Statement by Councillor Boyd Douglas:
“The TUV group on Causeway Coast and Glens welcomes the decision by the council to erect a memorial to the six innocent people, three of whom came from the same family, murdered by an IRA bomb in June 1973. This is an overdue recognition of the suffering inflicted on those caught up in the bomb that day.
“Many continue to carry the physical and mental scars to this day. It is but right that the public should be reminded of the death and destruction visited on Coleraine when they are in the town.
“The stance of McGlinchey, who was convicted for his part in the bombing, is nauseating. While he claimed he wouldn’t seek to oppose the memorial in the event he and his party sought to change the wording so that there would be no mention of the IRA which carried out the attack.
“So it is quite alright for a Nationalist controlled council to have a play park named after the terrorist captured with a gun used in the Kingsmill Massacre but we shouldn’t mention the IRA when commemorating their cowardly attack on Coleraine.
“The public will doubtless note that the sole Alliance member of the council joined Sinn Fein/IRA in abstaining when it came to the motion. The public deserve to know why Alliance adopted this approach on the issue, particularly given that their Councillor proffered no reason for his actions in the meeting.”