Today 54 years on we remember the three fusiliers Dougald McCaughey 23, Joseph McCaig 18 and his brother John McCaig 17 off duty and unarmed who were enticed to Kelly’s Cellars, by paramilitary females disguised as friends. They were misled to believe they were going to a party. On 10th March 1971 they were shot dead by the side of the road in what is called a honeytrap. One of the females involved was also connected to the 1973 honeytrap.
In Stormont this morning, between 10am-12pm the three Scottish lads are being spoken about by their family members and remembered as part of the restorative justice consultations currently going on in Northern Ireland. Around 40,000 people experienced injury as a result of The Troubles, 3,720 families were bereaved and Northern Ireland has one of the highest rates of PTSD in the world.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2g4j3qeg9o
We must never forget.
Addressing the past is part of the healing process, for individuals and society, and the only way to build a real and lasting peace.
‘Just moving on’ is not an option.
However, addressing the past also means different things to different people. For some, it is about truth, justice and accountability for wrongdoing. For others it’s rebuilding a future out of the ashes. No matter how difficult or uncomfortable the process is, we cannot move forward at the expense of discarding others as less important or leaving others behind. All victims matter. To help victims and survivors be a part of that reconciliation, they need to have access to truth, acknowledgement, reparations, compassion, kindness, sensitivity, understanding and justice.
Trauma never sleeps