OLDEST IRISH AMERICAN NEWSPAPER IN USA, ESTABLISHED IN 1928
Category: Archive

Mystery surrounds shooting death of taxi driver

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

By Anne Cadwallader

BELFAST — The identity of the murderers of a Catholic taxi driver shot dead in County Tyrone remain a mystery, with some residents blaming members of the IRA for the killing and others blaming loyalists.

Barney McDonald, aged 52, was lured to his death and killed by four close-range shotgun blasts, fired at him as he said at the wheel of his cab last Wednesday near Dungannon. Family members say he had recently been involved in a fight with a local IRA commander. The man they blame was arrested and questioned by the police last weekend before being released without charge.

A statement in the name of the loyalist Red Hand Defenders admitted responsibility and Sinn FTin has denied the IRA was behind the murder, but the dead man’s family has accused Sinn FTin of “lies and hypocrisy.”

The dead man’s two sons are currently facing charges for threats they allegedly made recently, but were released on bail after their father was shot dead. Two other sons, who had been threatened by republicans, have since died in car crashes.

It’s believed the killers deliberately used shotguns because the weapons cannot easily be traced through ballistic tests.

Sign up to The Irish Echo Newsletter

McDonald, a father of eight, was called to pick up a fare at a billiard hall in Annaghbeg Park in Donaghmore. Two men, lying in wait, opened fire with the two shotguns. The victim was hit in the head and died instantly.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland said it had not yet established a motive for the killing. Loyalist involvement has not been ruled out. Local people said there had been tensions between members of the family and a Protestant-owned taxi depot.

In a statement to a Belfast newsroom, the Red Hand Defenders admitted responsibility but police sources said they are keeping an open mind.

“Loyalist involvement is entirely possible, but this statement must be treated with caution because the Red Hand Defenders claimed responsibility for shooting a drug dealer in Coalisland last year when it was actually the IRA involved,” a source said.

There is a history of conflict between the Provisional IRA and the family. Local people say there was a fight in a bar three weeks ago between one of the dead man’s sons and a local IRA chief, who was badly beaten.

Sinn FTin MP Martin McGuinness offered his condolences to the family and said he shared the community’s shock. Sinn FTin assembly member Francie Molloy said he was unsure whether the killing was sectarian but he was certain republicans were not involved.

Meanwhile, dissident republicans have admitted planting a bomb that exploded at a police training college in Belfast. The Continuity IRA said it was behind the attack on the Garnerville compound and warned Catholics against joining the new Police Service of Northern Ireland.

The bomb, which contained commercial explosives, detonated at the perimeter fencing on Tuesday as Army experts were trying to defuse it. It damaged the fence and some gates but caused no injuries with police recruits back working at their desks within 24 hours.

Also in Belfast, rioting has continued almost nightly in the nationalist Ardoyne area of the north of the city. Loyalists have fired shots and thrown bombs at Catholic houses along the peaceline.

A garden shed and oil tank were destroyed when a crude bomb was thrown at a house on Alliance Avenue. Fire crews stopped the blaze from spreading to gas cylinders while the elderly couple who lived in the house were taken to hospital.

Nationalists have also attacked the police and loyalist crowds on the fringes of Ardoyne with missiles and petrol bombs.

Sinn Fein’s Gerry Kelly said the Ulster Unionist leader, David Trimble, needs to press loyalists to end their campaign of bomb attacks against Catholics and nationalists.

Following Trimble`s meeting with the Loyalist Commission, Kelly said: “For two years now the UDA has been engaged in an anti-Catholic pogrom. People in areas like North Belfast have borne the brunt of this campaign.”

Other Articles You Might Like

Sign up to our Daily Newsletter

Click to access the login or register cheese