{"id":539325,"date":"2026-07-08T14:11:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T14:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/539325\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T14:11:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T14:11:17","slug":"millions-awarded-to-survivors-of-down-loyalist-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/539325\/","title":{"rendered":"Millions awarded to survivors of Down loyalist attack"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eight survivors of a loyalist gun attack on a Co Down bar in the 1990s have received substantial damages in a case against the police and British Ministry of Defence.<\/p>\n

One man died in the UVF gun attack on the Thierafurth Inn, Kilcoo in 1992.<\/p>\n

Peter McCormack, a former school teacher, was shot in the back when two gunmen walked into the pub and opened fire indiscriminately on 19 November 1992.<\/p>\n

His family are not part of the group settlement – said to be one of the biggest ever of its kind.<\/p>\n

\"Co
\nTwo gunmen walked into the Thierafurth Inn on 19 November 1992 and opened fire<\/p>\n

The exact amount paid out in compensation remains undisclosed under the terms of the settlement, but it is believed to run to several million pounds.<\/p>\n

Customers were gathering for a charity darts match in the premises at the time of the shooting.<\/p>\n

\"Co
\nA charity darts match was being held in the pub on the night of the attack<\/p>\n

The UVF said they had been trying to kill a named republican who frequented the pub and who they had targeted using British Army intelligence montages taken from a UDR barracks in the area.<\/p>\n

He was not there at the time.<\/p>\n

Following the publication of a critical Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (PONI) report in 2016 into the activities of a loyalist gang in south Down, a civil case for damages was taken against the police and military.<\/p>\n

A settlement was approved at Belfast’s High Court today.<\/p>\n

\"Co
\nA plaque to remember Peter McCormack on the wall in the Thierfurth Inn<\/p>\n

As well as the fact that military intelligence material had been accessed by the UVF gang responsible, the PONI report found there had been no sustained police response to disrupt their activities even though they had already been responsible for several previous murders and attempted murders.<\/p>\n

It said intelligence about the activities of the killers was not shared appropriately and that the security forces in the region – both police and military – had been compromised due to associations or sympathies with the gang.<\/p>\n

A separate report found that the then RUC was aware of plans to take military intelligence documents from a UDR base but chose not to stop it.<\/p>\n

Members of the same UVF unit were later implicated in the murders of six men in a 1994 gun attack on the Height’s Bar in nearby Loughinisland during a Republic of Ireland world cup match.<\/p>\n

Outside Belfast High Court solicitor Gavin Booth of Phoenix Law said none of those in the bar that night had recovered from their experience.<\/p>\n

“It’s taken 11 years since the civil proceedings started for us to bring this to court, but today is finally an acknowledgement of the hurt, the pain, and the trauma caused to these families.”<\/p>\n

Patrick Gribben was shot several times that night. He said people did not see the impact his injuries had had on the people around him.<\/p>\n

John McEvoy was working behind the bar and escaped injury. He said he was still haunted by what he had gone through.<\/p>\n

“It never goes out of your mind, it’s with you all the time, but I suppose as the years go on, you get by it.”<\/p>\n

As well as paying compensation the PSNI and military agreed to pay costs.<\/p>\n

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