Two arrested over massacre of six Catholic men

THE arrest of a man and woman over the murders of six Catholic men, shot dead as they watched the World Cup in 1994, may be linked to an ongoing Police Ombudsman investigation into Special Branch collusion with loyalists.

The man, aged 45, and woman, aged 38, were questioned yesterday about the Ulster Volunteer Force massacre which took place in June 1994 at an isolated bar in Loughinisland, Co Down.

UVF gunmen armed with an AK-47 and Czech-made rifle sprayed the mainly Catholic Heights Bar as customers watched Ireland beat Italy in the World Cup.

The car used in the shooting was supplied by a north Belfast loyalist who worked as a police informer.

The man, known as ‘The Mechanic’, has close links with former UVF leader and Special Branch agent, Mark Haddock, who was shot and seriously injured by former associates in Belfast last week.

Information about the mass murder was given to the RUC by ‘The Mechanic’ in 1995.

He has since fled Ireland.

A major Police Ombudsman investigation into the activities of Haddock and his associates and their relationship with Special Branch is due to be published within weeks.

The report is set to raise serious questions over alleged collusion between the Special Branch and loyalist paramilitaries.

Families of the Loughinisland dead and injured said they welcomed the arrests.

They had made a separate request to Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan about the lack of progress.

A statement said: “We have maintained a dignified degree of hope and optimism that some day the killers will be brought to justice, yet by its very nature we have no input into the police investigation and have no real knowledge of it.

“It would appear that the attention of the Police Ombudsman’s office has infused fresh endeavour into what is now a 12-year-old inquiry.”