Miami Showband attack survivors join commemoration event

Surviving Miami Showband members (left to right) Ray Miller, Des Lee and Stephen Travers, with the band's former road manager Brian Maguire

Two survivors of the Miami Showband attack have taken part in a commemoration event at the scene of the loyalist ambush 50 years ago.

Stephen Travers and Des Lee were injured in the bombing and shooting outside Newry.

Three of their fellow musicians – Fran O'Toole, Tony Geraghty and Brian McCoy – were shot dead after the band's minibus stopped at a bogus army checkpoint.

Two of the attackers also died when their bomb exploded prematurely.

Around 100 people attended a short remembrance service at the spot where the attack took place on the Bushkill Road.

Before the event, floral tributes were laid at a plinth which bears a photo of the band.

The Miami Showband were a popular act which toured throughout Ireland in the sixties and seventies.

They were ambushed by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) on the night of July 31, 1975, as they were returning to Dublin after performing in Banbridge.

Some members of the UVF gang were soldiers in the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR).

It stopped the band's minibus by staging a mock checkpoint.

The plan had been to plant the bomb in the vehicle.

But when the device exploded prematurely, killing Harris Boyle and Wesley Somerville, the remaining gang members opened fire on the musicians.

In 2021, survivors and relatives of the band members who were murdered were awarded £1.5m in a damages case against the police and the Ministry of Defence.

Survivors Des Lee (seated) and Stephen Travers (standing right of picture) attending the remembrance service

Speaking before the event Des Lee said he had "no problem" with a controversial loyalist band parade that will commemorate one of the attackers.

He said those participating in the parade are "entitled to commemorate their dead as much as we entitled to commemorate ours".

However, some politicians have said the parade "risks stepping over the line into the glorification of terrorism".

Speaking to BBC News NI, Mr Travers said Miami Showband has "become almost like a lightning rod for the futility and the failure of violence because it didn't achieve anything".

"Here we are 50 years on and what we said all those years back, the music continues long after the sound of the guns and the bombs have been silenced," he added.

"And that's a good thing."

Mr Lee told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme people in Northern Ireland should prioritise "giving our grandkids and their kids of the future a better Northern Ireland for everybody".

"It's fifty years, must we continue with the childish things that are occurring all around us on all sides?"

Mr Lee said his philosophy in life is to "forgive, forget and move on".

"I don't hold any grudge. What happened to my friends was appalling, but I don't want to live for the rest of my life living in the past," he said.

"I have got to look forward to the future."

Mr Travers said the parade does not bother him.

"Everybody has a right to commemorate their dead as long as it's respectful to the victims, that man's victims, and also it's dignified. I have no problem."

Harris Boyle was known as one of the attackers of the Miami Showband murders in July 1975.

The parade route is listed on the Parades Commissions website as starting at Levaghery Orange Hall, however, the Orange Order has said it's not a parade it has sanctioned.

The band's tour bus was destroyed in the 1975 attack

"I look back and reflect on it now, I cannot believe how lucky I was", Mr Lee said.

"Because when we were asked to get out of the van, I was on the far left of the line.

"I asked the guys if I could take my saxophone out of the van and put it on the road.

"I ended up on the far right of the line."

This new position meant that, when the bomb prematurely exploded, Mr Lee survived.

Mr Lee pretended he was dead following the explosion, holding his breath and staying prone on the ground.

When he stood up, he said the sight in front of him was "the most horrendous scene" he had ever witnessed.

"There were bits of bodies all over the place. I would never wish anybody to see that in their lives. It was absolutely horrendous.

"I remember every single thing in the finest detail, and I never want to forget it."

Mr Lee said that despite the tensions of the time, the band never had any problems when it came to religion.

"There were two protestants in our band. Our job was to entertain people, and that's what we did."

Criticism of Legacy Act

Mr Lee is critical of the controversial Legacy Act, which ended 38 inquests which had not reached their final stages by 1 May 2024.

He said the British government is doing a "dreadful job".

"They're trying to push all the families under the carpet and hope that it all goes away.

"I pity these poor families because it's not going to be an easy road for them."

Mr Lee said he would "beg" Mr Benn to "do the right thing" and tell the families of victims "the absolute truth".

Mr Travers said: We're pushing really hard to have this Legacy Act repealed."

He said he can "understand some people who will maybe decide they don't want to go down the route that we went down which took 10 years out of our lives trying to get the British authorities, the MOD, and the PSNI into court".

"But there are people who just wouldn't be able to do that. The ICRIR should be something that people can choose to do but not mandatory."

Survivors and relatives of those killed in the Miami Showband attack received close to £1.5m in damages after they sued the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

A concert is being held in Dublin later this year to mark 50 years since the attack.

What was the Miami Showband attack?

The Miami Showband toured throughout Ireland in the 1970s

The bomb and gun attack happened as the band, which toured across Ireland, travelled home to Dublin after a gig in Banbridge.

Their minibus was stopped by a fake army checkpoint which had been mounted by a group of men from the Ulster Volunteer Force, including two soldiers from the Ulster Defence Regiment.

Harris Boyle was killed when the bomb which was placed on the Miami Showband bus exploded prematurely.

The gang then opened fire, murdering singer Fran O'Toole, guitarist Tony Geraghty and trumpeter Brian McCoy.

Des Lee and another band member, Stephen Travers, were injured but survived.

The bomb also killed Wesley Somerville who was commemorated in April at a memorial parade in Moygashel in County Tyrone.