Miriam Daly, an Irish republican socialist and university lecturer, was assassinated by the loyalist Ulster Defence Association (UDA) in a killing which continues to provoke questions. Her body, bound and shot, was found by her nine-year-old daughter after she returned from school in Andersonstown, 39 years ago this week. In this interview, Anthony Neeson spoke to Jim Daly, her widower. By a strange twist of fate, Jim Daly’s father fought on the anti-treaty side during the Civil War while his future wife Miriam’s father fought with the pro-treaty forces. Miriam was born in the Curragh of Kildare in the Free State Army camp there while Jim was brought up in Cheshire in England – one of the many ironies of post-Civil War Ireland. When Jim’s parents died he was brought back to South Armagh, where future SDLP deputy leader Seamus Mallon would be in his year at school. The party’s future leader, John Hume, was a year behind Jim at Maynooth College. Miriam, on the other hand, grew up in Dublin and later went to UCD, where she would eventually lecture in Economic History. Fate was to bring them together and it came in the shape of Jim’s philosophy professor, who told him there was someone in Dublin he wanted him to meet. “I’ve never forgotten that I was introduced to her as as saint,” says Jim, laughing at the memory. “She’s the only person I’ve ever been introduced to as a saint. At that time she was already married to Dr Joe Lee, but he died a couple of years later at the age of 37 of a heart attack. And so a couple of years later we were married. Miriam was seven years older than I. “We were married in London and then I got a job at Queen’s University and Miriam got a job soon after at Queen’s, so we both came to Belfast in 1968 and moved into Stranmillis, when all hell broke loose.” Miriam immediately immersed herself in the growing Civil Rights movement and was quickly recognised as a talented and passionate public speaker. “What she said was genuine and from the heart,” recalls Jim. “She could get a terrific emotional response because whatever she said she felt it herself. She was direct and honest and people responded to that.” Miriam and Jim both became more involved in the political upheaval that was taking place throughout the north and particularly in Belfast, with Miriam contributing to the Republican News. Both joined Sinn Féin. “I would have been a Marxist and would read Marxist literature at that time, but although Miriam was a socialist she wouldn’t have got bogged down in Marxist philosophy. Marxists sometimes can’t see the wood for the trees because they’re looking at the big picture. Miriam, on the other hand, could very much see the cement.” In 1974 Jim and Miriam were forced out of Stranmillis and moved into Andersonstown. As Jim remembers, a number of people were getting burnt out at the time or were receiving bullets in the post, so they decided that they would be safer elsewhere and so left Stranmillis behind. After the murder of Seamus Costello, Miriam became chairperson of the IRSP at a time when that organisation was flourishing. Then, as the prison protest in the H-Blocks and Armagh began to escalate Miriam was elected on to the National H-Block Committee at a time when other prominent republicans who were involved with the prisoners and their families were being targeted and murdered. “We were always wary about our safety over in Queen’s because at that time the Holy Land was quite loyalist. But Miriam always said that if they were going to get us it would be here in Andytown, and she was right.” Jim was in Dublin attending a German language course on June 26, 1980, the day Miriam was murdered. Earlier that morning he recalls a pleasant domestic phone call, revolving around their two 10-year-old twins, Marie and Donal. The People’s Democracy had already informed the pair that they were on a loyalist death list, so they had bought a new heavy mahogany front door and decided to keep the back door locked at all times. Jim has played over the events of that terrible day many times in his head, but he can’t be sure what really happened. “It appears that Miriam was sitting in the porch enjoying the warm sun and waiting for the kids to come home from school,” says Jim. “She must have left the door open when she went to the shop next door to get an apple tart and some cigarettes. When she came back they were waiting for her. That’s how she got caught. “She was shot five times in the head, but they had kept her for a while before, tied her up and held her for some time, which is awful to think about. Then the kids came home and found her.” Miriam Daly was 51 when she was murdered. Although the UFF claimed her murder, Jim still believes that there was higher involvement in her death. At the same time other leading H-Block campaigners such as John Turnly and Bernadette McAliskey were being targeted. “She came very much to the notice of agencies that were poking their noses in here, for sure. That’s why she was targeted. “She had a tremendous energy and never stopped. People called her in the middle of the night to come to an RUC station to help out, while relatives would phone her to find out where their loved ones were. She never stopped. It was amazing how much dedication she had. She was always upbeat and confident and optimistic. If there is an opposite to demoralise, she moralised people. “The RUC took away Miriam’s handbag, a large book we had with phone numbers and addresses in it and they took my photograph from an international driver’s licence. There were five spent cartridges lying on the floor which they didn’t pick up. They were more interested in political witch-hunting than trying to find out who carried out this murder.” Miriam Daly was buried in Swords, County Dublin. Jim says her death affected many people, and she is continually missed by her many friends and family, not least himself. “I think of her every hour, on the hour,” he says with quiet emotion in his voice. “The kids have grown up and are doing very well for themselves. We’re getting on…”
A campaign to secure a new investigation into a gun attack by a loyalist paramilitary death squad on a village pub has received a boost after a judge included it in a group to be advanced through the courts.One man, 42-year-old Peter McCormack, was killed when a UVF gang burst in and sprayed gunfire at customers in a 1992 shooting at the Thierafurth Inn in Kilcoo, County Down. A number of others in the bar where a darts tournament was being held were also injured.
A man who survived the attack has recently been encouraged in his ongoing High Court battle to secure a fresh police investigation. John McEvoy had sought to judicially review the failure by the PSNI Chief George Hamilton to order an independent probe into the attack.
