THE mother of a man shot dead by the LVF 20 years ago believes the killers may have carried out the sectarian attack to clear a £1,000 drugs debt with the loyalist group.
Philip Allen was shot dead along with his close friend Damien Trainor as the pair sat in a bar in Poyntzpass, Co Armagh on March 3 1998.
The brutal double murder made headlines across the globe as it emerged the lifelong pals were from different religious backgrounds.
The SDLP’s Seamus Mallon and former UUP leader David Trimble visited Poyntzpass and met relatives of the two men in a powerful show of unity between nationalists and unionists.
Former secretary of state Mo Mowlam also visited relatives.
The Good Friday Agreement was signed just weeks after the deadly attack at the Railway Bar.
Owners of Poyntzpass bar recall night LVF killers struck
Loyalists Stephen McClean and Noel McCready laughed and joked in court as they were sentenced to life for the savage murders, with a judge saying it "will be remembered as one of the most heinous events in the history of Northern Ireland".
Banbridge man Ryan Robley also pleaded guilty to his part in the killings and was given a lengthy jail term.
A fourth man, suspected informer David Keys, was killed in jail by the LVF while on remand just days after the two friends were murdered.
McCready and McClean were released from prison in 2000 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement but were later arrested after a man was badly beaten in a row over paramilitary flag.
Although they were acquitted, then secretary of state Peter Mandelson revoked their early release licences and they remained in prison until 2010.
Philip Allen’s mother Ethel is the last surviving parent of the two men who were killed.
She now believes McClean and McCready took part in the murders to clear a £1,000 drug debt to the LVF.
“I don’t know why they picked Philip and Damien but I was told that they owed £1,000 for drugs and if they killed two Catholics that was their bill paid for. And that came from a reliable source," she said.
“But they didn’t kill two Catholics, they didn’t care.
“Why was them boys' two lives only worth £500? A life is worth a hell of a lot more than that.”
Mrs Allen praised her son as a hard worker.
“He was quiet and was a good child and he worked hard,” she said.
“He never was on the broo for the length of time he lived.”
The 74-year-old said she can't forgive the men who murdered Philip.
“No, nor forget. I couldn't,” she said.
“I don’t know whether that’s because I’m not religious.
“I don’t know how anyone can stand up and say that ‘I forgive them for what they done’, I can’t.
“I have only three grandchildren, I could have had six grandchildren.
“I could have seen Philly happily married.”
However, Mrs Allen said she may be willing to meet the killers, who she says knew both victims.
“I think I would but they would have to answer the questions I wanted answered, it wouldn’t be me just answering their questions,” she said.
“Why did they do it whenever they knew the boys - were the two boys easy targets?
“The pub was full because there was sale on, there was plenty of other ones there - why was it just them two?”
At the time of his death Mr Allen was engaged to be married to his long-time girlfriend Carol Magill and had asked Mr Trainor to be his best man.
His mother said the publication of a photograph of Stephen McClean in a local newspaper in recent years caused her further hurt.
“McLean, he is married now and he has two of a family,” she said.
“It hurt that he was able to live and get married and my son wasn’t.”
The grandmother revealed that the close friends died at the same place on the road as they were being brought to hospital.
“The two of them died at the same spot going in the two ambulances to the hospital,” she said.
“The ambulance drivers said they never had an experience like it before.
“It was as if the two boys was still in contact with one another.
“And I think it was Damien that actually died first and whenever Philly came to the same spot he died too.”
Mrs Allen said the murders brought the people of the area closer together.
“The pass always was close and we always thought it would never happen to us because we were so close,” she said.
The grieving mother said she intends to put flowers at her son’s grave and otherwise remain at home his anniversary tomorrow.
“I find it hard to talk about it,” she said.
“It’s all right talking now... but the nearer it gets, then it gets harder."
Read more:Owners of Poyntzpass bar recall night LVF killers struck
