'Collusion' in teenager's murder

Henry Cunningham (Picture from Irish News)

The gun used by loyalist paramilitaries to kill a Donegal teenager 35 years ago was stolen from an army base, according to a new investigation.

Henry Cunningham, 16, from Carndonagh, died in August 1973 when loyalist gunmen ambushed the van he was in.

His family said detectives also uncovered evidence of security force collusion in their brother's murder.

The details emerged after a fresh investigation by the Historical Enquiries Team.

Henry Cunningham was travelling home on the M2 when UVF gunmen opened fire on the van from a motorway bridge.

His older brother Herbie, who was driving, was injured, but a third brother, Robert, was unhurt.

"We are very angry about this, that such a thing could happen, that people could allow these men with guns to go out and shoot innocent people," he said.

Herbie said it was hard for them to accept what had happened.

"I don't know how you'd put into words what they did do, what was the purpose of it, to shoot innocent people?," he said.

No-one has been prosecuted for the murder, and the family said the new evidence raises serious questions about the initial investigation.

They now want the taoiseach to take the case up with the British government.

'Shocking new information'

The brothers said the investigation had been a "long and painful process". "Many questions remain unanswered.

"The Historical Enquiries Team (HET) review has however provided us with some answers and with shocking new information about the circumstances of Henry's death," they said.

According to the report, one of the weapons used in the attack had been stolen from a UDR base in Lurgan in 1972.

The HET found evidence of collusion between loyalists and the security forces in the raid on the base.

Both murder weapons were recovered by the RUC in separate incidents in 1974, but despite being linked to a number of unsolved serious crimes, they were later destroyed by the RUC.

The HET also said that declassified documents noted that "there were high-level concerns regarding RUC elements 'too close to the UVF' and 'too ready to hand over information', and worries that loyalist extremists had heavily infiltrated the UDR."

'Incorrectly identified'

The report concluded that Henry Cunningham, other members of his family and work colleagues, were "specifically targeted as a group by the UVF in a pre-planned attack on 9 August 1973".

It said that it was likely they had been observed following a regular pattern, travelling on the M2 in a van with Republic of Ireland registration plates.

It also said they were all incorrectly identified as Catholics working in the construction industry.

Those in the van were both Catholic and Presbyterian.

"The ballistic linkage of one of the murder weapons to the double murder of Catholic workmen gives credence to this scenario," it said.