‘Lost Lives’ : Lost ‘Lies’?

Most folk of a certain age in and around the North of Ireland, to the ex-patriots living in Boston, Sydney et al. have either had a browse through – or indeed – own a copy of the seminal register of deaths during The Troubles, Lost Lives. Compiled by a team of writers led by David McKittrick, along with Seamus Kelters, Brian Feeney, Chris Thornton and David McVea they produced the first work of it’s kind. Their method relied heavily on the CAIN register and newspaper reports/eye witness accounts.  However big and groundbreaking a job it seemed, it remains heavily flawed.  The people to produce this list, this encyclopaedia of tragedy had an opportunity to immortalise the victims properly, instead of the villains.  We know from history class at school that Primary Sources may seem the most reliable, but are often full of holes and bias.  This doesn’t need to be so.  I am currently producing a memoir for my father relating to his own journey through the horrors that took place here.  His brother was murdered by the UDA/UFF in 1972 and not a single fact regarding him in his scant paragraph in Lost Lives is correct, from the misspelling of his name, his age, profession,where it was and how he died- down to the details of the man killed along with him.  For some people, this is the only reference book on the subject.  People are studying history and often using this tome as their sole point of reference/research.  Also heavily flawed are the Historical Enquiries Team; populated by ex Royal Ulster Constabulary members – who are re-investigating cases they didn’t do efficient enough investigations on in the first place. Special Branch officers who worked on the cases seem to all be having an Alzheimer’s epidemic as many of them are not giving any accounts to aid the investigations in any way.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland can still produce a 50 year old paper copy of my fathers driving offence caution – but many murder files are simply gone – many allegedly went up in smoke, during a fire in Tennant Street that was almost certainly an accident, and not part of a huge collusion cover up…

Sort it out lads.  The Bloody Sunday and Ballymurphy Massacres are just a blip on the landscape of hundreds of other families suffering, and to not revise the details of Lost Lives PROPERLY means future generations going on hokey reporting, non-verified death reports and essentially perpetuating a historical blind-sighted leading the blind.

Have any of your tragically departed family members been misrepresented by this award winning book? Get in touch, with me or McKittrick – and good luck!