RELATIVES For Justice have published a comprehensive report into the sectarian murder of a North Belfast widower 42 years ago.
On October 31 1984 Harry Muldoon was murdered by the UVF at his home in Mountainview Drive, Ardoyne.
The 24 page document has been compiled by RFJ in the absence of an “effective, independent, and human rights-compliant mechanism to address the legacy of the past”.
The latest family report forms part of RFJ’s overall comprehensive approach to empowering families and providing them with a voice.
“The family report aims to document as far as possible the circumstances of Harry’s murder, examining and providing an analysis of the available forensic, ballistic and eyewitness evidence, including linked cases and thematic patterns," the report states.
"Reports also examine what the official response was, or in many instances was not, by applying and measuring these against legal obligations and human rights standards."
Harry was 45-years-old when he was murdered. The black taxi driver had been a widower for six years and lived with his daughters Angela (21) and Tracey (11).
The report contains moving memories and testimonies from family and friends, accompanied by family photos. After the death of his wife Mary Ann in 1978 Harry brought up his family on his own.
Harry had played handball for Ardoyne Kickhams GAA Club. Daughter Angela says: "Every other Sunday he went to watch the hurling and football. He had a lot of good friends at the club; everybody knew him and had a good word to say about him. Those Sundays were my dad’s escape, where the chaos of life could be put on hold. He particularly loved his trips down to Croke Park and would always return with a teddy bear in the colours of whichever counties were playing."
Harry had no political links and was brutally murdered at 5.35am on the morning of October 31 1984. Harry’s daughter Angela witnessed her father’s murder that morning and describes what happened in the report.
The RUC informed Harry Muldoon two years before he was killed that his name and address were “known to a loyalist organisation”. An Historical Enquiries report states, “there is nothing within the intelligence databases or case file that explains the origins or circumstances of the information or exactly what it was.”
As in many similar cases the RUC failed to carry out a thorough and impartial investigation into the murder.
The report examines in depth the patterns of collusion between the RUC and loyalists in the murder of Harry Muldoon, and his targeting due to his job as a black taxi driver. Eight black taxi drivers were murdered in Belfast during the conflict.
The comprehensive 24-page report is available from RFJ’s Glen Road office.
