Video - Candlelit vigil marks 20th anniversary of Loughinisland massacre

HUNDREDS of people took part in a candlelit vigil in the village of Loughinisland, County Down, to mark the 20th anniversary of the murder of six local men by a UVF death squad acting in collusion with British state forces.

Eamon Byrne (39), Barney Green (87), Malcolm Jenkinson (53), Daniel McCreanor (59), Patrick O Hare (35) and Adrian Rogan (34) suffered multiple gunshot wounds in the back as they sat watching the Ireland v Italy World Cup game on 18 June 1994.

Two masked men stormed into the pub and fired up to 30 bullets from an AK-47 and a Czech-made rifle into the patrons. No-one has ever been convicted of the brutal sectarian rampage, which devastated the quiet village of Loughinisland and left nine children without a father.

Sinn Féin MLA Chris Hazzard accused the PSNI of doing all in its power to thwart an investigation into the massacre over its failure to hand over files to the Police Ombudsman.

“The PSNI's fresh appeal for information is an insult to people’s intelligence and to the families of the victims in particular," he said.

“The PSNI should immediately hand over all its files on the massacre to the Police Ombudsman and actively assist his investigation into RUC and British intelligence collusion with the killers."

Chris Hazzard says there is a large body of evidence which now points to the involvement of at least two state agents in the murders.

"The PSNI needs to end its policy of denying the truth to the survivors and families of the victims of the massacre."