Strabane Volunteers remembered

IN THE EARLY HOURS of Saturday, 23 February 1985, undercover British forces ambushed and summarily executed three young IRA Volunteers Charles Breslin and brothers Michael and David Devine, in a field overlooking Casement Place in the Head of the Town area.
The deaths plunged the Strabane community into deep shock, sorrow and anger and on Tuesday 26 February, Strabane witnessed its largest ever funerals, as countless thousands turned out in a massive show of solidarity with the Breslin and Devine families.
Soon after the deaths the Strabane Memorial Flute Band was established in memory of the dead Volunteers and an annual flute band competition has taken place in the town ever since.
This year’s competition took place in Strabane last Sunday 24 February when about 300 people marched behind the four bands while hundreds more lined the route during the three-hour procession. This is a big event every year attracting participation from youth from all around West Tyrone. The success of the event is a measure of the esteem in which the three Volunteers were held and an indication that their memory has never diminished.