Wreaths laid for Newry Volunteers – Óglaigh Brendan Watters and Colm Murtagh

‘Both of these men stood up for their communities during the darkest days of the conflict in the North’

SINN FÉIN members from Newry – including MP Conor Murphy, MLA Mickey Brady and Councillor Valerie Harte – have laid wreaths on the graves of two Volunteers on the Newry Roll of Honour to mark their anniversaries: Brendan Watters and Colm Murtagh.

Óglach Colm Murtagh died in action on 9 August 1972 – the first anniversary of internment. He was tragically killed aged 18 in a premature explosion on the Dublin Road, Newry. In this incident Colm bravely threw himself on top of a bomb as it was about to explode, saving the lives of a number of his comrades and civilians.  Colm is buried in the Republican Plot in St Mary’s Cemetery in Newry.

Óglach Brendan Watters (known as ‘Cindy’ to his friends) was killed tragically on 8 August 1984 when a hand grenade he was carrying exploded prematurely. Brendan was 24 when he died. Brendan’s funeral cortege was hijacked by the RUC as it left Craigavon and attacked on the day of his funeral. 

Newry Assembly Member Mickey Brady paid tribute to both men:

“It is fitting that we remember Ireland’s patriot dead and for this reason we have come to lay wreaths on the graves of Colm Murtagh and Brendan Watters whose anniversaries occur at this time. 

“Both of these men stood up for their communities during the darkest days of the conflict in the North. Thankfully, young people today can use political means to achieve a fairer society, unfortunately in the 1970s and 1980s that option was not available and many young men and women risked their own lives for the sake of others.

“The Republican Movement holds Brendan Watters and Colm Murtagh in the highest esteem and we remember them with pride.”