The 1994 mass murder of six soccer fans in the Heights bar in Loughinisland, County Down, will be the focus of a new documentary feature.
Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney, who made a short film about the tragedy, “Ceasefire Massacre,” for ESPN two years ago, has announced he will now make a feature length film on the subject, reports The Sunday Times.
On June 18, 1994, two masked members of the Loyalist terror group the Ulster Volunteer Force shot and killed six people in the pub as they watched the Republic of Ireland playing Italy in the World Cup in Giants Stadium in New Jersey.
Gibney’s short film on what was one of the most notorious atrocities of 'the Troubles' was built around the stories of the victims' families and their belief that the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC – Northern Ireland's police force at the time) had colluded with the killers.
The US film director, who has Irish ancestry, was first made aware of the murders by Northern Irish producer Trevor Birney, who worked on Gibney’s film “Mea Maxima Culpa.”
Said Gibney: “Despite the discovery of eyewitnesses, the recovery of the getaway car, the guns, balaclavas, fingerprints and DNA, why was no one charged, never mind convicted?”
“Why was key evidence destroyed by local police? It turns out that the assault rifles were from Czechoslovakia, shipped to South Africa and brought into Northern Ireland with the aid of British intelligence. Were they pulling the strings for the attack and the cover-up?” he asked.
A report from Northern Ireland’s police ombudsman released last month concluded that there was police collusion and that the investigation was hampered by the RUC, which was determined to protect informants in loyalist terrorist groups.
The feature-length version of Gibney’s film will be released by BBC and Amazon.
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