McGurk’s Bar Massacre: MoD denies it holds information on Kitson-RUC agreement

THE British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has denied it holds information relating to a secret agreement between General Sir Frank Kitson and the Royal Ulster Constabulary about the McGurk’s Bar Massacre victims.

The McGurk’s Bar atrocity on December 4, 1971, resulted in the deaths of 15 civilians including two children.

The denial comes despite a record of it in the British Army’s Commander’s Diary just hours after the explosion.

A grandson of two of the McGurk’s Bar Massacre victims, Ciarán MacAirt, raised a Freedom of Information request with MoD for a: 'copy of the notes, minutes, intelligence and/or background information relating to the agreement between then Brigadier Frank Kitson and the Royal Ulster Constabulary which led to the Brigadier Kitson telling Brigade: “RUC have a line that the bomb in the pub was a bomb designed to be used elsewhere, left in the pub to be picked up by Provisional IRA. Bomb went off and was a mistake. RUC Press Office have a line on it – NI should deal with them.”’

Ciarán MacAirt then raised a request for Internal Review as MoD failed to find any information.

In its final response, the MoD concluded "that the outcome of the original response was correct in stating that the requested information is not held by MoD” [Section 8].

MacAirt also raised a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and referred ICO to a similar complaint with its Office against the Police Service Northern Ireland for withholding evidence relating to these RUC and British Army lies. 

Earlier this month, MacAirt led a protest at the NI Policing Board against the PSNI’s failure to provide the families with the evidence – PSNI had issued MacAirt with a Refusal Notice which recorded that PSNI “can neither confirm nor deny that it holds the information”.

The Chief Constable snubbed the families at the protest and would not talk with them.

Reacting to the MoD denial, Ciarán said: “Either the British Armed Forces can prove their lies about our loved ones, or they admit they fabricated them. It is that simple.”