Clonoe ambush ruling feeds ‘IRA attempt to rewrite history’, says ex-minister
Sir David Davis said last week’s coroner’s report into the Coalisland shootings was ’51 pages of fact and eight pages of naive speculation’.
A Tory former minister has claimed British Army members will be subject to a “a vindictive, vengeful” pursuit due to the Government’s repeal of Legacy legislation, in reference to the Clonoe ambush.
Conservative MP Sir David Davis said a finding from Northern Ireland’s presiding coroner that members of a specialist British military unit were not justified in using lethal force in shooting dead four men in 1992, “led right into the IRA’s attempt to rewrite the history of Northern Ireland”.
Last week, Mr Justice Michael Humphreys found the SAS soldiers involved in the ambush in Clonoe, Co Tyrone, did not have an honest belief in the necessity of using lethal force and that it was unjustified and not reasonable.
Four Provisional IRA members – Kevin Barry O’Donnell, 21, Sean O’Farrell, 23, Peter Clancy, 19, and Daniel Vincent, 20 – were shot dead by the soldiers minutes after they had carried out a gun attack on Coalisland RUC station.
The special forces opened fire as the men arrived at St Patrick’s Church car park in Clonoe in a stolen lorry they had used in the police station attack.
During defence questions in Parliament on Monday, Sir David told MPs: “Soldiers will be leaving the Army, not being recruited, if we continue to allow the persecution of soldiers who served in Northern Ireland.
“Last week’s coroner’s report into the Coalisland shootings was 51 pages of fact and eight pages of naive speculation, which led right into the IRA’s attempt to rewrite the history of Northern Ireland.
“So I’d like to hear from the Secretary of State how, without the Northern Ireland Legacy legislation, he’s going to prevent this.
“If he fails, what should be a process of peace and reconciliation will turn into a vindictive, vengeful pursuit of men whose only sin was to serve their country with honour, heroism, skill and in the most terrifying conditions.”
Defence minister Luke Pollard said Sir David’s “passion is felt” by the Government, who “want to support all our veterans”.
He added: “The Ministry of Defence is continuing our conversations with the Northern Ireland office, that is, of course, the lead department when it comes to matters of this regard.
“But we will continue to support our veterans and continue the conversations with the Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner as to how we can support veterans in Northern Ireland, in particular.”
The Government has committed to repeal The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023.
The Act, introduced by the former Conservative government, halted scores of civil cases and inquests and proposed conditional immunity for perpetrators of Troubles crimes in exchange for their co-operation with a new truth recovery body.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson pressed Defence Secretary John Healey about the “grave injustice and the slur” delivered on the SAS personnel.
He said: “Can I ask the Secretary of State to take this opportunity to indicate not only to the House but service personnel and the nation that he as Defence Secretary supports those who bravely served in Northern Ireland and stood on the precipice between peace and tyranny?”
Mr Healey replied: “I’m glad to accept (Mr Robinson’s) invitation to do just that and it beholds us all to remember that those who served in our forces in Northern Ireland were part of a campaign that led to more deaths of UK security personnel in Northern Ireland than in Afghanistan.
“They deserve and will have our fullest support.”
An inquest into the attack which opened in 2023, found that up to 570 rounds were fired by the soldiers.
Mr Justice Humphreys said that no attempt was made by the soldiers to arrest any of the members of the IRA unit, even as they lay seriously injured and incapacitated either on the ground or in the cab of the lorry.
He also rejected the soldiers’ claims that the IRA members opened fire in the car park, saying they were “demonstrably untrue”.
TUV leader Jim Allister said the soldiers involved “did their duty” and had “encountered armed IRA terrorists on murderous active service and protected the public”.
DUP MP for Strangford Jim Shannon said the SAS were “confronted by the enemy” and the men killed “got their just deserts”.
He said the soldiers were “confronted by those killers, murderers, terrorists, scum, that they are, armed to the teeth with a machine gun, they could fire 500 rounds per minute”.
The inquest also found that state agencies “perpetuated falsehoods” about the events at Clonoe, having claimed in a press release that there was an “exchange of gunfire”.
