By Michael C. Mentel
On February 6th of this year, the Coroner’s Court of Northern Ireland handed down its judgment in the murders of Kevin Barry O’Donnell, Patrick Vincent, Peter Clancy, and Sean O’Farrell by the SAS. The “SAS” or Special Air Service is an elite special forces unit of the British Army and is trained to carry out special military operations. Information about the SAS is kept at a “highly classified” level by the British government.
SAS Intelligence
As early as the fall of 1991, the SAS and British military had received intelligence that the Provisional IRA was planning an attack on a security force base in Tyrone. The intelligence went so far as to describe the use of a truck in the attack.
On February 3, 1992, SAS intelligence identified the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional IRA as carrying out reconnaissance of the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) security force base in preparation for an attack. The next day, more information was fed to the SAS. This information identified the Provisional IRA volunteers who would lead the attack, the specific location where the attack would occur, and the weaponry to be used in the attack: “A heavily armed gun team, armed with a 12.7 heavy machine gun and 3 AKM rifles, will attack Coalisland RUC station from the grounds of the chapel opposite the station.”
On February 16th, the day of the attack, the SAS received the following information: “[t]he attack planned by PIRA on Coalisland RUC station for 16/02/92 is to be mounted from Clonoe Chapel car park, Coalisland. The 12.7 heavy machine gun is to be mounted on a hi-jacked lorry [truck] and is to be fronted into Coalisland Chapel car park by [three] gunmen carrying AKM rifles. Several vehicles will be at the car park at Clonoe Chapel after the attack to convey the weapons and personnel to a safe house.”
The SAS had the names, dates, type of transportation, weaponry, and location where the attack would take place. A plan to arrest and capture the volunteers should not have been in question. What transpired was quite the opposite.
The Ambush at Clonoe
On the night of February 16, 1992, the four Provisional IRA volunteers carried out their attack. The volunteers fired sixty rounds from the 12.7 heavy machine gun at the RUC base along with rounds fired from the AKM rifles.
No one at the base was injured. Following the attack, the Provisional IRA volunteers drove the truck to the parking lot of St. Patrick’s Church in Dernagh, outside of Clonoe (pron. Klo noh), and began disassembling the heavy machine gun and readying themselves to withdraw from the area.
According to the findings of the Coroner, Mr. Justice Humphreys, the SAS had conducted significant planning to stage themselves in the parking lot in wait for the volunteers.
According to plan, twelve SAS soldiers hid themselves behind a hedgerow at the parking lot waiting for the truck to arrive. At approximately 11:00 p.m., 20 minutes following the base attack, The SAS opened fire on the Provisional IRA volunteers.
The coroner’s findings stated that, “[t]he soldiers opened fire on the occupants of the lorry [truck] and three other vehicles in the car park. The four deceased were shot dead shortly before 2300 hours [11:00 p.m.].
Father Kieran MacKeone administered the last rites at the scene. Life was pronounced extinct by Dr. Acharya between 0230 [2:30 a.m.] and 0243 hours [2:43 a.m.] on 17 February.”
The findings further revealed that the SAS fired between 514 and 570 rounds at the volunteers, killing them. There was no return fire from the Provisional IRA.
Sean O’Farrell was shot by the SAS several times in his left side. He was also shot in the face three times at close range while he was lying on his back. Patrick Vincent was shot numerous times and while he was “lying down” in the cab of the truck.
Peter Clancy was shot twenty-five times, with three shots hitting him in the back. His body was found in the grass outside of the truck.
Kevin Barry O’Donnell was stuck in both legs and his head. He was shot too in the back. His body was found face down in the grass outside of the truck.
Mr. Justice Humphreys concluded in his verdict that “[n]o attempt was made by the soldiers to arrest any of the members of the PIRA unit, even as they lay seriously injured and incapacitated either on the ground or in the cab of the lorry [truck]. I have found, in each case, that the soldiers concerned did not have an honest and genuinely held belief that the use of force was necessary to defend themselves or others. It follows that use of force cannot have been reasonable … The operation was not planned and controlled in such a way as to minimise [sic] to the greatest extent possible the need for recourse to lethal force.”
Criminal Offenses Likely Committed
Following his ruling on February 6, 2025, Mr. Justice Humphreys referred the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions (the DPP). He based the referral on his findings that the killing of the four Provisional IRA volunteers was not justified. The findings left Justice Humphreys no other alternative than to refer the matter to the DPP.
The solicitor representing the families of the murdered Provisional IRA volunteers, Niall Murphy, said that “[t]he only conclusion … which the judge has found today, [is] that all four of the deceased were unlawfully killed.” He further stated that “[w]e are going to carefully consider this verdict with regards to any prospect of prosecutions.”
Mr. Murphy added, “I think it’s also correct to observe that today’s verdict is the reason that the Tory government brought in the Legacy Act… [It was] … conceived and legislated to ensure that truths such as that published today could no longer be published, and that is why it is so vital that the Legacy Act be repealed in its totality.” The coroner’s verdict in the Clonoe ambush matter has pulled away the veil revealing the horridness of the British governments’ falsehoods. Regrettably, future inquests in to circumstances such as the Clonoe ambush will be impeded until the Legacy Act of 2023 is repealed. We, the Irish diaspora in the United States, must insist that our elected officials convey to the British government the necessity to repeal the Legacy Act.
