By Geraldine O’Connell, Cheshire Stop The War
Wikipedia notes that the Miami Showband killings took place on 31 July 1975 and was an attack by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group. It took place on the A1 road at Buskhill in County Down, Northern Ireland. We are pleased to publish this review of a book on the massacre, The Miami Showband Massacre: a survivor’s search for the truth, written by Stephen Travers and Neil Fetherstonehaugh
I recently finished reading this book about the Miami Showband Massacre in 1975 during the troubles. It is haunting, shocking and very powerful. A dire warning against a hard border and a peace process that is so fragile.
The Miami were the biggest band in Ireland in the 70s. They were known as Ireland’s Beatles. Their singer, Fran O’Toole, was the poster-boy of a generation.
The brutal murder of Fran O’Toole and the other lads shook Ireland to its core. They lived to play music and to entertain and they were loved so much.
Fran was gunned down with 29 bullets to his face. What kind of a psychopath does this for a cause?
The terrorists hoped to frame the band as IRA bomb-carriers and that lie would have been their legacy if two of the band members hadn’t survived the explosion and gunmen to expose the truth.
There were lots of horrific atrocities carried out on all sides during the troubles but this was a crime beyond any human comprehension.
It was carried out by collusion between the British Army and loyalist paramilitaries who hoped to frame the band in an attempt for harder border checks, because of IRA activity. The Miami were deliberately targeted. They came from a cross-section of the community and they brought people together across the sectarian divide. They were a shining light for so many during those dark times and for that they were murdered.
That was the day the music died. Following this, very few bands would play in Northern Ireland for a very long time.
The book is co-written by Stephen Travers, one of the only surviving members of the massacre. It is his journey for the truth, peace and reconciliation.
Quite possibly the most powerful and courageous book I have ever read on the troubles but what stands out also is the great love and the music that endures for the Miami.
“Love Is”…by Fran O’Toole. Give it a listen. And read the book.
September 27, 2019
