AN former RUC officer who was an alleged member of the infamous Glenanne Gang has been questioned in connection with the Belturbet bomb.
On December 28, 1972 bombs exploded in three towns along the Fermanagh border, the fatal explosion in Belturbet as well as two others in Clones and Pettigo.
While miraculously no one was seriously injured in the Clones and Pettigo explosions, 16-year-old Patrick Stanley and 15-year-old Geraldine O’Reilly were killed by the car bomb outside Farrelly’s Bar and McGowan’s Drapery on Belturbet Main Street.
While the investigation into the atrocity was never closed by An Garda Siochana, and has remained officially open for over half a century now, no one has every been convicted for the attack.
In recent years, thanks to the determination of the bereaved families and campaigners for justice, there has been renewed momentum in the case. In 2022 An Garda Síochána announced they had identified new lines of enquiry in the case.
Now, it has been revealed a former RUC officer has been questioned by a court in South Africa about the bombing in the border village.
Speaking to the Irish News has reported that John Weir revealed he was questioned as part of the Garda investigation into the bomb in Belturbet at a court in Cape Town, where he now lives.
Weir, who denies any involvement in the bombing, outlined how an investigating Garda had travelled from Cavan to South Africa for the hearing.
He told the Irish News the officer, and the Irish embassy that had arranged the questioning, “knows I have nothing to do with it.”
He went on to claim he was being singled out in an attempt to “discredit” him as part of an investigation into the activities of the Glenanne Gang by the Police Ombudsman and the Kenova investigation, known as Operation Denton.
“That seems to be maybe making an effort to get at the whole truth,” he said of the investigation.
The Glenanne Gang was based at a farm in south Armagh and was made up of members of the RUC, UVF and UDR. It is believed the gang is responsible for around 125 murders, and the majority of its victims were Catholic.
Weir told the Irish News, “I also made it quite clear I want all the truth to come out for all sides, but probably the most important was the government’s sides.
“And then people would settle down and live at peace and I do believe that, if all the truth is told.”
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