An MP stood up in the commons on Wednesday and said she knew the names of men suspected of murdering six people.

Her remarks elicited a quasi-apology from the government for failings by the police in their attempts to bring the murderers to justice.



Did that exchange make any national newspaper front page? No. Did it get big headlines on any inside page? No. Did it get covered at all? Hardly.

Why? Because the murders took place in Northern Ireland and the London-based national press has a long record of ignoring what happens there.

So the readers of Britain’s national papers were not told of the statement by Margaret Ritchie, the SDLP MP for South Down, in which she revealed she knew the identity of the men suspected of shooting six men to death in a bar in Loughinisland, in her constituency, in 1994.

Nor did readers learn that Northern Ireland minister Kris Hopkins had said that the government “deeply regrets that the terrorists who committed these vicious attacks have never been brought to justice.”



Furthermore, readers were denied the chance to assess the prime minister’s response to a question from Ritchie about the murders. Theresa May described them as a “terrible evil” but said it was for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to pursue the case.

The whole point at issue is that the PSNI has not pursued the case despite a damning report published in June this year by the police ombudsman for Northern Ireland, Michael Maguire, in which he stated that he had “no hesitation” in concluding that police colluded with the killers.

In that report, which superseded and corrected a previous report by Maguire’s predecessor as ombudsman, he revealed both extensive police failings and clear evidence of collusion that enabled the killers to escape justice.

It got precious little coverage at the time. Apart from a detailed article in the Guardian and a page lead in the Times, it got two paragraphs in the Daily Telegraph, six pars in the Daily Mail and nothing in the other print titles.

But where were the follow-ups? This is just the kind of story, had it happened in England (or Scotland, or Wales), it would surely have stimulated a newspaper campaign.

The Maguire report exposed a scandal. It all but identified the presumed killers. It provided proof of a police cover-up. And, incidentally, it also revealed the existence of a police hero, a senior officer who was prepared to go against the grain.

In other words, it had all the elements that for a classic popular press campaign on behalf of the Loughinisland victims and their bereaved families.

Remember that superb Mail “Murderers” front page in 1997 because of police failures to bring the killers of Stephen Lawrence to justice? The power of the press, used properly in the public interest, was transformational.

It shone the spotlight on the police. It encouraged whistle-blowers to come forward. It galvanised politicians. Press pressure worked. The Lawrence family were understandably grateful.

The families of Adrian Rogan, Malcolm Jenkinson, Barney Greene, Daniel McCreanor, Patrick O’Hare and Eamon Byrne deserve similar support.

Newspapers based in Northern Ireland don’t have the power (and most, I’m afraid, don’t have the will) to do what the Mail did for Lawrence.

I commend my colleague Ian Cobain for his tireless work on the issue - examples here, here, and here - but his has been a lone voice.



What is required is for London-based national papers – the ones that campaigned so earnestly for Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK – to start taking an interest in what happened during the conflict.

Taking up the case of the Loughinisland families would be an excellent start. Or am I being overly cynical in believing that the press’s failure to get involved is because of its tacit support for collusion?

If so, editors are guilty of condoning the mass murder of innocents. I really hope I am wrong about that.