Talk:1993 Fivemiletown ambush

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Which IRA Brigade was really responsible?

Latest comment: 9 months ago4 comments2 people in discussion

@FarSouthNavy:

The republican "War News" article says the statement outlining the ambush was supplied by "Tyrone Brigade".

However an article in the Belfast News-Letter (16 November 1994) on an inquest into the deaths of the two RUC constables reported that South Fermanagh Brigade claimed responsibility. This was also reported in the Ulster Herald (19 November 1994) and that two cars were found abandoned at Mullaghfad on the border with County Monaghan.

Fivemiletown is technically in County Tyrone however is closer to Enniskillen than Dungannon so the geography seems to leave the question of brigade area open-ended. The IRA could also be very fluid in terms of who was a member of which unit.

I'm not advocating the article be changed (!) only raising this as a discussion point.

Regards, NelsonEdit2 (talk) 18:23, 31 January 2024 (UTC)Reply

Hi @NelsonEdit2,

Good point, I was pretty sure that resposibility for the attack in Fivemiletown fell upon South Fermanagh Brigade until I found the "War News" report talking about the "Tyrone Brigade". My rationale for suspecting the SF Brigade's involvement was that this was the brigade that claimed the destruction of RUC Fivemiletown facilities in May 1992 per media at the time, a fact duly corroborated by "War News". Converserly, a direct claim by "War News", which explicitly mentions the "Tyrone Brigade" as the perpetrators of the double ambush at Fivemiletown is IMHO enough. Why? Because many of the attacks in the area of the Clogher Valley were launched by members of the IRA from County Monaghan, as hinted by the "Ulster Herald". Remember that Brendan O'Brien states that an alternative name to the East Tyrone Brigade was "Tyrone-Monaghan Brigade", given the number of its members living in County Monaghan or using that region as a safe haven to mount attacks on the north. For example, it's reported that the mortar attack on RUC Caledon in November 1993 was carried out by an IRA unit on three cars travelling from County Monaghan (see "Security under fire". Belfast News-Letter. 10 November 1993. p. 9.). Is it possible they bore different convenience names in an attempt to divert attention? Maybe. I am for keeping the Tyrone or East Tyrone Brigade claim since the "War News" statement is quite substantial, while the Belfast Newsletter or the Ulster Herald are mere passing mentions, this notwithstanding any new finds regarding attribution.

Best Regards, Darius (talk) 20:23, 31 January 2024 (UTC)Reply

Yeah all sound arguments no dissent here. NelsonEdit2 (talk) 01:14, 1 February 2024 (UTC)Reply

I am open to any fresh evidence, but the "War News" statement was originally published by An Phoblacht, so there is little margin of error. The mention of certain details also left no doubts (intelligence on the Clogher-Fivemiletown road, well within the Tyrone Brigade "jurisdiction", and the explicit mention of the brigade in the narrative). Don't rule out, however, some kind of "joint" operation, but with no new sources on the table we cannot move a single inch forward per WP:OR. Darius (talk) 12:49, 1 February 2024 (UTC)Reply

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