NI: The Parachute Regiment
01 July 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.