The 19 loyalist murders investigated by North’s Police Ombudsman

Inquiry covers RUC’s handling of UDA/UFF attacks between 1989 and 1993


In her report, published on Friday, Northern Ireland's Police Ombudsman considered the Royal Ulster Constabulary's handling of eleven paramilitary attacks carried out by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and Ulster Freedom Fighters – a cover name for the UDA – in the northwest between 1989 and 1993.

These resulted in 19 murders and a number of attempted murders, including the killing of eight people in the attack on the Rising Sun bar in Greysteel, Co Derry, in October 1993.

All but one of the attacks – the murder of Sinn Féin councillor Eddie Fullerton in Co Donegal in 1991 – took place in Northern Ireland. They were:

April 1989: The murder of Gerard Casey in Rasharkin, Co Antrim.

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May 1991: The murder of Eddie Fullerton in Buncrana, Co Donegal.

August 1991: The murder of Patrick Shanaghan in Castlederg, Co Tyrone.

August 1991: The murder of Thomas Donaghy in Kilrea, Co Derry.

September 1991: The murder of Bernard O'Hagan in Magherafelt, Co Derry.

February 1992: The attempted murder of James McCorriston in Coleraine, Co Derry.

April 1992: The murder of Daniel Cassidy in Kilrea, Co Derry.

August 1992: The attempted murder of Patrick McErlain in Dunloy, Co Antrim.

December 1992: The murder of Malachy Carey in Ballymoney, Co Antrim.

March 1993: The murders of Robert Dalrymple, James Kelly, James McKenna and Noel O'Kane, and the attempted murder of Gerard McEldowney in Castlerock, Co Derry.

October 1993: The murders of John Burns, Moira Duddy, Joseph McDermott, James Moore, John Moyne, Steven Mullan, and Karen Thompson at the Rising Sun bar, Greysteel, Co Derry, and the attempted murders of a number of others. An eighth victim, Samuel Montgomery, died in April 1994 as a result of injuries sustained in the attack.