IRA bomb victims quiz council over ‘low key’ unveiling of memorial plaque after 49 years of lobbying

Two IRA bombs on Tuesday 12 June 1973 killed six elderly Protestants - Francis Campbell, his wife Dina (72) and his sister Elizabeth Craigmile (76). The others were Robert Scott (72), Elizabeth Palmer (60) and Nan Davis (60). The only person convicted, Sean McGlinchey, later went on to become a Sinn Fein councillor in the borough.

Nan Davis’ granddaughter, Lesley Magee, says the families are now angered by the council giving only two to four days’ notice for unveiling a plaque in their memory after 49 years. 

“This has been ongoing for the last 49 years - we have been trying to get this memorial erected,” she told the News Letter.

Last year the council brought together relatives, who decided on a memorial plaque at the bomb site and a further memorial at the nearby Diamond area in the town centre.

“But over the weekend I got an email to say the plaque was going up this Wednesday. But that is no notice at all. Nan’s only living child is in London, is 80 and is undergoing cancer treatment. There is just no way we can get him over for Wednesday.”

Other members of the families cannot come because they only got a letter on Saturday or Monday evening. So I say there is something terribly fishy going on - it is so low key.”

She is asking why relatives were only given a few days notice? Why the unveiling is at the end of the working day, 5pm, just before a long bank holiday weekend “when nobody will be around” - and not at 3pm on the anniversary of 12 June? And she is asking why the council did not send out any press release about the unveiling, as she believes is normal practice? However the council’s response did not appear to offer any clear answers to her questions.

It confirmed the mayor will meet with some of relatives on Wednesday at the plaque and that they are invited to his parlour afterwards.

“This has been arranged to afford them a private moment of reflection, allowing them to view the memorial plaque which will be installed on Railway Road before it goes on public view ahead of the anniversary of the bomb which occurs on 12 June, affording them the space, dignity, and respect befitting of the circumstances,” a council spokeswoman said.

The council said that final permission for the siting was only received on 20 May and that this “also impacted on the timeline”. It is also “mindful about a key member of the group involved who is in ill-health” it added.

“The installation of the plaque marks the first phase of a wider project to remember the victims of the 1973 bombing. The overall initiative is due to be completed ahead of the 50th anniversary which takes place in 2023 when a formal launch will take place to include a sculpture at Coleraine Town Hall alongside an oral history project.”