Legal challenge to name of Newry playground ends – for now

A grandmother’s legal action over a playground named after an IRA hunger striker ended today – but she retains the right to resurrect her case if a new process does not result in the name going.

The conclusion to Bea Worton's challenge in the High Court in Belfast was confirmed following a decision by councillors to review the future of Raymond McCreesh Park in Newry. The pensioner's son, Colin, claimed the outcome and an award of costs represented a victor for his mother.

He said: “It wasn’t the one-punch knockout that we wanted, but we feel we have won on points.”

McCreesh was one of 10 IRA and INLA convicted prisoners who starved themselves to death in 1981. He was serving a 14-year sentence for attempted murder, membership of the IRA and possession of a rifle.

The rifle he had with him when arrested was one that forensic evidence showed had been used in the murder of 10 Protestant workers in Kinngsmill, Co Armagh, in January 1976. The IRA has never accepted responsibility for the atrocity.

Appalled

The decision by councillors in Newry, Mourne and Down Council to name a children’s playground after him appalled many people, many of them in the unionist community.

Mrs Worton (89) was seeking to judicially review the naming decision citing alleged bias or irrationally. Her son Kenneth was one of 10 people murdered at Kingsmill.

Councillors voted to retain the name in February 2015. Last year the Equality Commission told the local authority it should debate and take a fresh decision on the park.

Earlier this month, councillors voted on three options: keep the park’s name, rename it or leave it in place, pending the outcome of a play strategy which includes a proposal to close either that playground or another in the area.

A majority of 23 representatives from Sinn Féin and the SDLP backed the third option, recommending a review of the land. The other nine members present voted for a change in its name.

Consultation on the park’s future is set to begin next month, with a final decision expected by April.