Service of Christian unity at St Columb's Cathedral

SEFF’s Director of Services Kenny Donaldson explains: “We face into 30 years of 50th Anniversaries in the context of the events of the terrorist campaign/’The Troubles’ and as an organisation we felt it important to offer leadership around these issues”.

“Assembled within the Cathedral on Friday night were innocents impacted by both republican and loyalist terror from across these islands, others opted out from attending and that is deeply regrettable, we hope that a time may come when they will be willing to engage in wider communal remembrance, understanding the need to express solidarity with the loss and injustice experienced by their own neighbours”.

“1972 was a truly brutal year with almost 500 deaths with over 4,000 injured, many of those impacted feel marginalised and that somehow their loved one(s) have been forgotten, they have not felt acknowledged, Friday night went some way to redressing this”.

“SEFF wishes to acknowledge the courageous victims/survivors who not only attended the Service but who also participated in events; we also thank all connected with St Columb’s Cathedral (including Bishop Andrew Forster) for facilitating a Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving for lives well lived (however short they were cut)”.

“SEFF will continue to push ahead with facilitating opportunities or innocents to join together across faith and political boundaries; let us forever remember that denominational religion and politics has the potential to Divide, but it is our Values that Unite us,” concluded Mr Donaldson.

The evening included a contribution from Eugene McVeigh, who provided a Reflection.

“I’m Eugene McVeigh. I’m the elder brother of Columba McVeigh who was abducted and murdered in 1975. He was 19 years old. His body has never found.

“Columba’s remains lie somewhere in the Monaghan bogland where he was killed over 47 years ago. He was named as one of the so called Disappeared 20 years after his murder. Despite enormous efforts over that time by the The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains my brother is one of three people from that troubled past who has not been found. The other two missing persons are Joe Lynskey, who was abducted and murdered in 1972 and Captain Robert Nairac, GC, who was abducted and murdered in 1977.

“During that passage of time from my brother’s disappearance until the revelation that he was murdered, my father and mother passed on never truly knowing the circumstances of their son’s disappearance and death. And most importantly to them, the ultimate indignity of Columba being denied a Christian burial.

“Like many here tonight my family’s greatest pain over time has been the one of feeling helpless in the face of such an atrocity.

We have been hurt and at times very angry too when reflecting of the injustice and brutality Inflicted on Columba. Perhaps not unlike how we all feel today at the brutal events in Ukraine.

“But as individuals and as a community our strength lies in dealing with that pain and the personal tragedies of that past.

“That’s why I’m grateful to be present in this magnificent cathedral tonight and to stand with you who know what pain and hurt and loss is really about. This Lenten period is often referred to as the long walk towards Calvary. I take comfort in walking with all of you present this evening.

“Each year in spring the families of the disappeared attend a commemoration Mass in Armagh. We give thanks for those found and for the last missing three souls. Each year the families receive a candle to remember their loved ones; for who have been found and those souls who are still missing.

“This year I will be remembering two of the last remaining lost victims. My brother of course but also Captain Robert Nairac.

In 2011 while in Afghanistan filming a documentary on The Grenadier Guards, I spent some considerable time with several officers who fathers (and possibly in some cases grandfathers) who had served with Capt. Nairac, himself a Grenadier Officer. I resolved at that time to honour his memory.

“I finally hope to bring the candle I was privileged to accept (pre Covid) on behalf of the family of Capt. Nairac and place it in the Oratory of his former college at Ampleforth in England.

“So just as tonight we remember all those who perished during our long conflict, we also remember the families and friends left behind to deal with the aftermath of these brutal events of the past. Tonight, in this place of prayer we honour our living and our deceased.”

Shane Laverty (brother of RUC Constable Robert Laverty) who was murdered on the Antrim road, Belfast by Provisional IRA terrorists in 1972 commented: “I felt privileged to have been asked to do the first reading in this very poignant service. As I stepped up to the lectern, I bowed my head and quietly spoke the words “for Robert”. Then as I looked out over a sea of expectant faces, I could silently hear each one say the name of a loved one cruelly taken by senseless violent individuals”.

“We are in a cycle of 30 years of 50th anniversaries, but truthfully, for us, each family occasion is an anniversary! The events of 1972 changed the lives of very many families”.

“On Friday night, we remembered the silent sacrifice. No big headlines, no multi-million-pound inquiry, just dignified, prayerful and loving thoughts for innocents, lost!”

Meanwhile Richard Bell, survivor of an assassination bid upon him, his Dad and brother Robin which resulted in the murder of his brother Pte Robin Bell (an off duty UDR soldier) in Newtownbutler, County Fermanagh remarked:

“The Service was deeply important for my family, I felt that the experiences of our family and so many others were validated”.

“There was a lot of pain and unresolved injustice in that Church building but the Service was also uplifting and there was a real sense of Hope that ran through proceedings”.

“It is important for my family that the Churches walk with us and beside us”.

Robin was murdered by Provisional IRA terrorists and he read a prayer at the Service.