NI 'not ready' for deaths probe

More than 3,000 unsolved murders of the Troubles are being re-examined. Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, anyone convicted of terrorist killings would not serve a lengthy prison sentence. But how do victims' families feel?

Eugene Reavey's three brothers, aged 24, 22 and 17, were shot dead in their home at Whitecross in south Armagh by the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force in 1976.

Eugene Reavey says he does not want the killers to go to jail

He has claimed there was security force collusion in the murders and wants the authorities to track down those responsible.

But he does not want the killers to go to jail.

"I don't think that's going to serve any purpose," he said.

"Thirty years - it's been gnawing away at me, every day for 30 years.

"It doesn't seem like 30 years and if you talk about closure as the secretary of state has been talking about in his bill, closure for us doesn't mean some piece of legislation.

"Closure means that we know who killed him. The dogs in the street know who killed my brothers but the authorities seem to have some hindrance in their way to stop them going and prosecuting these people."

---

BEA WHARTON

The day after the Reavey brothers were killed, 10 Protestant workmen were murdered by the IRA at Kingsmills in south Armagh. Two people survived the attack.

Earlier this month, relatives of the men took part in a 30 minute service at the scene of the murders.

Bea Wharton's son Kenneth was among the victims

At that time, Bea Wharton, whose son Kenneth was among the victims, said it was important the anniversary of the murders was remembered.

"You look at other people Kenny's age and you will say to yourself: 'I wonder would he be like that today if he was living?'

"He would be coming 54, and I was only 48 when he was killed and now I am 78."

On Friday, as the specialist team began to review unsolved murders, she said she wanted to see justice.

"We want to see that and to see truth - that is right.

"How it happened and who did it. You go from day to day and you don't know who has done it - you could be talking to the ones who did it and you don't know.

"You want to see some truth - definitely. The truth never hurts - it always comes out right in the end."

---

JUDE WHYTE

Margaret (Peggy) Whyte, 52, was murdered in 1984 by a loyalist bomb, thought to have been from the UVF, at the front of her home in University Street, Belfast. Police constable Michael Dawson, 23, from Newtownards, was also killed in the attack.

Margaret Whyte was murdered in 1984

Her son Jude is opposed to the new review, preferring instead a South African-style Truth Commission, which he says, would mean people could get "closure":

"I don't think that Northern Ireland is ready for a cold case investigation," he said.

"I don't think it's ready. You know, this is a Pandora's box which will be opened by hundreds of new cases.

"And, I mean, if we take them to their logical conclusion - and there is enough evidence to present to a court - under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, nobody goes to prison anyway."

But Mr Whyte has no desire for his mother's killers to serve a jail term.

Constable Michael Dawson, 23, also died in the bombing

"I have a mild curiosity into who killed my mother. It used to be a great curiosity, but now it's a mild curiosity. I see nothing to be gained by anyone being charged with my mother's death," he said.

"I see less to be gained by somebody beginning a lifetime prison sentence, who's probably in their 40s or 50s now. I think if people want the truth, and they want to reconcile, this is a journey people have to look into their own hearts primarily, and not to the state."

---

DAVID ANNETTE

David Annette, a former police officer, lost his brother Norman on 1 July 1989. His IRA killers also tried to kill their mother Susan Annette, who was shot in the stomach during the incident in Coleraine.

David Annette said the investigation had been "lax"

His brother was stationed at an RUC station in Belfast and he had returned to Coleraine to see his mother.

The killers shot him four times and shot his mother after she tried to grab hold of one of their weapons.

"From my point of view, I wasn't really briefed in relation to this murder at all - that's how I feel about it.

"I know people who live not so far away who actually saw the car at the back of my mother's house - approximately a mile away and they then came over the fields.

"The fact that my brother was actually a member of the force, the RUC, I felt a little bit more could have been put in to the investigation.

"I felt it was a wee bit lax in comparison to some other inquiries which I was even involved in myself. There was no liaison at all - not at all.

"I don't remember anyone coming up to me and saying: 'Dave, I want to speak to you about the death of your late brother Norman'."