McGurk’s Bar bombing families to present new evidence to Police Ombudsman on Friday

15 men, women and children were killed and 16 others seriously injured in a 1971 unionist UVF bombing that the RUC police and British Army tried to pin on the IRA

FAMILY MEMBERS of those murdered in the McGurk’s Bar massacre are to meet the Police Ombudsman’s Office on Friday morning to present new evidence uncovered by researcher and family member Ciarán Mac Airt.

On 4 December 1971, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) planted a no-warning bomb on the doorstep of McGurk’s Bar. The bar was located at the corner of North Queen Street and Great Georges Street, close to St Patrick’s Church in north Belfast.

After the bomb exploded, 15 men, women and children lay dead; 16 others were seriously injured as the building collapsed.

Ciarán Mac Airt, is a grandson of McGurk’s Bar victims Kathleen Irvine (who died in the attack) and her husband, John (who survived).

Ciarán said ahead of meeting the Police Ombudsman’s Office:

“The new documents completely undermine all the Historical Enquiries Team’s and even the Ombudsman’s reports into the tragedy.

“Despite being alerted to these crucial documents in October 2015, the PSNI Chief Constable did nothing about them.

“The Ombudsman is being invited to consider the new evidence and rule if this amounts to collusion and a perversion of the course of justice.”