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The decision by the ICRIR to investigate the Kingsmill massacre forty-nine years ago is described by human rights body, Ulster Human Rights Watch (UHRW), as ‘real progress and a significant advance for relatives.

Ten Protestant workmen were murdered by the Provisional IRA near Whitecross in County Armagh. The Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery formally accepted the request by two families of the men to investigate the sectarian killings.

The families, who were represented and supported by Ulster Human Rights Watch, want the ICRIR to name the deceased suspected terrorists involved in the attack – something the Kingsmill Inquest Coroner refused to do.

They have submitted fifty-seven questions, including one which asks why so many Public Interest Immunity Certificates were used in the Inquest.

Of major concern to the families are the actions of the Gardaí following dissatisfaction with the Irish ‘closed court’ response to questions tabled by the families during the Inquest.

Colin Worton is the brother of Kenneth who was one of the ten men murdered.

Mr Worton said: “We have an opportunity here to get answers to events that surrounded the massacre. Forty-nine years on from these brutal slayings, we have been given some hope by this decision by the ICRIR to launch an investigation.

“Families can only expect limited closure but naming those who gunned down our relatives would be a positive step.”

UHRW Advocacy Worker, Jonathan Larner, said: “The Irish Government has been dragging its heels on Kingsmill as with all cross-border cases. Families want to see Dublin become fully engaged with the ICRIR and agree to open their files. The role of the Gardaí deserves close scrutiny if we are to get to the truth and if suspicions of collusion are to be addressed.”

“This decision by the ICRIR is real progress and a significant advance for relatives.

“Kingsmill families have waited long enough for answers which merely served to retraumatise them and cause pain and anguish. They hope to learn why, for example, Public Interest Immunity Certificates were issued and what they were attempting to conceal.

“Also concerning are the reasons for the Irish ‘closed court’. Why and what purpose did that serve? We’re trying to shine a light into a dark corner and the hope has to be that the ICRIR unearths information that gives the families some closure and peace.”

“UHRW calls on the Republic of Ireland Government to effectively commit itself to co-operating fully and unreservedly with the ICRIR providing unfettered access to the information it holds in relation to this barbaric atrocity”.

Lurgan-based human rights organisation, Ulster Human Rights Watch, has asked the ICRIR to carry out a review of the PIRA Teebane massacre which claimed the lives of eight men and seriously injured other passengers who were in the van.

The new development comes the day before a commemoration takes place to mark the 33rd anniversary of the terrorist roadside slaughter.

One of the eight workers murdered was an off-duty soldier. The men had been engaged in construction work on Lisanelly Army Base in Omagh and were on their way to Cookstown when their van was destroyed in the blast at Teebane crossroads.

UHRW Advocacy Manager Axel Schmidt said the attack merited a review and hoped it would provide relatives with some answers.

Mr Schmidt said: “UHRW is representing two of the families who lost loved ones in this appalling attack.

“A number of factors are under the microscope. First, in a review by the Historical Enquiries Team (HET), a number of suspects were identified but they were never arrested or interviewed. This fact, on its own, is a source of major concern for the families.

“Second, technological advances in forensics have created new opportunities to re-test over twenty exhibits. These tests could help in the identification of the PIRA terrorists, opening the way to possibly initiating criminal proceedings.

“Families remain convinced that had appropriate protective measures by the employer Karl Construction and the RUC’s ‘Operation Ironside’ been followed, this atrocity could have been thwarted.

“There were failings and shortcomings but ultimately this heavy loss of innocent lives was down to the murderous actions of the PIRA.

“Even if prosecutions are not possible, the ICRIR has the power to name those involved in the bombing.

Ms Diane Kerrigan, the daughter of Cecil Caldwell, one of the eight men murdered, said: “This will be a challenging piece of work for the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery.

“All I want is some answers. Who carried this out and why? My family was devastated, left with decades of pain and torment.

“This was a calculated and callous and, yes, sectarian attack on workers who wanted no more than to do all they could for their families.

“We have to hope that the ICRIR will bring us some closure. If that closure results in the naming of the terrorists and opens the door to criminal proceedings, then our persistence will have been rewarded.”

By Axel Schmidt, Advocacy Manager, Ulster Human Rights Watch (UHRW)

In 1978, eighty-two people were killed in Northern Ireland. Twelve from that awful death toll were murdered at the hands of the Provisional IRA in the La Mon House atrocity. Twenty-three other people were injured, some of them very seriously, like Lily McDowell and James Mills, who not only endured life-changing injuries but also lost his wife and sister in the bombing. His daughter was only two years of age when she was deprived of her mother.

On 11 December 2024, James was joined by relatives of six of those injured or killed in this barbaric terrorist attack. ‘Injured’ fails to convey the extent of the horrific disfigurement, surgical reconstruction and decades of pain that innocent people have had to endure. They attended a briefing at the Police Ombudsman’s office in Belfast to be given details of an investigation into the attack.

The investigation took three years to conclude and followed on from a complaint lodged with the Ombudsman’s office in 2014 by Ulster Human Rights Watch. In a very real sense, it has taken 46 years to get to this point.

Victims and survivors are all too painfully aware of what unfolded at La Mon. Questions remained and they not unreasonably harboured the hope that the Ombudsman’s investigation would shed new light on aspects of the terrorist action. Their persistence and search for truth and justice are to be commended. They have been steadfast and determined.

They wanted to know the identities of the bomb-makers and the PIRA leaders who sanctioned the bombing. Where was the bomb assembled and who transported it? A significant question centred on why the Republic of Ireland failed to provide any meaningful contribution to the Ombudsman’s investigation, and why it allowed itself to become a safe haven for many years after the callous attack.

Sadly, the Ombudsman, for security reasons, was unable to make available all the security intelligence we sought.

One finding of great importance concerned the investigation that was conducted by the RUC. The Ombudsman found no evidence of collusion between the republican terrorists and any section of the RUC. Anything else would have been an appalling outcome. Victims and relatives expressed their satisfaction with this outcome.

However, they were disappointed with aspects of the investigation, for example the loss of records and exhibits. Plainly, this was unsatisfactory and there has been no adequate explanation forthcoming as to how and when this happened.

Policing in 1978 was totally different to the way it is done today. The force was under unimaginable pressure, trying to contain and counter vile terrorist organisations who brought mayhem to communities and our towns and cities.

The Ombudsman’s finding of no collusion or ‘collusive behaviour’ and his opinion that the RUC conducted the investigation with ‘earnest endeavour’ lays to rest once all supposition and suspicion and for all.

Yes, there were some failures during the investigation. It’s important to acknowledge these deficiencies and how they impacted on Court proceedings and the prosecution of suspects. That said, they do not take away from the fact that the PIRA terrorists were the murderers of innocent people and several key people are still at large.

The Ombudsman’s office has done all it can and now we must take our campaign to the next level. The search for answers and some measure of justice will go on.

Our next step will be to lodge a request with the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) to ascertain who were the people responsible for the bombing – planners, bomb-makers and PIRA leadership – and the role the Republic of Ireland played in allowing terrorists to make the bomb and find protection from arrest and prosecution while residing on its territory.

Finally, I would like to thank all those victims and relatives for their remarkable courage and determination. They are the backbone of this campaign and deserve full acknowledgement.