‘Buried with a broken heart’

Bernie Smith, whose son, Royal Irish Ranger Cyril Smith QGM was killed in an IRA explosion 20 years ago, passed away in hospital on Wednesday, May 4 following a battle with cancer.

Hundreds of mourners joined her husband Cyril and daughters Heather and Karen for Saturday’s funeral service at their Willow Park home.

Mrs Smith had campaigned for justice and an inquiry into her son’s murder following allegations that the security forces were protecting a high-ranking informer. Ranger Smith was killed on October 24, 1990 by a so-called IRA proxy bomb at the border checkpoint at Killeen outside Newry.

Paying tribute to Mrs Smith, Alderman Billy Ashe said: “She was buried with a broken heart. The final say on Bernie’s fight has not been made. She was never able to come to terms with the death of her son who died in such tragic circumstances displaying the courage and commitment to the safety to others.”

(Full story in this week’s Carrick Times.)