Mr McEvoy, who was working behind the bar, narrowly escaped being shot but developed severe post traumatic stress disorder.
The new documentary film on the Loughinisland killings which named suspects, ‘No Stone Unturned’, strengthened the case for an immediate and independent probe. It is now widely accepted the RUC allowed a UVF gang to operate freely in the County Down area but the key suspects have never been questioned.
Key to the case is the fact that firearms, balaclavas, ammunition, British Army maps and a military album containing photographs and details of suspected republicans were recovered from an Orange Hall in the village of Clough. One of those pictured in the album was Peter McCarthy, whose family own the Thierafurth Inn and who is believed to have been the intended target for an assassination.
An attempt to murder Mr McCarthy was planned for November 1992 but was abandoned. Two weeks later, it was his cousin, Peter McCormack, who died when a UVF death squad burst in and opened fire indiscriminately, killing Mr McCormack and injuring three other customers.
Proceedings in the case had been on hold as part of a backlog of so-called legacy cases before the courts. But according to Mr McEvoy’s lawyer, a judge has now mapped out steps to progress the case along with other related cases.
Gavin Booth of Phoenix Law said his client had expected an immediate police investigation after the ‘No Stone Unturned’ documentary exposed new details around the campaign of collusion killings in the area.
“For the first time the perpetrators of the attempt to murder Mr McEvoy and others in the pub were identified and we believe that an investigation should now immediately happen, especially following the identification of the suspects,” he said.
“The families today welcome the announcement of the court to deal with these outstanding legacy cases and to provide them with the timetable to have their cases heard.”
The children of some former IRA Volunteers are being barred from entering the United States because of their parents’ background. Jim Donnelly, who was released under the Good Friday peace Agreement over 20 years ago, said his teenage son was rejected for a visa as a result of his role in the armed struggle.
Mr Donnelly told the BBC’s Talkback programme his 15-year-old son was “extremely disappointed” when his temporary visa was rejected.
“I was in prison before he was born,” said Mr Donnelly. “A 15 year old who happens to have a father who was involved in a conflict 22 years ago – is that fair?” he asked.
“It politicises young people when they then begin to ask: ‘Why was I rejected?’ My son has been denied over something that happened before he was born.”
Sinn Féin’s Carál Ní Chuilín, who spent four years in jail, said her youngest son is also one of those who have had issues entering the US.
She said he had been successful in getting through the clearance process, the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA). However, when he got to check-in he was told he was “barred”.
Her son then went to US Consulate where he was asked questions about his mother, she said.
Sinn Féin’s Niall Ó Donnghaile said the US government had played a central role in “ensuring the delivery” of the Good Friday Agreement, but the failure to address discrimination against young people whose parents or grandparents have conflict-related convictions was “a failure to fully realise the spirit and the practical implementation” of the 1998 peace deal.
He said he had written to the Good Friday Agreement Implementation Committee of the Dublin parliament, asking it to “engage with the US Embassy” about the situation.
A former senior military figure who was a commander in the Parachute Regiment during the Ballymurphy massacre in West Belfast has told an inquest that he has no recollection of the regiment shooting ten people dead.The inquest is examining the killing of 10 innocent civilians in the Ballymurphy area by British soldiers over a space of 36 hours following the introduction of internment without trial in August 1971.A statement from Colonel Derek Wilford (pictured), who commanded the first battalion of the Parachute Regiment during the period, was read to the court this week.In relation to the deaths, Colonel Wilford said: “This comes as a complete surprise to me”.He said he could recall that his whole battalion had been interviewed after the events of Bloody Sunday, a second massacre in Derry five months later in which 14 civilians were killed.However, he said he could not remember it having happened after Ballymurphy. “I found it rather surprising when I heard how many people had been killed”, his statement added. “None of that information came my way. Had it come my way, it would’ve been quite serious.”Wilford lives abroad and reportedly cannot be compelled to attend the inquest. His lawyers have claimed he is unwell.The evidence of several British soldiers to the inquest have been marked by falsehoods. The evidence of one had to be halted this week following unexpected changes in the details of his testimony.Witness M365 gave a different platoon number to Belfast Coroner’s Court, as well as responding that he “cannot remember” to a large number of questions from counsel.When asked when and why he had changed his mind on several matters, M365 was unable to explain. He repeatedly responded “I can’t remember”. Coroner Siobhan Keegan was forced to stop the testimony, describing the situation as “entirely unsatisfactory” and a “discourtesy to everyone involved with the case”.A barrister for one of the victims, later confronted the witness with evidence from the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, as well a questionable disciplinary record. The court heard M365 was convicted of six counts of fraud for falsifying expenses, and had accepted a discharge from the British Army in 1984 after beig demoted to private.Fiona Doherty QC, acting for the family of the family of John Laverty, suggested he was “not capable or worthy of belief”.Another soldier, known as M68, last week also contradicted his previous statements. He withdrew a previous admission that he had seen soldiers firing their weapons, instead claiming he had seen no shots fired.Cross-questioning the witness, another lawyer for the families, Karen Quinlivan, put it to M68: “You are basically lying to protect soldiers.”Two military witnesses have also failed to appear entirely. A soldier, referred to as M171, had been due to give evidence about the deaths of Joseph Corr and John Laverty on the Upper Whiterock Road. Soldier M57 also did not appear at court to give evidence. According to the coroner, both are to face “enforcement steps”.
