Baron Kilclooney, or John Taylor to you and me, helped promulgate the McGurk’s Bar propaganda before we had even buried our loved ones.
Whether he knowingly deceived the public or he too was duped by the RUC is moot.
One thing is certain: he has not apologised for his deceit.
The forensic report was only completed in February 1972 and we know, of course, that the bar was attacked.
We also know that the Empire Loyalists claimed a bomb attack on Colin Youth Club less than a month before. The same UVF unit used the same cover name and materiel.
The families further proved that the Security Forces had a file on the Empire Loyalists when they discovered a Headquarters Northern Ireland report from that week which named the group.
At the time, Taylor was Minister of State for Home Affairs, with Security as his brief. The RUC reported to him and we know that the RUC created the lie that the bomb was a Republican own-goal.
You can read John Taylor’s speech here.
You can read more of his bile and bigotry here and decide yourself whether you believe he was a liar or a patsy.
