Latest news with #ShankillRoad
BBC News
5 days ago
- BBC News
Bayardo Bar attack commemoration held on 50th anniversary
A commemoration event has taken place in west Belfast to mark the 50th anniversary of the Bayardo Bar attack on the Shankill 13 August 1975, five people were killed and more than 60 were injured when the IRA launched a bombing and shooting attack on the bar. Those killed were William John Gracey, 63, Samuel Gunning, 55, Joanne McDowell, 29, Hugh Alexander Harris, 21, and 17-year-old Linda Boyle, who died a week after the attack from her Wednesday evening, members of the local community gathered to remember them. A short parade by a flute band which marched from Tennent Street along the Shankill Road preceded a laying of wreaths by victims' families and members of the Bayardo Somme Association, who organised the event. The wreaths were laid at the memorial to the Bayardo Bar attack on the corner of Argyle events of 50 years ago made the headlines this week as a tribute was paid to one of the men convicted of carrying out the attack, former senior IRA leader Brendan "Bik" McFarlane, at the Féile an Phobail event in Falls Park on Sunday evening. McFarlane died in February this year. McFarlane and two other IRA members, Peter Hamilton and Seamus Clarke, were sentenced to life imprisonment for carrying out the attack. John MacVicar is the editor of The Shankill Mirror and was at the commemoration on Wednesday evening. He said like so many other attacks that have taken place, it leaves an impact on families and the community. He said seeing "one of the perpetrators of the attack eulogised" at the Féile an Phobail event "doesn't help". "It's hurtful," he family of Linda Boyle have said they were "absolutely disgusted" by the "sick" tribute. Speaking ahead of the 50th anniversary, the family issued a statement which said: "Wednesday will be a particularly difficult day although there have been few easy days since the Provisional IRA stole away our beautiful Linda and the others that fateful day." It went on to say how Linda would now be of retirement age and should be "relaxing and exploring a further chapter of life"."Linda's storybook was ended before she got beyond her first chapter," it Donaldson, from the South East Fermanagh Foundation, which supports victims and survivors of terrorism, said for this tribute to come just days before the anniversary of the bombing ws "particularly cruel and crass". Féile an Phobail have been contacted for a response.
Irish Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Victim's family condemns ‘disgusting' Féile na Phobail tribute to Brendan ‘Bik' McFarlane
The family of a young woman murdered during the Troubles has called the tribute paid to her killer at Féile an Phobail as 'absolutely disgusting'. An image of Brendan 'Bik' McFarlane appeared on the screen during a show by Scottish band Shebeen at the closing night of Féile an Phobail in Belfast on Sunday night. Féile an Phobail , which bills itself as Ireland's biggest community arts festival, is partially funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs ' Reconciliation Fund, which gave €157,704 in 2022. Linda Boyle (17) was killed during a machine gun and bomb attack on the Bayardo Bar on the Shankill Road in August 1975 McFarlane, who died earlier this year, was convicted and sentenced for the Bayardo Bar massacre which occurred 50 years ago on August 13th, 1975. READ MORE Then aged 23, he and two others, Peter Christopher Skeet Hamilton (22) and Séamus Joseph Clarke (19) carried out a bomb and gun attack on the pub they suspected of being used by UVF members. A tribute to Brendan 'Bik' McFarlane on the screen at the Falls Park tonight as Shebeen sing Marcella, the song Bik wrote in memory of his friend and comrade Bobby Sands. — Féile an Phobail (@FeileBelfast) Two civilians were machine-gunned to death outside the pub while three more died in the subsequent explosion which injured dozens of people. Among those killed in the Bayardo Bar massacre was 17-year-old Linda Boyle. In a statement marking the 50th anniversary, Ms Boyle's family said what happened on Sunday night – which was shared on the Féile an Phobail social media channel – was a 'sick tribute'. They added: 'We can barely find the words to express how we feel about what happened. It's so depressing that these things happen, and it's not an isolated incident, almost weekly we see instances of glorification of terrorism and what's done about it? 'We rejoice in how Linda lived and the values she represented, and no one will ever take that away from us.' They stated that Linda was a 'stylish young woman who was caring and friendly and who had a real zest for life. 'She would now be of retirement age and would be at a point where she should be relaxing and exploring a further chapter of life, Linda's storybook was ended before she got beyond her first chapter.' The South East Fermanagh Foundation, which supports victims of the Troubles, said the events of Sunday night were part of a 'concerted campaign on the part of Irish republicans to infiltrate the genre of traditional Irish music, to integrate what was once fringe rebel music into the mainstream'. McFarlane was officer commanding in the H Blocks during the hunger strikes of 1981. According to David Beresford, the author of the 1987 book Ten Men Dead, McFarlane's crimes were such that it would have been a 'one-man public relations disaster' had he gone on hunger strike too. McFarlane escaped from the Maze Prison in September 1983. He was later charged in connection with the kidnapping of businessman Don Tidey , a case that went on for nearly a decade. Mr Tidey was kidnapped in November 1983. He was kept in a hideout in Derrada Wood outside Ballinamore in Co Leitrim until December 16th of that year when it was discovered by a search party involving gardaí and army personnel. Pte Patrick Kelly and recruit Garda Gary Sheehan were shot dead by the IRA gang when they came across the hideout 23 days after Tidey's abduction. The gang also shot and seriously wounded Det Sgt Donie Kelleher before fleeing. McFarlane was named by gardaí as a suspect in the aftermath of the events of Derrada Wood even before forensic evidence confirmed that his fingerprints were found in the hideout. A garda at the scene later identified McFarlane as one of the gunmen who shot directly at him during the escape. McFarlane allegedly confessed to the kidnapping and murders at Dundalk Garda station after being arrested in 1998. After a lengthy trial process, the confession was deemed as inadmissible and the case collapsed.
