Massacre Memorial: New Information Panel Names Infamous British Army Commander
Posted By: June 14, 2023
IRISH CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING
Distributed to Congress by Irish National Caucus
“My friend Ciaran Mac Airt of Belfast has done magnificent work in exposing the cover-up of the 1971 McGurk’s Bar Massacre. A cover-up by the British government, Army, and police, in historic collusion with the Protestant anti-Catholic murder gangs.”—Fr. Sean Mc Manus.
Massacre Memorial: New Information Panel Names Infamous British Army Commander
The families of the McGurk’s Bar Massacre have unveiled an information panel at the memorial site that names the British Army’s General Sir Frank Kitson
(retired) as being involved in the cover-up of the atrocity along with the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).
15 civilians including 2 children were murdered in the no-warning Loyalist bomb attack on 4th December 1971. The British state and its armed forces blamed the atrocity on an Irish Republican Army (IRA) “own goal” despite evidence that pro-state extremists bombed the pub and family home.
The new information panel was unveiled as part of ongoing restoration work at the site. It records:
“Instead of bringing the pro-state extremists to justice, the British Army and RUC colluded within hours of the explosion to blame the innocent victims of the McGurk’s Bar massacre. Before all of our loved ones had even been identified, the British Army Brigadier in charge of the British Armed Forces in Belfast ordered his Brigade staff:
“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 has a line on it – NI should deal with them”.
The Brigadier’s name was Frank Kitson and this was a heinous lie.”
Ciarán MacAirt’s grandmother, Kathleen Irvine, was among those murdered. He said:
“Commemoration is vital to every community. So too is truth and justice. But before we buried our loved ones in 1971, the British state buried the truth. General Sir Frank Kitson colluded with the sectarian RUC and blamed innocent victims for the atrocity hours after the explosion. Over half a century later, little has changed. Britain’s pernicious Legacy Bill aims to bury its war crimes in Ireland and protect its war criminals. The British state will not silence our community no matter how it attacks our basic human rights.”
“Kitson still lives, and we demanded that the police question him under caution, but PSNI continues to fail our families. This infamous British Army Commander left a trail of devastation in his wake as he oversaw Britain’s deployment of internment without trial, in-depth interrogation techniques including torture, pseudo-gangs, and the covert Military Reaction Force (MRF) that murdered civilians with impunity. So, this memorial will be but one epitaph to his crimes.”
Contact Ciaran MacAirt via telephone 02895 818575
Email: info@mcgurksbar.com
