[Type text] - victims

1 [ type text ] A Case Study in Genocide February 2010 TThhee AAllttaanneeiigghh MMaassssaaccrree [ type text ] A HISTORY OF HURT The June of 1922 saw one of the vilest acts against humanity committed by the Republican movement . An event took place just outside of Newry involving the slaughter of nine people, which became deeply embedded on the psyche of local people - The Altnaveigh Massacre. This massacre was the first and one of the clearest examples of ethnic cleansing in our area. It came about after the partition of Ireland, which was accepted by the overwhelming majority of people in Northern Ireland. However anti-democratic elements decided to oppose partition and erase the border by force of arms. To this end the IRA, with the support of Michael Collins and the Dublin Government attacked the fledgling Northern State in an attempt to destroy it and to force the majority population into a United Ireland against its will.

2 Often forgotten even by the Unionist Community new research and work by FAIR has led to a revisiting of this atrocity and interest in those responsible and the last effects of it on the minority protestant Community. It has become an International Case Study in genocide cited in leading academic publications. The Journal of Genocide Research is one such publication. Locally research into the Massacre was kick-started in 2000 by the FAIR Research and Policy unit headed by William Wilkinson MA. As a follow up to his greound breaking paper on the violence surrounding the creation of the Northern Ireland State entitled A Lost Dream and a Forgotten War , he outlined the terrorist campaign waged against the fledgling state terming it the Ulster-Irish War.

3 The idea of this aspect to the foundation of the state was taken up in the Irish Historical Studies Journal1 which looked at the relationship of the Orange Order and by extension the Unionist Hierarchy to the Border. The aim of Sinn Fein/IRA was to destabilise and destroy the newly created State of Northern Ireland. The ethnic cleansing and terrorisation of Protestants along the border was aimed at influencing the Boundary Debate which was a protracted issue left to a Boundary Commission. Republicans hoped to destroy the state by pushing the border back north and east to make the new state untenable. 1 The Orange Order and the Border, by David Fitzpatrick 2002 Irish Historical Studies Publications [ type text ] In what was to be repeated decades later the republican movement took up the gun when its political aspirations were frustrated by democracy.

4 Many facets of what can only be described as the Ulster-Irish War of 1922, have been duplicated during the present conflict. The Dublin government continues to participate in collusion with the IRA at a number of levels, and Republican murder gangs are still engaged in sectarian assassination and ethnic cleansing of the protestant population along the border. This was brutally repeated in the 1970s with a series of massacres including Kingsmill, Darkley and Tullyvallan. We have often been told to stop living in the past, however when the past repeats itself with such obvious and brutal consequences we are forced to face it. It is only by learning from it and dealing effectively with the issues it creates that we can move on. Over 92% of the murders remain unsolved and many of those responsible are living freely in the Republic of Ireland.

5 Many factors contribute to the feeling of the victims that the IRA could not have operated so effectively without help from the Republic of Ireland. In short there can be no peace without justice and no justice without truth. To this end we dedicate ourselves to telling the truth of what happened to our family and friends and defending the ideals for which they died. There is a history of hurt in the South Armagh area that goes well beyond the present troubles. The protestant and unionist people of this area can trace their origins back for centuries and their bond with the land and faith in God has given them an amazing resilience. They are the same stock that went on to colonise and shape the United States of America, with their survival instinct and rugged individuality.

6 The two peoples learned to live together, and indeed within living memory that was so. The cause of conflict was not injustice or irreconcilable differences but the poison of Republicanism with its message of hate spelt out in the blood of innocents. In a farming community like South Armagh protestant and Roman Catholic helped one another especially at harvest time. There was little discernible difference as the people of the area worked together and played together. Sadly the bomb and bullet of the IRA shattered this picture of rural normality, as such relations were brought sharply to an end by IRA violence which affected both communities. For Republican politics to survive there had to be hate, for their ideas to flourish there had to be division, for their aims to be achieved there had to be murder.

7 [ type text ] The Altnaveigh Massacre The IRA did not take long to establish its sectarian agenda as it attempted to destroy the protestant population along the border. The aim was to actually affect the outcome of a Border Commission, which was attempting to define the border. Making Northern Ireland so small as to no longer be viable was coupled with a general attempt to destabilise the state. Border raids, mass kidnappings, murder and various human rights abuses were intended to show the Unionist Government that it could not control areas of the country or protect its innocent citizens. As the infant state struggled for its survival it raised a Special Constabulary to restore law and order and protect vulnerable people from Republican murder gangs.

8 The B Specials as it became known was composed of ordinary people from both traditions, both protestant and Roman Catholic - yes Roman Catholic! However Roman Catholic recruits were especially targeted for assassination and ostricisation by Republicans. The force as a whole became the focus for Republican attack and propaganda. Many in our area served valiantly and voluntarily in this Special Constabulary as a means of defending their family and home. They did this out of a sense of duty and loyalty, to their country, faith and family. This band of ordinary men was drawn from all walks of life and gave up their spare time to guard the homes of Ulster. Their success and dedication meant that innocent families could sleep safely in their beds free from the murderous attack of the IRA.

9 It is nigh time for a reassessment of this force after decades of lies and propaganda. We therefore pay tribute to all those who served in the Ulster Special Constabulary and in particular those who paid the ultimate price for our continuing freedom. The Altnaveigh Massacre is only one example of the Human Rights abuse and Ethnic Cleansing of our people. It goes a long way to proving the unchanging evil face of Republicanism and the role played by senior members of the Dublin Government in the murders in our area. The murders were co-ordinated by Frank Aiken, who went on to become External Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister in the Republic during the fifties under De Valera. He continued in the Irish cabinet until 1969.

10 A South Armagh man from a strongly republican village, Aiken showed "no compunction about shooting unarmed Protestants". The IRA unit of several hundred men, which Aiken commanded, were recruited in South Armagh-North Louth and parts of Co Tyrone and South Down. He led terrorist attacks on Newtownhamilton and Camlough police stations, and before the Altnaveigh massacre, he was involved in the murders of policemen, soldiers and civilians. [ type text ] On April 23, 1923, Frank Aiken was elected chief-of-Staff of the IRA. He was politically and militarily active from a young age, joining the Irish Volunteers at sixteen, and within a few years becoming Chairman of the Armagh Comhairle Ceanntair of Sinn F in and elected onto Armagh County Council.