BBC News
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Féile an Phobail: Family of IRA victim call Féile tribute 'sick'
The family of Linda Boyle, who was killed in a bomb in west Belfast in 1975, have said they are "absolutely disgusted" by the "sick" tribute to former senior IRA member Brendan McFarlane at this year's Féile an Phobail event. McFarlane was jailed for the gun and bomb attack on the Bayardo Bar on Belfast's Shankill Road, which killed five people, including Ms Boyle, and injured 60 Boyle was 17-years-old when she died from the injuries she sustained in the attack. The tribute to McFarlane took place during a performance by the band Shebeen during the Féile an Phobail festival in Falls Park on Sunday. On Tuesday, speaking ahead of the 50th anniversary of the Bayardo pub bombing, the family of Linda Boyle issued a statement which said: "Wednesday will be a particularly difficult day although there have been few easy days since the Provisional IRA stole away our beautiful Linda and the others that fateful day." It went on to say how Linda would now be of retirement age and should be "relaxing and exploring a further chapter of life". "Linda's storybook was ended before she got beyond her first chapter," it added. 'Cruel and crass' It's understood that during the event on Sunday, the band Shebeen performed a song called 'Marcella', written by McFarlane in memory of hunger striker Bobby Sands. A picture of McFarlane was then projected onto the stage screen behind the band to a crowd of thousands. Linda Boyle's family described the tribute as "absolutely disgusting, especially as the 50th anniversary was only a few days away". "Why do some within this society continue to stoke the fires, why do they want to continue to hurt the innocent?" they added. Kenny Donaldson from the South East Fermanagh Foundation, a terrorism victims advocacy group, said that for this tribute to come just days before the anniversary of the bombing is "particularly cruel and crass". He said it was "shameful" and those involved "will have been very aware of what they were doing". Brendan 'Bik' McFarlane died in February. He was the leader of IRA prisoners in the Maze during the 1981 hunger strike, where he was serving five life sentences for also led a mass escape of 38 inmates from the prison near Lisburn in prison officer died of a heart attack after being stabbed and six other officers were stabbed or shot during the was later caught in Amsterdam and extradited to Northern Ireland along with fellow escapee, Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly. Féile an Phobail have been contacted for a response.
BBC News
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
The Twelfth: Belfast women say celebrations are generations in the making
The Twelfth has been celebrated by Stacey Graham's family for Graham, from the Shankill Road in Belfast, was part of an all-woman band playing accordions and drums on the road on Friday."My family members were members of the Orange Order for many, many years," she told BBC News NI."My kids now, they get involved in the parade, my kids would be out volunteering around the different cultural events."So for us it's that sort of warm, welcoming, family atmosphere." Friday was a day of festivities, with the Greater Shankill Community Festival taking place."The Shankill's usually buzzing," Ms Graham said."It would start off during the day with barbeques, Lambeg drummers, highland dancers, just bringing the community together to get the atmosphere up and running.""It finishes off about seven o'clock with a parade on the Shankill."It's quite apt this year that the theme we're running with is bonfires, to showcase that bonfires are a real positive community cultural expression." Julie Davidson from the ACT Initiative - a community group based on the Shankill - said preparations had been taking place for weeks."I run a women's programme in the ACT Initiative and we have been meeting for six to eight weeks," she said."We would make a lot of costumes for all the festivals that would go on on the Shankill.""The whole community turns out."Like Stacey Graham, Ms Davidson said she had been brought up with the Twelfth."I have enjoyed the Twelfth from I was born on the Shankill Road in 1970," she said."It's always been a big day to the community, to my family, to me." The Woodvale Festival has been taking place all week in Woodvale Park in west Belfast and Friday was family fun brought a fun fair to the park and a street party in Twaddell the road, visitors to the area were offered free tours of the historic west Belfast Queen Elizabeth II Orange Hall from William Humphrey, who is a former Democratic Unionist Party assembly member and chairman of the Orange said the Twelfth attracted people to the area."We've got people from across the United Kingdom who are here to take part in tomorrow's procession, but we've also got people right across the world," he said."I was speaking to someone only moments ago who's travelled all the way from California to witness the Twelfth.""The Twelfth of July is a huge community and cultural event."At the back of the Orange Hall children were getting some face paint and temporary tattoos, while their families got some shade from the hot sun. With the annual Twelfth celebrations though, came controversy around some have been concerns over asbestos at a bonfire in south a contentious bonfire in County Tyrone, with an effigy of refugees in a boat on top of it, is being investigated as a hate incident by Ms Graham, the controversy should not overshadow the Twelfth."There's a frustration for me because the controversy around bonfires is often unwarranted," she said."I feel that there are people that would use anything to try and demonise Orange or loyalist or unionist culture.""For us, it's important for people to see events like this to showcase that we are so much more than the negative stereotypes and the demonization that some people try to put upon our community."
