New Lodge Six shooting

New Lodge Six shooting
Part of the Troubles
A mural to the six men killed which reads "The New Lodge Six – Time for the Truth"
LocationNew Lodge, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Date3-4 February 1973
Attack type
Shooting, mass murder
WeaponsRifles
Deaths6 (4 civilians and 2 Provisional IRA Volunteers)
Injured9
PerpetratorsBritish Army, UDA, suspicion collusion

In the late hours of 3 February and the early hours of 4 February 1973, six men, all of whom were Catholics, were shot and killed in the New Lodge area of north Belfast:

  • four (one IRA member and three civilians) of them were shot dead at the junction at Edlingham Street by British Army snipers,
  • the other two men were shot dead by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), one IRA member and one Italian citizen, the owner of a local café.

Three other men were shot dead on 4 February by what was believed to be Loyalist paramilitaries, taking the total death toll to nine on 3-4 February.[1] The six men killed in the New Lodge area became known as "The New Lodge Six".[2]

There have been allegations over the years that collusion took place between the British security forces and paramilitaries at the time.[3][4][5] Northern Ireland's Attorney General in 2018 urged an investigation into the deaths of the New Lodge Six.[2] The Director of Public Prosecutions decided not to ask the PSNI to carry out an investigation, and relatives in 2020 launched a legal action in response.[6]

  1. ^ "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". cain.ulster.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  2. ^ a b RTÉ news (2 October 2018). "AG calls for fresh probe into killing of New Lodge Six". RTÉ.
  3. ^ "BBC Panorama programme raises questions about New Lodge Six". Belfast Media Group. 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  4. ^ "New Lodge killings: Attorney General seeks fresh investigation". BBC News. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  5. ^ O'Neill, Paul (28 February 2002). "NEW LODGE SIX COMMUNITY INQUIRY" (PDF). Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  6. ^ Young, Connla (29 July 2020). "Relative of New Lodge Six victim launches legal action over investigation". The Irish News. Retrieved 3 February 2021.