The Parachute Regiment
01 January 1991
The Parachute Regiment
artdoc August=1992
A unit of the Third Battalion of the Parachute Regiment was
involved in several attacks on unarmed civilians in Coalisland,
Co. Tyrone in May. The soldiers allegedly assaulted staff and
customers in two bars in the town on 12 May, apparently in
retaliation for an IRA bombing in which one of the regiment lost
both legs. One witness said the incident began when three
soldiers burst into the Venue bar, smashing mirrors, glasses and
doors. Customers were punched and kicked, while the bar's owner
was dragged outside and set upon by a dozen soldiers. On Sunday
17 May, trouble again flared when a member of the King's Own
Scottish Borderers allegedly challenged a local youth to a fist
fight. During the ensuing brawl, a general purpose machine gun
went missing. Later that evening, paratroopers were involved in
another incident in which two of them opened fire, wounding three
people outside a bar.
Michael Mates, the new Minister responsible for security in
Northern Ireland, said the shootings were `entirely justified'
since the patrol was set upon by `a gang of 40 to 50 thugs
sponsored and organised by the IRA'. David Andrews, the Irish
Foreign Minister, called for the withdrawal of the Parachute
Regiment given their deplorable record from Bloody Sunday (1972)
onwards.
Four days after the Coalisland shooting incident, Brigadier Tom
Longland, the commanding officer responsible for border security
in the Newry area, South Armagh and Tyrone, was removed from his
post. The Ministry of Defence denied that the decision had
anything to do with events in Coalisland. It is unusual, however,
for a senior officer to be moved in this fashion only five months
into a scheduled two-year tour of duty. Longland has a reputation
as a tough and aggressive commander, and is regarded as a high
flyer having been promoted from lieutenant colonel to brigadier,
missing out the rank of colonel. Longland was replaced by
Brigadier Douglas Crum who in 1974 appeared in court in Belfast
accused of beating a former internee.
One of the local people injured at Coalisland was Feargal
O'Donnell whose brother Kevin was killed in an SAS ambush earlier
this year. O'Donnell, who needed eight stitches for a face wound,
travelled to London to brief Labour MPs on the Coalisland events.
When returning home, police detained him at Heathrow, causing him
to miss his flight.
Sources: Irish News, 15.5.92, 19.5.92, 25.5.92, 1.6.92, 4.6.92;
News Letter 19.5.92; Guardian 19.5.92; Independent 15.5.92,
26.5.92.
Statewatch vol 2 no 4, July/August 1992