PEOPLE must continue to “walk together” out of the dark days of history for the sake of the victims of the 1972 Annie’s Bar massacre, relatives of the dead and injured have been told.
Five men were shot dead and four others injured when two UDA gunmen opened fire on a group watching a football match in the pub in Derry on the night of December 20 1972.
The killings took place following the Provisional IRA murder of UDR soldier George Hamilton just outside city on the same day.
Last night, relatives of the dead and wounded held a vigil and wreath-laying ceremony at the scene following a remembrance Mass, celebrated by Waterside parish priest, Fr Michael Canny, with retired Presbyterian minister, Rev David Latimer also officiating.
Fr Canny told the families the killers had evil in their hearts as they entered the bar 50 years ago.
He said they “brutally” silenced the joy of Christmas. The lives of many people in the Top of the Hill community were changed forever.
“The motive for this callous act was sectarian but evil cares not for faith. Among the dead was a Protestant, Charles Moore, aged 31, a nursing assistant who left behind two daughters, a third daughter was born just three weeks later.
“Charlie McCafferty, aged 30, had five stepchildren and a son and daughter. Barney Kelly was just 26, having married just three months earlier, his wife was expecting their first child. Michael McGinley, a married man, had played with his seven-month-old daughter, his pride and joy, before he headed out to watch the match. Frank McCarron was the oldest victim at 58. He was a widower and had six daughters and a son,” Fr Canny said.
The deaths brought to eight the number of people murdered through the Troubles on the day.
While not forgetting the pain of the massacre, the Top of the Hill community has worked together to build a brighter and better future, Fr Canny said.
“As we leave here this evening in hope, we will continue to walk together out of the dark days of our history, never forgetting them but keeping our hearts focused on living in and working for a community that offers hope, peace, joy and love. Our Christian faith demands it and those who died and were injured certainly deserve it,” he said.
While the 1972 murders were not part of the PSNI’s Legacy Investigation Branch, a police spokeswoman said that if credible investigative lines of inquiry were identified, they would be considered.
