How Kingsmill stunt brought back pain of loss for sister of teen Omagh bomb victim

A woman whose teen brother was killed in the Omagh bombing says she has been left terrified to turn on the news for fear of being re-traumatised by another political furore at the expense of Troubles victims.

Claire Monteith was just 15 when her brother Alan Radford (16) was killed in the Omagh bomb.

A Real IRA car bomb exploded in the Co Tyrone town on August 15, 1998, killing 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins.

Claire (34) said the controversial events of the past two weeks surrounding the Kingsmill massacre and the consequent political fallout had left her feeling sickened.

The furore began when former Sinn Fein MP Barry McElduff tweeted a video of himself with a loaf of Kingsmill bread on his head on the 42nd anniversary of the massacre.

Following an uproar he was suspended and then resigned on Monday. Claire said this was "too little too late".

"It's a stunt. It is all to do with political ball games and it's throwing the ball back and forth and he doesn't want to damage his party," she said.

"Anybody that was honourable would have done the decent thing at the outset."

She added: "Words mean nothing, your actions are everything. There was damage done and to not own up to it there and then and put your hands up and say 'I can't stand for West Tyrone as an MP when I've let so many people down'. I'm even more angry now."

Claire said that shortly before the latest controversy, she had only been able to look at the news again as she is always scared of what she will see, as it further compounds the pain she faces every day.

She added: "I haven't been able to buy a newspaper, turn on the news or listen to the radio because it was so hurtful. It's the fear of something sparking a memory because the hurt is constant. You can't avoid it now because of social media."

She said the hurt is worse when something like this happens as it adds to her daily battle.

She added: "It's in the back of your mind, it never leaves.

"To have this back and forth, of so and so did this and that. None of it's okay - two wrongs don't make a right. For me, my 16-year-old brother had more respect, integrity and honesty than any of those people ever will."

Claire said the impact of such political rows is instant. "It takes me back to the knots in my stomach, the anxiety of it, feeling sick, it's like an emptiness and that whole pain comes streaming back and you think 'how can people be so cruel?'.

"If that had happened on Alan's anniversary I don't know how I would have dealt with it."

Claire said the political system in Northern Ireland is a "joke" and that her thoughts are with the Kingsmill families.

"His (Mr McElduff) actions are a swift reminder of where we are within society, where the murders and memories of our loved ones are disregarded as just another statistic of Northern Ireland and its past."

Claire said she feels like victims are expected to accept whatever goes on, adding: "As the sister of someone murdered let me make it clear that McElduff and his party have caused nothing but continuing heartbreak for myself and those alike."

Claire was among nearly 40,000 people to sign a petition calling for Mr McElduff to go. She said the suspension and resignation is nothing but another "kick in the gut" for victims.

"I was a 15-year-old girl when my brother was brutally butchered. I have yet in almost 20 years to see a positive change in Northern Ireland. Peace? Good Friday Agreement? Those words cause pain each time I hear them; my brother was killed post Good Friday Agreement, he was killed in peacetime."

Claire, who has three young children, said she wants to see real change that isn't used for "political gain". She said: "That for once the people who matter are listened to, that we aren't the minority that is ignored.

"Unfortunately, I have very little hope of that ever happening.

"So be it until my last breath I will continue to hope that justice will be done. I will continue to remember my beautiful brother and honour him by standing up for what I believe in."

And in a message to Northern Ireland's politicians, Claire said: "They would need to shake themselves up. This country has not moved forward. And why it hasn't is because of them giving in to the likes of people who do these things."

Belfast Telegraph