A SURVIVOR of the Sean Graham bookmakers massacre met with Taoiseach Micheál Martin yesterday ahead of today’s 30th anniversary.
Five people died when the UDA burst into the Ormeau Road bookmakers in south Belfast and opened fire on February 5 1992.
Those killed were Peter Magee (18), James Kennedy (15), Christy Doherty (51), William McManus (54) and Jack Duffin (66).
Seven people were also injured in the attack.
A Relatives for Justice delegation, including survivor Mark Sykes, met with Mr Martin and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald yesterday.
Nationalists believe there was security force collusion in the murders with one of the guns used, a Czech-made VZ58, is thought to have come from a batch smuggled into the north by loyalists with the help or knowledge of British intelligence.
Another gun used in the attack had been given to police by a UDA agent before being handed back to the killer gang.
Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson is due to publish the results of Operation Achille, which examines the bookmakers atrocity and other murders, on Monday.
Mr Sykes, a brother-in-law of Peter Magee, last night said that in previous reports the Police Ombudsman has stopped short of saying attacks could have been prevented.
But he said he believed their case was different as the weapons “were handed to loyalist death squads in the murders of our loved ones and they could have been prevented”.
He said the last three decades have taken a toll on loved ones.
“I think it’s been a long campaign, a long struggle for families who have had to carry the burden of fighting for truth and justice for families for 30-odd years and hopefully that day is coming to an end and soon,” he said.
“But it’s been a difficult 30 years for families and so many families have lost loved ones along the way, who are never going to see truth and justice.”
Mr Sykes said relatives remain determined to continue campaigning.
“They are obviously emotional that it’s the 30th anniversary,” he said.
“Some of them weren’t born at the time and carry this within them through their families and they have always said that should anything not happen on Monday to their satisfaction that they will carry it on for the next 30 years.”
He added that survivors who have passed away since the attack will never see the truth told.
“We are talking about five people murdered that day and in the intervening 30 years five of those injured have passed away also,” he said.
“They will never see truth and justice and it’s very sad that that is the case.”
The meeting with the taoiseach came a year after 3,500 relatives of people killed during the Troubles penned an open letter calling on the British and Irish governments to implement proposals to deal with the past.
Mr Sykes said he told Mr Martin that relatives “would welcome a statement” from him “after the publication Operation Achille on Monday”.
Relatives for Justice (RFJ) chairman Bill Rolston, who led the delegation, described the meeting as constructive.
“Families are encouraged and both the leader of the opposition and taoiseach have committed themselves to doing all in their power to ensure that there’s implementation of the Stormont House Agreement and that there is no amnesty.”
The meeting was also attended by Mark Thompson from RFJ and Seana Quinn, whose brother Dwayne O’Donnell was shot dead by loyalists at Cappagh, Co Tyrone, in March 1991.
