunteers and Republicans who were killed by the British in the New Lodge area
of Belfast.
6-Conway Mill Trust-located
in Pittsburgh funds 8 community based organizations in the north including one
in the Garvaghy Road, four in Belfast and three in Derry.
7-Tyrone AOH- foster Irish
history ,culture, language and issues in
an area of Tyrone where all things Irish were suppressed-they hold a special
memorial for a local Hibernian killed in 1916,campaign against the
environmental destruction of the Mass Rock and Sperrins area and also assist on
legacy issues and other issues.
8-Cairde Strabane-serves
Republican ex-political prisoners in West Tyrone which provides job training,
education, counseling, and a historical museum.
9-St. Patrick Centre-cross
community charity and exhibition, and cultural centre about St. Patrick in
Downpatrick.
10-Duchas Oiriall-South
Armagh organization promoting and studying the unique culture and history of
South Armagh.
11-Bridges beyond
Boxing-cross-community boxing club based in Belfast.
12-Down Patriot
Graves-maintains graves,organizes commemorations and promotes history of Irish
patriots in South Down.
13-Green Cross-provides
money and help to the families who lost loved ones during the conflict.
14- Belfast National
Graves-to commemorate and maintain the graves of those who gave their lives for
Irish freedom.
15-Omagh
Basketball-cross-community basketball team in Omagh.
16-Omagh
Choir-cross-community choir
These
donations were presented during the tour which meant that a number of AOH and
LAOH members handed out checks and showed that these contributions represent
funds raised by a national organization. The reception we received is a credit
to each member of the AOH-LAOH who works on FFAI or contributed to the
Christmas Appeal. Your work matters and is deeply appreciated!
FFAI MONTHLY BULLETIN
Please check for the monthly FFAI Bulletin on
the New York State and National AOH web sites. We want to give you monthly
updates on key events in the north with short analysis and explanation.
PLAQUE DEDICATIONOn Friday, May 10, 2019, at 1100 hours, a WTC Plaque Dedication ceremony will be held honoring the memory of Firefighter Robert J. Lembo, Ladder 144. The dedication will take place in the Quarters of Engine 295 & Ladder 144, 12-49 149th Street, Queens, NY. All off-duty members and their families are invited to attend. Members are requested to attend in dress uniform. STREET RENAMING CEREMONYOn Saturday, May 11, 2019, at 1100 hours, a Street Renaming Ceremony will be held honoring the memory of retired Captain John T. Vigiano Sr., L-176, who died on July 7, 2018. The ceremony will be held at the intersection of Deer Park Avenue and Long Island Avenue in Deer Park, NY. All off-duty members and their families are invited to attend. Members are requested to attend in dress uniform. SSG CHRIS ENGELDRUM FDNY VFW POST 12033The SSG Chris Engeldrum FDNY VFW Post 12033 will be holding its monthly meeting on Wednesday, May 15, 2019. The meeting will be held at Randall’s Island, Building 11 Cafeteria at 8:00 PM. All Military Veterans who have served overseas during time of war are eligible to join. For additional information, see the Post website at FDNYVFW.com. SPLISH SPLASH WATER PARK DISCOUNT TICKETS AVAILABLE Tickets are now available for Splish Splash (www.splishsplashlongisland.com). Located at Exit 72 West, Long Island Expressway, Riverhead, NY, the waterpark features 20 water slides, 2 wave pools, a lazy river, a kiddie area and more! Through the UFA discounted tickets, general admission price is $37 for adults and children over 48” and $30 for children under 48″ and seniors. Children 3 and under are free. For further info, please contact reception at 212-683-4832. Tickets must be purchased at UFA offices. Any unused tickets that are purchased through the UFA can be refunded if tickets are returned by September 5th. ANNUAL CITY HARVEST “FEED THE KIDS” FOOD DRIVEThe Fire Department will once again participate in City Harvest’s annual “Feed the Kids” food drive to collect nonperishable kid-friendly food for distribution to hungry families. The collection will run from Mother’s Day through Father’s Day, May 12 – June 16, 2019. All Firehouses and EMS Stations have been designated as collection points for the drive. All types of canned or packaged nonperishable food items can be donated, but baby food and formula will only be accepted in glass containers.
The
Washington Examiner reports that Trump bows to Senator Chuck
Schumer and multiple advocates including the Irish Embassy’s request to
allow Malachy McAllister to remain in US. A leaked email last night from a
top Immigration and Customs Enforcement official states McAleenan decided
Friday to overrule ICE and grant a six-month stay that will allow Malachy
McAllister to avoid being removed from the U.S. on April 30. We are
attempting to verify the leaked report.
Firefighter Christopher SlutmanLadder Company 27Interment & Memorial Services There will be a 5-5-5-5 Line of Duty Interment Service for Firefighter Christopher Slutman on Tuesday, April 30, 2019, at 0900 hours, in Arlington National Cemetery, 1 Memorial Avenue, Arlington, Virginia. On Wednesday, May 1, 2019, at 1300 hours, New Castle County Fire Chiefs Association will be hosting a Memorial Service with full Fire Department Honors for Firefighter Christopher Slutman at the University of Delaware Bob Carpenter Center, 631 S College Avenue, Newark, DE 19716. All Delaware Fire Departments are invited and encouraged to participate. Uniformed Personnel and Apparatus must be present by 1100 hours. For further information and instructions, please contact AC Dennis Godek at 302-530-2878.
