A deep sense of shock engulfs the village of Loughinisland following the UVF attack at The Heights Bar.
Six men watching a World Cup football match were murdered in a Ulster Volunteer Force attack on a bar in the village of Loughinisland. Since the atrocity at The Heights Bar (also known as O'Toole’s Pub) there has been a steady stream of friends, relatives, and neighbours bringing their sympathy and their flowers,
It's pitiful little, but it's really all they can do.
The bar owner, Hugh O’Toole was not present at the time of the massacre, having left for Romania with 20 customers to help rebuild an orphanage. Devastated he returns to face the scene of the horror. After looking inside his pub,
He didn’t think he could stand behind the bar ever again.
The men killed by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) gunmen were all Hugh O’Toole’s close, personal friends. He was particularly fond of eighty-seven-year-old Barney Green.
Hugh O’Toole declares none of the victims were involved in anything political and were,
Just all decent hardworking men.
Pupils attending Drumaness Primary School have been majorly affected by the atrocity. Principal Leo Flanagan explains two boys in the school lost their father and an uncle in the massacre, while a third boy’s father managed to escape.
It’s going to be a very, very difficult time for them in the days ahead.
The students and teachers will do their utmost to support these boys and provide them with an air of normality if possible.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 20 June 1994. The reporter is Brendan Wright.
