Northern Ireland

Government has built a ‘big wall’ to hide the truth, says Troubles victim

Dessie Trainor’s mother and two brothers were murdered by loyalists in the 1970s.

Dessie Trainor says legacy legislation will deny families
Dessie Trainor says legacy legislation will deny families (Liam McBurney/PA)
By David Young, PA

A man whose mother and two brothers were killed by loyalist paramilitaries has accused the Government of building a “big wall” to conceal the truth.

Dessie Trainor, 62, says legacy legislation will deny families simple answers about the deaths of their loved ones.

In 1975, when Mr Trainor was 13, his mother Dorothy was shot dead by Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) gunmen as she walked home in Portadown, Co Armagh, after a night out with his father Malachy, who was injured in the shooting.

Dessie Trainor, who was 13 when his mother, Dorothy, was murdered and his father, Malachy, was injured in a gun attack on April 1st, 1975 by members of the Glennane Gang, the notorious loyalist gang made up of members of the Ulster Volunteer Force, Ulster Defence Regiment soldiers and Royal Ulster Constabulary policy officers. Dorothy, a Protestant, and Malachy, a Catholic, parents to 11 children, were walking back through a Portadown park from a night out at the British Legion when they were targeted by the UVF gang, speaks with PA Media at St Comgall’s Community Hub in Belfast. PA Photo. Picture date: Monday April 29 2024. See PA story ULSTER Legacy Trainor. Photo credit should read: Liam McBurney/PA Wire
Dessie Trainor, who was 13 when his mother, Dorothy, was murdered and his father, Malachy, was injured in a gun attack on April 1st, 1975 by members of the Glennane Gang, the notorious loyalist gang made up of members of the Ulster Volunteer Force, Ulster Defence Regiment soldiers and Royal Ulster Constabulary policy officers. Dorothy, a Protestant, and Malachy, a Catholic, parents to 11 children, were walking back through a Portadown park from a night out at the British Legion when they were targeted by the UVF gang, speaks with PA Media at St Comgall’s Community Hub in Belfast. PA Photo. Picture date: Monday April 29 2024. See PA story ULSTER Legacy Trainor. Photo credit should read: Liam McBurney/PA Wire (Liam McBurney/PA)

Months later one of his brothers, Ronnie, was killed in a UVF bomb attack on the family home in Portadown.

In 1978, another brother, Tommy, and his friend were shot dead by loyalists as they walked to sign on at the town’s dole office.

There were convictions in relation to that attack, but no one has faced justice for the murders of Dorothy or Ronnie Trainor.

Members of the notorious UVF Glenanne gang, whose membership included rogue members of the security forces, are suspected in both cases.

Mr Trainor said his life was “ruined” from the moment his mother was shot dead.

“The British Government says everything’s going to be OK, everything’s going to be rosy, but if we say ‘tell us the truth’ then it’s ‘oh no, we can’t do that’,” he said.

“That’s all I am looking for – all I am looking for is the truth of what happened to my mum and my two brothers.

“It’s all behind that big wall that the British Government has put up, all the truth, it’s all there, but they won’t give us it.

“Why not tell the people that have been affected? I just don’t understand it.”

In regard to the Legacy Act’s aim of promoting reconciliation, Mr Trainor questioned whether ministers were expecting him to reconcile with those responsible for the murders of his family members.

“Who am I going to reconcile with? Who am I going to reconcile myself with?” he asked.

“I would love to go to somebody and say ‘OK, you were the people who’ve done this, can I reconcile with you?’.

“They’re probably not here (any more).”