Kingsmill Massacre - Background

Background

On 10 February 1975, the Provisional IRA and British government entered into a truce and re-started negotiations. The IRA agreed to halt attacks on the British security forces, and the security forces mostly ended its raids and searches. However, there were dissenters on both sides. Some Provisionals wanted no part of the truce, while British commanders resented being told to stop their operations against the IRA just when—they claimed—they had the Provisionals on the run. The security forces boosted their intelligence offensive during the truce and thoroughly infiltrated the IRA.

There was a rise in sectarian killings during the truce, which 'officially' lasted until February 1976. Loyalists, fearing they were about to be forsaken by the British government and forced into a united Ireland, increased their attacks on the Irish Catholic and nationalist community. Loyalists killed 120 Catholics in 1975, the vast majority civilians. They hoped to force the IRA to retaliate and thus hasten an end to the truce. Under orders not to engage the security forces, some IRA units concentrated on tackling the loyalists. The fall-off of regular operations had caused serious problems of internal discipline and some IRA members, with or without permission from higher up, engaged in tit-for-tat killings. Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) members, and current or former members of the Official IRA, were also involved.

Between the beginning of the truce (10 February 1975) and the Kingsmill massacre, loyalist paramilitaries killed 25 Catholic civilians in County Armagh and just over the border in County Louth. In that same period, republican paramilitaries killed 14 Protestant civilians and 16 members of the security forces in County Armagh.

• On 1 September, five Protestant civilians were killed by masked gunmen at Tullyvallan Orange Hall near Newtownhamilton. The attack was claimed by a group calling itself the "South Armagh Republican Action Force". This was the first time the name had been used.

• On 19 December, loyalists detonated a car bomb at Kay's Tavern in Dundalk, a few miles across the Irish border. No warning was given beforehand and two civilians were killed. Later that day, three Catholic civilians were killed and six were wounded in a gun and grenade attack on the Silverbridge Inn near Crossmaglen. The same group, "Red Hand Commandos", claimed responsibility for both attacks. On 14 March 1999, the Ireland on Sunday newspaper claimed that a member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and a member of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) had been part of the loyalist gang. The Irish News repeated this claim on 2 May 2006

• On 31 December, three Protestant civilians were killed in an explosion at Central Bar, Gilford. The "People's Republican Army" claimed responsibility. It is believed this was a cover name used by members of the INLA.

• Four days later, on 4 January 1976, the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade shot dead six Catholic civilians in two co-ordinated attacks. They killed three members of the Reavey family in Whitecross and three members of the O'Dowd family in Ballydougan, within twenty minutes of each other. The Irish News reported that the killings were in revenge for the bombing in Gilford, and in 1993 the Sunday Independent alleged that a UDR member had taken part.

The 2011 inquiry into the Kingsmill attack found that while it was in "direct response" to the Reavey and O'Dowd killings, the attack was pre-planned: "The murderous attacks on the Reavey and O’Dowd families were simply the catalyst for the premeditated and calculated slaughter of these innocent and defenceless men".