WELL known victims’ campaigner Gerry Armstrong – who has spent the past 25 years keeping alive the memory of his brother Paul, who was murdered by the UVF on 8 November 1974 – will no longer speak publicly about him. 

Gerry said that after the 50th anniversary on 8 November this week, he will cease to speak about Paul's murder and the events surrounding it, explaining that the past 25 years have been a momentous journey for himself and his family.

The North Belfast man said: “It’s been a massive journey for myself and my family, to keep Paul’s memory alive. It’s resulted in me speaking endlessly about Paul for the past 25 years and eventually writing a book.

“For the first 25 years we didn’t speak about Paul and for the last 25 I haven’t shut up about him. On 13 October we planted a tree at Wave Trauma Centre in Paul’s memory which will be there for all time and we will be taking 8 November this year as family time to remember Paul.

“My mother never spoke about Paul, she couldn’t attend the funeral and she couldn’t bring herself to visit Paul’s grave in Milltown. My father couldn’t really talk about Paul either, and he passed away in 1986.

"When my mother passed in 1999 I felt it was right to begin speaking about Paul and what he meant to our family. No reporters beat their way to our door to ask us about him and now after 25 years I want to make this the final time we speak about what happened to Paul.

“I do want to say that if any newspapers approach me on 9 November and ask to do a story on Paul I will politely tell them no."

Gerry revealed that he recently held a face-to-face meeting with the British Secretary of State for the North, Hilary Benn, and used the opportunity to tell him about Paul's murder and also questioned him on promises made during Labour's election campaign about repealing and replacing the notorious Legacy Bill.

"He didn’t say a whole lot but I didn’t expect him to say a lot," he recalled. "I was able to tell him my story and where I’m coming from. I gave him a copy of the book and he shook my hand and said it was an honour to meet you Gerry, but I’ve never had any faith in governments or politicians.

"On 13 October we planted a tree at Wave Trauma Centre in Paul’s memory which will be there for all time and we will be taking 8 November this year as family time to remember Paul."

Gerry described writing his book, 'A Young Life Stolen: A Memoir of Growing Up in War-torn Belfast' and said the book was his way of telling the whole story of what happened to Paul and what subsequently happened with the inept investigation into Paul's murder and the journey his family have been on. He reflected on the book, saying he continues to receive letters from people who said the book had massively helped them come to terms with the loss of their own loved ones.

“Over the years, many people have contacted me to say how much my story has impacted them but it's never something I intended to do. I primarily wrote the book for Paul, myself and my family but the journey I’ve been on speaking about Paul over the past 25 years has led to many people saying that reading the book has massively helped them and I've received numerous letters from people who said they were deeply moved by it."

He added: “For years I was told over and over again to forget the past and to draw a line in the sand but I’ve decided that now I will be drawing a line on my own terms, on the Armstrong family’s terms.

“Paul was only 18 when he was murdered. He was a Merchant Seaman at 16 and he travelled the world and then he came back to this place and he was picked up in broad daylight, tortured and murdered whilst the entirety of Ligoniel was teeming with British army patrols.

“For years people have used this line in relation to Paul’s murder, ‘he was in the wrong place at the wrong time’ but he wasn’t. He was in the right place at the right time. He was walking down his own street on his way to sign back onto the shipping pool. Paul was exactly where he should have been, it’s the ones who killed him who weren’t.”

REMEMBERED: Paul Armstrong (18) was murdered by the UVF on 8 November 1974
2Gallery

REMEMBERED: Paul Armstrong (18) was murdered by the UVF on 8 November 1974

Asked if the last 25 years had brought him any closure, Gerry said: “I don’t know if deciding to stop now has brought about closure, there isn’t a word for it in the English language. I think about Paul all the time but writing the book helped me greatly. But I now feel a sense of contentment, I’m at peace and I know for a lot of years I was in a very bad place with it but over the years telling Paul's story has almost been an uplifting experience in many ways.

“The trauma of Paul’s murder will always be there but through the telling of Paul’s story we have been able to somewhat grow through that trauma, they call it Post Traumatic Growth and by telling Paul’s story it’s been able to help both me and my family.”

“Over the years people have asked about truth and justice and reconciliation but I don’t want their truth or their justice and how can we reconcile ourselves with what was done to Paul? All I want is for people to know who Paul Armstrong was and that he mattered. He was a person and he was loved and he mattered."