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12 April 2007 Edition

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Morely family respond to IRA statement

The family of Eoin Morely has responded to a statement issued last week by the IRA and carried in An Phoblacht. Eoin Morley was shot and killed in Newry on 15 April 1990. At the time allegations were made that he was an informer. In the course of a lengthy interview in An Phoblacht in November 1992 the IRA leadership described those allegations as, “incorrect and totally inaccurate”.
In its statement last week the IRA said that following meetings with Eoin Morley’s mother, the IRA leadership had conducted an in-depth inquiry into the circumstances surrounding his death. It said that no order was issued for his killing which it said was wrong. The statement went on to offer apologies to the Morley family “for the grief and pain they have suffered as a result of our actions and the subsequent false allegations levelled against Eoin Morley.”
This week the family of Eoin Morely issued the following statement:
“The Morley family would like to comment on  the  statement from the IRA regards the murder of  Eoin.  
“Seventeen years have passed since Eoin was shot on Easter Sunday 1990. We understand that it would have been easier for the Provisional movement to continue with the charade that were the ever changing “reasons” given to try to justify Eoin’s murder. For the PIRA to take the unprecedented step of fully retracting the explanation given at the time and in subsequent statements, and to apologise for what happened is a bold move and we, Eoin’s family, welcome it.
“We have always known that the PIRA did not sanction Eoin’s murder. Privately many members of the Provisional movement confirmed this and expressed their disgust at what happened.
“From the outset we suspected that Eoin died at the hands of British agents. Sadly history has proved us right. The statement from the IRA, and the recent investigation from the Police Ombudsman, Nuala O’Loan confirm what we, Eoin’s family, and  republicans in Newry have  known for years.
“Eoin was an active republican. The only people to benefit from his murder were the enemies of republicanism. It has now been established that the RUC Special Branch shielded Eoin’s killers, helping them to plan the killing and avoid  prosecution, even though a wealth of evidence was available against them.
“Collusion took many forms throughout the conflict, from the blatant targeting of Catholics by the RUC and their loyalist allies, to the age old tactic of using  paid agents, planted within the IRA and other republican groups, who were used to agitate from within, all to a FRU and  RUC Special Branch agenda.
“Eoin was murdered on Easter Sunday, still wearing his Easter Lily on his lapel. Easter Sunday is a day that is special to all Republicans. On that day we remember all those throughout the years who made the ultimate sacrifice in pursuit of the goals laid out in the Proclamation of 1916. Eoin Morley also paid the ultimate price, murdered by British agents because he dared to take up the fight. On this Easter Sunday, and every one to follow, we the Morley family will remember them all.
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An Phoblacht
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Ireland