McManus raises UVF McCord murder
Posted By: July 26, 2017
Evan Short. Irish Echo. July 26, 2017
The head of the Irish National Caucus, Fr. Sean McManus, questioned British Secretary of State James Brokenshire on his visit to Washington this week on an unresolved UVF murder.
Fr. McManus asked why the British government continued to refuse to hand over documents relating to the death of Raymond McCord Jr., who was beaten to death by the Mount Vernon UVF.
In 2007, Nuala O’Loan said she was satisfied the RUC had colluded with the killer Mount Vernon gang and the chief suspects in Raymond Jr.’s murder were working for the state at the time.
McManus praised Raymond’s father, Raymond Sr., for his continued campaigning when we quizzed the Secretary of State.
He said: “Twenty years ago, on November 9, Raymond’s son, 22-year-old Raymond Junior, was brutally beaten to death near Belfast. But because those associated with the killing were police informers and British government agents, the crime was covered up, as proven by Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan’s ground-breaking Ballast Report in 2007.
“To this day not one person has been charged with the brutal murder. No inquest has been held. The British government and police continue to refuse to hand over documents, so the cover-up continues.
“How are we to have confidence that the British government wants to bring justice to the McCord family in the Protestant community, not to mention the Pat Finucane case in the Catholic community?”
Mr. Brokenshire said he was committed to upholding the rule of law and the inquest issue would be kept under review, Nuala O’Loan has stated with
regard to what was dubbed Operation Ballast: “What emerged during our
inquiries was that all of the informants at the center of this investigation were members of the UVF.
“There was no effective strategic management of these informants. As a consequence of the practices of Special Branch, the position of the UVF, particularly in North Belfast and Newtown- abbey was consolidated and strengthened over the years. How could this happen?”
Then PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Order apologized to the victims’ families after the publication of the O’Loan report.
