The family of a young woman murdered during the Troubles has called the tribute paid to her killer at Féile an Phobail as “absolutely disgusting”.
An image of Brendan ‘Bik’ McFarlane appeared on the screen during a show by Scottish band Shebeen at the closing night of Féile an Phobail in Belfast on Sunday night.
Féile an Phobail, which bills itself as Ireland’s biggest community arts festival, is partially funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Reconciliation Fund, which gave €157,704 in 2022.
McFarlane, who died earlier this year, was convicted and sentenced for the Bayardo Bar massacre which occurred 50 years ago on August 13th, 1975.
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Then aged 23, he and two others, Peter Christopher Skeet Hamilton (22) and Séamus Joseph Clarke (19) carried out a bomb and gun attack on the pub they suspected of being used by UVF members.
Two civilians were machine-gunned to death outside the pub while three more died in the subsequent explosion which injured dozens of people.
Among those killed in the Bayardo Bar massacre was 17-year-old Linda Boyle.
In a statement marking the 50th anniversary, Ms Boyle’s family said what happened on Sunday night – which was shared on the Féile an Phobail social media channel – was a “sick tribute”.
They added: “We can barely find the words to express how we feel about what happened. It’s so depressing that these things happen, and it’s not an isolated incident, almost weekly we see instances of glorification of terrorism and what’s done about it?
“We rejoice in how Linda lived and the values she represented, and no one will ever take that away from us.”
They stated that Linda was a “stylish young woman who was caring and friendly and who had a real zest for life.
“She would now be of retirement age and would be at a point where she should be relaxing and exploring a further chapter of life, Linda’s storybook was ended before she got beyond her first chapter.”
The South East Fermanagh Foundation, which supports victims of the Troubles, said the events of Sunday night were part of a “concerted campaign on the part of Irish republicans to infiltrate the genre of traditional Irish music, to integrate what was once fringe rebel music into the mainstream”.
McFarlane was officer commanding in the H Blocks during the hunger strikes of 1981. According to David Beresford, the author of the 1987 book Ten Men Dead, McFarlane’s crimes were such that it would have been a “one-man public relations disaster” had he gone on hunger strike too.
McFarlane escaped from the Maze Prison in September 1983. He was later charged in connection with the kidnapping of businessman Don Tidey, a case that went on for nearly a decade.
Mr Tidey was kidnapped in November 1983. He was kept in a hideout in Derrada Wood outside Ballinamore in Co Leitrim until December 16th of that year when it was discovered by a search party involving gardaí and army personnel.
Pte Patrick Kelly and recruit Garda Gary Sheehan were shot dead by the IRA gang when they came across the hideout 23 days after Tidey’s abduction. The gang also shot and seriously wounded Det Sgt Donie Kelleher before fleeing.
McFarlane was named by gardaí as a suspect in the aftermath of the events of Derrada Wood even before forensic evidence confirmed that his fingerprints were found in the hideout.
A garda at the scene later identified McFarlane as one of the gunmen who shot directly at him during the escape.
McFarlane allegedly confessed to the kidnapping and murders at Dundalk Garda station after being arrested in 1998.
After a lengthy trial process, the confession was deemed as inadmissible and the case collapsed.
