ON the 5th February 1992, Christy Doherty (52), Jack Duffin (66), James Kennedy (15), Peter Magee (18) and William McManus (54) were killed in Sean Grahams Bookmakers on the Ormeau Road. Nine were wounded, including Peter Magee’s brother in-law Mark Sykes.
Systemic RUC collusion in that attack has been laid bare after the families were forced to engage a Goliath battle seeking to have that truth established, with family members dying young as a result of trauma and injury. One of the weapons used in the attack was placed on public display in the Imperial War Museum, while the investigation was still live. At the 29th anniversary commemoration PSNI officers arrested Mark Sykes in one of the most appalling acts of public authority indecency seen since the ceasefires.
When the memorial on the Ormeau Road was attacked last week some memories came back to many of us who lived through that time, but it was different for the surviving relatives and the injured. As the PSNI taped off the corner of Sean Grahams’ bookmakers and two figures dressed in forensic suits emerged the emotions were visceral. It was retraumatisation, cruel, and a lasting harm was entirely intentional. To then watch the bereaved and injured gather themselves after the PSNI had left, pull out cleaning materials and get to work restoring the images of their loved ones and the sanctity of that space was not only deeply moving, it was another example of the price we expect victims and survivors to keep paying. Mark Sykes, the ever-present strength and deep intellect which frame families’ statements and public responses, was sentinel-like in ensuring all evidence had been preserved for an investigation into this latest act of sectarian hatred. Tommy Duffin quietly and with determination removing every scrap of white paint from the list of names, including his father’s, should have stopped the world in its tracks. Billy McManus wiping smeared paint from the images of those killed, including his smiling father, simultaneously reminded all present of the day in 1992 when he was filmed in agony as his father’s murder was confirmed to him.
That last week’s attack is inextricably linked to the rise of sectarian rhetoric and political unionism’s provocative stance in Portadown is of particular concern. Unwanted Orange parades and sectarian coat-trailing is forever linked to the ongoing trauma of the Ormeau Road Bookmakers’ families. When an Orange Parade passed the site of the murders some amongst them danced and made five fingered salutes to deliberately celebrate the murders and add to the trauma of families, the same Order refuse to this day to apologise for that heinous moment. And then some in the Orange Order pretend to play the victim, as though not being allowed to stamp on trauma and add to it is somehow a terrible slight on shared culture.
When the film cameras go away, and the clicks on social media stop, the hurt remains for families. There is no politicking in dusting a faded photograph on the mantlepiece, or visiting a grave to try to explain in the only place that might listen and understand, what has happened now. These families, like all families across our island, deserve the dignity of cherished memory and our commitment to protecting their rights. Last week was yet another example of our society’s continued failure in those duties.
