AN INQUIRY into the Miami Showband massacre has uncovered the likely involvement of an RUC Special Branch agent in the killings, according to relatives of those who died.
David O’Toole, a nephew of the group’s lead singer, Fran O’Toole, who was killed in the 1975 UVF attack, said the families hoped for closure after receiving the Historical Enquiries Team report.
“It has been particularly devastating for us to learn that, in all likelihood, one of those involved in the murders of our loved ones was an agent of RUC Special Branch. We intend to pursue this issue with the authorities in the North,” Mr O’Toole said.
The report into the atrocity that claimed the lives of three members of the Miami Showband has not been released in full.
It is the property of the families, who said they were prepared to release the conclusions after a press conference in Dublin yesterday morning.
The document they distributed described the showband as a “hugely popular group” of young men “who lived for their music and their families” and had no political interests or connections to paramilitary activities.
“They became the victims of a sectarian murder gang, amongst whose members were serving security forces personnel,” the document stated.
In the early hours of Thursday, July 31st, 1975, after performing in the Castle Ballroom in Banbridge, Co Down, the band members were travelling south in a minibus when they were flagged down by a group of armed men near the Border.
The band members were told to get out with their hands up. A few seconds later, there was an explosion, killing two of the armed men.
This was followed immediately by gunfire that killed three of the Miami Showband: Mr O’Toole, Brian McCoy and Anthony Geraghty. Stephen Travers and Des McAlea survived the attack, for which the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) admitted responsibility.
Two serving members of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), Thomas Crozier and James McDowell, were charged with murder, convicted and sentenced, while a third, John Somerville, was arrested in 1980 and sentenced.
The report will be passed on to the North’s police ombudsman a file relating to the potential involvement of Robert Jackson, sometimes referred to as “The Jackal”, a member of the UVF who was arrested at an early stage of the original RUC inquiry but released without charge.
“The HET [Historical Enquiries Team] review has found that there was an opportunity to rearrest him in connection with the murders the following year, when one of the guns used in the attack was recovered and was linked to Jackson,” according to the document distributed by the families.
“The review has found that Jackson alleged that he was tipped off that his fingerprints had been found on a tape on the silencer found with the weapon; Jackson reported that the information had come from two police officers.”
The document described the issues as “deeply troubling” and predicted they would never be explained to the satisfaction of all parties.
“HET will pass this file to the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. However, the officers who could shed light on these issues, Det Supt Drew and Det Chief Insp Murray, are dead, as is Robin Jackson.
“It seems unlikely that it would be possible for that office to mount an effective investigation into these matters, but that decision is for the ombudsman alone.”
Those who spoke at the press conference were Mr Travers; Mr McAlea; Mr O’Toole; Keith McCoy, son of the late Brian McCoy; Paul O’Connor and Alan Brecknell of the Pat Finucane Centre; and Margaret Urwin of Justice for the Forgotten.
