Catholic Reaction Force - Misplaced Pages

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The name Catholic Reaction Force (CRF) was used to claim responsibility for attacks and threats against Protestants in Northern Ireland during "The Troubles".

Darkley killings

The name was first used to claim responsibility for a shooting on 20 November 1983. That night, two masked men opened-fire outside Mountain Lodge Pentecostal Church near Darkley, County Armagh. A church service was taking place at the time. Three Protestant civilians were shot dead at the entrance: Harold Brown (59), David Wilson (44) and Victor Cunningham (39). The gunmen then sprayed the church with bullets, wounding seven people.

A telephone caller claimed responsibility on behalf of the "Catholic Reaction Force". He said it was "in retaliation for the murderous sectarian campaign carried out by the Protestant Action Force … by this token retaliation we could easily have taken the lives of at least 20 more innocent Protestants. We serve notice on the PAF to call an immediate halt to their vicious indiscriminate campaign against innocent Catholics, or we will make the Darkley killings look like a picnic". The caller named nine Catholics who had been attacked or killed recently.

A week after, Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) leader Dominic McGlinchey gave an interview. He admitted that one of the gunmen had been an INLA member and admitted supplying him with the gun. McGlinchey explained that the INLA member asked him for a gun to shoot a known loyalist, who'd been involved in sectarian killings. However, "clearly deranged by the death of his brother" at the hands of loyalists, he "used it instead to attack the Darkley Gospel Hall". McGlinchey said: "this INLA member was a brother of someone who had been killed…and he must have been unbalanced or something to have gone and organised this killing. We are conducting an enquiry into the whole affair".

Other claims

Some, such as Gerry Kelly of Sinn Féin, believes the name was invented and used by loyalists to raise sectarian tension.

The CRF declared a ceasefire on 28 October 1994.

v t e The Troubles in Ireland
1960s and 1970s Battle of the Bogside/1969 riots RTÉ bombing Operation Banner Battle of St Matthew's Falls Curfew Crossmaglen bombing Scottish soldiers' killings Operation Demetrius Ballymurphy massacre Newry killings Red Lion Pub bombing McGurk's Bar bombing Balmoral showroom bombing Bloody Sunday Abercorn Restaurant bombing Donegall St bombing Battle at Springmartin Dungiven ambush Battle of Lenadoon Springhill massacre Bloody Friday Operation Motorman Claudy bombing Newry customs bombing Sanaghanroe attack Benny's Bar bombing Annie's Bar massacre Belturbet bombing Dublin bombings New Lodge Six shooting Coleraine bombings Rose & Crown Bar bombing Clogher barracks attack Dublin & Monaghan bombings Mountainview Tavern attack Bleary Darts Club shooting Strand Bar bombing Forkhill beer keg bomb Miami Showband killings Bayardo Bar attack Tullyvallen massacre October 1975 attacks Drummuckavall ambush Dublin Airport bombing Dundalk & Silverbridge attacks Central Bar bombing Reavey and O'Dowd killings Kingsmill massacre Castleblayney bombing Hillcrest Bar bombing Flagstaff Hill incident Charlemont pub attacks Store Bar shooting Chlorane Bar attack Ramble Inn attack Stag Inn attack Andersonstown incident Garryhinch ambush 1976 Balmoral bombing Jonesborough Gazelle shootdown La Mon restaurant bombing Warrenpoint ambush Dungannon land mine attack 1980s Dunmurry train bombing Lough Foyle attacks Altnaveigh landmine attack Glasdrumman ambush Divis Flats bombing Droppin Well bombing Ballygawley land mine attack Darkley killings Kesh ambush Strabane ambush Newry mortar attack Ballygawley barracks attack Birches barracks attack Clontibret invasion Loughgall ambush Remembrance Day bombing Milltown Cemetery attack Corporals killings Avenue Bar shooting Lisburn van bombing Aughanduff Lynx shootdown Ballygawley bus bombing Drumnakilly ambush Jonesborough ambush Derryard checkpoint attack 1990s Derrygorry Gazelle shootdown Downpatrick landmine attack Operation Conservation Armagh City roadside bombing Fort Victoria Proxy bombings Lough Neagh ambush Silverbridge Lynx shootdown Mullacreevie ambush Cappagh killings Craigavon mobile shop killings Glenanne barracks bombing Coagh ambush Musgrave Park Hospital bombing Craigavon Hyster killings Teebane bombing Sinn Féin Headquarters shooting Sean Graham bookmakers' shooting Clonoe ambush Cloghoge checkpoint attack Coalisland riots South Armagh sniper campaign Forensic Lab bombing James Murray's bookmakers attack Castlerock killings Cullaville occupation Battle of Newry Road Shankill Road bombing Greysteel massacre Fivemiletown ambush Crossmaglen Lynx shootdown 1994 Shankill Road killings Loughinisland massacre Killeeshil ambush Drumcree conflict Thiepval barracks bombing Coalisland attack 1997 riots Quinn brothers' killings Banbridge bombing Omagh bombing See also: The Troubles in Britain & Europe, Assassinations during the Troubles, and Loyalist feud

References

Chandra, Ramesh. World In Transition. Gyan Publishing House, 2003. p.223
http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/cgi-bin/dyndeaths.pl?querytype=date&day=20&month=11&year=1983
CAIN - Chronology of the Conflict - November 1983
McKittrick, David. Lost Lives. Mainstream Publishing, 2001. p.963
^ Ireland's Terrorist Dilemma. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1986. pp.104-105
Coogan, Tim. The IRA. Palgrave Macmillan, 2002. pp.535-536
http://archives.tcm.ie/breakingnews/2002/08/05/story62792.asp
http://www.uhb.fr/langues/cei/chron94.htm

External links

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Categories:

Darkley killings

Other claims

See also

References

External links