Love Ulster parade planned for Dublin next month

Loyalist William Frazer has said a Love Ulster march will take place in Dublin next month if the Government doesn't release information relating to the 1976 IRA Kingsmill massacre.

Mr Frazer, who led the 2006 Love Ulster rally that was abandoned due to serious violence, said he met Garda representatives in Balbriggan on Monday and that they were "more than happy" that the parade should go ahead.

“They said our reason for going down is legitimate and that our intentions are legitimate so therefore under the circumstances they are prepared to police it,” Mr Frazer said on Tuesday night.

“They said they would give us whatever security we needed to ensure our safety and the safety of the people of Dublin,” he added.

Mr Frazer rejected suggestions it could be irresponsible to be organising such a parade considering the violence that flared in 2006 when republicans mounted a counter demonstration against the Love Ulster rally.

He said senior gardaí told him that as the intentions of the Love Ulster organisers were peaceful they “could not be responsible for people who want to bring violence”.

Mr Frazer said the only request from the Garda was that the Love Ulster organisers curtailed the size the planned march.

“So, we are talking about maybe a couple of hundred victims and a couple of bands at the march,” he added.

He said he didn’t want to disclose the actual date of the parade for security reasons but that it would be held in Dublin next month.

Mr Frazer said he believed the Government could provide information that could help establish the truth behind the Kingsmill Massacre. The specific reason for the planned parade was to put pressure on the Government to release information relating to the killings which happened in January 1976.

Mr Frazer said if this information was provided then the Love Ulster parade would be cancelled.

"The Irish Government can bring a halt to the march simply by coming up to the mark on Kingsmill," he added. "If they divvy up the information there is no need to go to Dublin."

Kingsmill was one of the worst atrocities of the Troubles. Protestant textile workers were shot after their bus bringing them home from work on January 5th 1976 was waved down by a man flashing a light at Kingsmill in south Armagh. When they got off the bus, they were lined up by at least 11 gunmen.

One Catholic among them was identified and told to run away. The IRA gang then gunned down the men. Ten died while one man, Alan Black, survived even though he was struck 18 times.

The killings were a sectarian revenge attack for six sectarian killings carried out by the Ulster Volunteer Force in the area the previous day.

No one was ever convicted for the killings. Weapons used at Kingsmill were linked by police to 37 murders, 22 attempted murders and19 non-fatal shootings.

Mr Frazer said that the IRA unit responsible was implicated in some 100 killings. He said after carrying out attacks it was able to retreat to a safe haven on the southern side of the Border.

He believed the Government and the Garda had information on the Kingsmill Massacre that could assist in identifying who was responsible.