Newry Republican Youth
"NEVER WILL THEY LABEL OUR LIBERATION STRUGGLE AS CRIMINAL"
Óglach Michael Hughes
 Michael Hughes 16 years, Derrybeg estate, Newry, Co. Down, was shot dead on 18th October 1974, by members of the British Army’s Royal Marine Commando Regiment.Michael Hughes was the oldest in a family with six children. He attended St. Peter’s Primary School, Cloughreagh, where he passed his 11 Plus, before going the Abbey Grammar School in Newry. He left school in the summer of 1974 and started work at a nylon factory on the Armagh to Newry Road that October, just two weeks before his death. A friend described Michael as a real character. He said he was ‘the type of lad whose wit and humour made him the centre of attention in any company, old or young. Michael could always make them laugh.’ The Derrybeg Housing estate where Michael lived was situated off the Newry to Camlough Road, and during the early 1970s was an area that experienced a lot of violence and death on its streets and surrounding area. Shortly before 3pm on 18 October 1974, a bus was hijacked by a number of youths and placed across the Newry to Camlough Rd, near to an entrance leading to the Derrybeg estate. Within minutes of the hijacking a party of British soldiers, hiding on high ground in a field over looking the road, broke cover and rushed towards the hijacked bus. As the soldiers ran down the sloping field towards the bus one of them stopped and fired on a group of youths standing on the road near the bus. Michael Hughes, who was amongst the group, was hit once in the chest and fell. The soldiers initially prevented residents from going near the injured youth. However, the residents persisted, and eventually succeeded in getting the dying youth to Newry’s Daisy Hill Hospital, where he died a short time later. Later that evening the British army’s Press Office issued a statement about the shooting from their Lisburn HQ. The statement claimed ‘three soldiers in an observation post saw three armed men stop a bus. When they brandished weapons at the bus driver the soldiers fired one round at the hijackers. One armed man fell to the ground. The other two men ran into the Derrybeg estate and people from the estate dragged the wounded gunman away.’ Residents in the Derrybeg estate rejected the British army’s version. The residents were adamant that none of the youths involved in the hijacking were armed. An eyewitness told the local Press the youths had just approached the bus when the Marines rushed from a concealed position in the field opposite their estate. ‘The youths turned and fled, and as they ran one soldier opened fire hitting Michael Hughes, who was at the rear of the crowd.’ The witness also said when a local woman tried to place a Crucifix on the dying youth and breathe a prayer into his ear she was ordered away by the British soldiers. Residents had to use a car to take the wounded youth to the local hospital. The killing of Michael Hughes caused an outcry in the Newry area and lead local politicians and residents to demand a public inquiry into the circumstances of the shooting. Their calls were ignored and no such inquiry was ever established. The RUC did however compile it’s own report on the killing in the months that followed. Evidence of the existence of the report became public in February 1975 after requests from members of the Newry and Mourne Council to see the document were refused. The Northern Ireland Office in their letter denying the Council’s access to the report stated ‘It will not be possible to see the report because such reports are confidential and therefore fall within the provisions of the Official Secrets Act.’ An inquest into the killing of Michael Hughes was held in September 1975. None of the soldiers involved in the shooting attended the hearing. A NIO lawyer read out their statements; only letters of the alphabet identified the soldiers. The soldier who shot the youth, ‘Soldier ‘A,’ said in his statement he had observed the bus being hijacked and pelted with stones before his section broke cover and ran towards the bus. When about 85 metres from the bus, he shouted ‘Stop’ and the youths started to run into the Derrybeg estate. One youth turned towards him and shouted something and started to move away. ‘Soldier ‘A’ said, ‘I noticed something in his hands, a pistol type weapon, and I again shouted, stop.’ When about 75 metres from the youth ‘Soldier ‘A’ said he saw him turn and bring the pistol up into the aim position. He said he then opened fire and the youth fell. Before they reached the wounded youth ‘Soldier ‘A’ said a crowd gathered and he saw two masked men carrying a rifle but they were not apprehended because of the crowd. Soldier ‘B’ in his statement said he saw the youth standing in the doorway (of the bus) with what ‘appeared to be a weapon’ pointed at the driver. He said he saw two men appear from the rear of the bus wearing hoods and carrying, ‘what were possibly weapons.’ These armed men ran away he said when they approached the bus. Soldier ‘B’ said ‘As Corporal ‘A’ shouted “Halt,” a youth turned round and pointed a small arm in our direction.’ Soldier ‘B’ also told the hearing when a crowd of women gathered around the wounded youth he tried to push them away but didn’t succeed. The non-attendance of the soldiers meant lawyers for the next-of-kin could not challenge their statements. Amongst the civilians who attended the inquest was the driver of the bus that was hijacked. He told the hearing that when he was stopped by a group of youths, two of them who were masked, ordered him to drive the vehicle across the main road. He said ‘I did not see any firearm and I could not say if Michael Hughes was on my bus.’ A forensic expert giving evidence said he had examined the dead youth and could confirm that no firearm residue was found on the swaps taken from his body. An RUC detective told the inquest that a full report on the shooting had been submitted to the Department of Public Prosecutions, who had directed no criminal proceedings should be taken against any of the soldiers involved. The inquest jury returned an open verdict. The jury describing the killing as ‘a very regrettable occurrence.’ Michael Hughes was a member of the Republican youth movement Na Fianna Eireann. The death of young Michael Hughes was not the only tragedy to strike the Hughes family during the early 1970s. In August 1972, his father, Patrick Hughes, a member of the IRA, was killed along with two other IRA men when the bomb they were carrying exploded prematurely. No British soldiers were ever charged in connection with the killing of Michael Hughes. |