Catherine McGinty, 15 Jul
At midnight last night (Friday), a young Strabane man fatally wounded
by a rubber bullet fired by a British soldier, was remembered by a
poignant torchlight procession.
On July 16, 1972, Tobias Molloy (18) was shot in the chest as he walked
from his girlfriend's home in Lifford, to his own home in Strabane.
Earlier that evening, the couple had attended a dance at the Inter
County Hotel in the Donegal town.
Tonight's torchlight procession will leave Daly's Filing Station – An
Siopa Beag, on Coneyburrow Road in Lifford and make its way to the
former Camel's Hump site, retracing the steps Tobias took on that
fateful night.
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Speaking to Derry Now, Tobias' cousin, Anne Caldwell (née Molloy) said
she was “not hopeful” the campaign to obtain a new inquest for him him
would be successful.
An inquest was held into Tobias' death on July 22, 1972, by Deputy
Coroner for East Donegal Mr Larry Coyle, at Lifford Hospital, six days
after the incident. There was no inquest held in the North.
Tobias was the second of three people to die from the use of rubber
bullets during “the troubles”. The first was Francis Rowntree (11), who
died in April 1972 and the third person to be killed was Thomas Friel
(21), who died in May 1973.
PFC banner at the ‘tinnies’ close to the bridge from Strabane to
Lifford where Tobias Molloy was killed 50yrs ago this weekend by a
British soldier. No investigation, no justice. Follow memorial
events this weekend on PFC Twitter/Facebook #tobiasmolloy
pic.twitter.com/yyuxymisma
— Pat Finucane Centre (@FinucaneCentre) July 14, 2022
A fresh inquest was held into the death of Francis Rowntree, following
a direction from the Attorney General for Northern Ireland, in November
2017, by Coroner Mr Brian Sherrard who found: “There was no
justification for the use of lethal force at the time Francis Rowntree
was shot. The force ultimately used far exceeded that which was
absolutely necessary to achieve Soldier B’s stated objective.”
According to the Pat Finucane Centre, an application for a new inquest
was made by the Molloy family to the Attorney General NI and he
determined in 2019 that it was “less likely that Mr Molloy died in
Northern Ireland than he died in Ireland” and therefore could not grant
a fresh inquest as “the jurisdiction of the Coroner in Northern Ireland
does not extend to deaths that occur outside Northern Ireland”.
Commenting on the application, solicitor Pádraig Ó Muirigh said: “The
original inquest proceeded in the absence of a an investigation into
the death of Mr Molloy by An Garda Siochána or the RUC. Holding the
inquest six days after his death meant there was not a sufficient
amount of time for an investigation to be properly conducted. In fact,
we received correspondence from An Garda Síochána in 2016 which
confirmed that there was no record at all of a Garda investigation into
the death.
Tobias Molloy.
“The investigation carried out by the RUC was manifestly inadequate and
the inconsistencies in the statements of soldiers and witness accounts
were never challenged by the military investigation or by the RUC. In
particular discrepancies over whether Mr Molloy was deliberately
targeted and reports that the rubber bullet was aimed directly at Mr
Molloy were not properly addressed.
“New evidence, including multiple new statements recorded after a press
appeal by the Pat Finucane Centre, media reports, a draft HET
[Historical Enquiries Team] report and an expert report from Dr
Laurence Rocke have been lodged with the Attorney General to support
this application.
"A fresh inquest could also benefit from the evidence of the potential
lethality of the baton round which was addressed in Judge Sherard’s
findings in the Francis Rowntree inquest.
“I would submit, in the circumstances, that this new evidence makes the
holding of a new inquest advisable.”
Recalling her cousin, Anne said: “I was two years older than Tobias.
His mother, Mary, was very protective of him as he was only nine or ten
when his father, Tobias, died. It was just him and his mammy for a long
time. They very, very close.
“Tobias became very interested in Civil Rights. He actually attended
the Bloody Sunday march in Derry [January 30, 1972]. He would have been
17. He had turned 18 when he was killed. When the news filtered back
about what had happened in Derry, his mother was in an awful state.
Little did she know, later that year he was going to be killed too.
“Tobias worked in a factory repairing machines. At the time of his
death, he was working in a factory in Castlefin. On the night he was
killed, he had been at a dance in the Inter County Hotel. At the dance,
a rumour went around there was rioting in Derry and people had been
killed.
“People were walking home from the dance, to Strabane, over the Camel's
Hump. Tobias was near enough last, except for a few stragglers. He was
on his own and he was struck by a rubber bullet in the chest. A few
people that were coming along and went to his aid. They were afraid to
leave him and let the army come and lift him and take him away or
anything like that, so they flagged down a car coming from Strabane to
Lifford and they took him in the car over to Lifford hospital, where he
was pronounced dead,” recalled Anne.
Tobias' post mortem was done in Donegal and his remains were brought
home later that day.
Anne said: “When they were bringing his remains home to his mammy, the
soldiers at the checkpoint where he was killed, fired rubber bullets
again.
“I was so reminded of this when it happened recently to the journalist,
Shireen Abu Akleh. I thought, 'Oh my God, her funeral was attacked, was
disrupted. So many years on and they are still doing this'. I know it
has happened at funerals in Belfast and Derry too.
“My father and brothers were there and one of my brothers, he was only
about 10 or 11, ran back into Lifford and my father had to go back
looking for him.
“The day Tobias was buried, I can safely say there has not been as big
a funeral from then until the Hunger Strikers, possibly because of the
way his remains were treated coming home and because of the fact he and
his mother were respected. That particular day was extremely hot. I
remember the tar on the road was bubbling up. I turned 20 that day
[July 19, 1972],” said Anne.
Anne remembered walking behind her cousin's hearse.
She said: “There were so many people who either didn't go to work or
left their work to attend the funeral. They just walked the whole way.
The hearse went slowly to allow them to walk behind it, from Strabane
to Doneyloop in Donegal, where Tobias was buried. We walked well over
three miles in the blazing sun.
“When we went out there, there was a big of Garda presence. They did
not interfere with us but it was just a wee bit intimidating, to say
the least. They were standing about and you sort of thought, 'Does
nobody care? Does nobody care about the injustices that are happening
to us in the North?' I remember being very, very angry that day and
being very sad when I saw that.
“Tobias' mother was so, so devastated. She grieved for him until the
day she died. She never really got over it so she didn't. There was an
inquest of sorts held in Lifford. Tobias' mother was paid some sort of
pittance, an insult really. From that on we have just kept his memory
alive and and tried to attend as many events as possible.
“Then the Pat Finucane approached us and said they had been in London
and files had been released stating the bullets deployed in the North
were not passed fit for use and the guidelines were also that they
should be fired at the ground but Tobias was hit directly in the chest
direct. They started looking into his case. At the time the bullets
were not legal. They were only allowed to be used in Northern Ireland
and I think Hong Kong, they were deemed too dangerous to be used
anywhere else,” said Anne.
Anne said Tobias was the only rubber bullet fatality case in the North
who has not been allowed a new inquest.
“They are saying it is because he died in Donegal and not in the
North,” she explained. “Now, the solicitors in charge are trying now to
see if they can get an Inquest in the South but I am not hopeful, not
hopeful.
“We are campaigning for a new inquest. All my family are involved. All
my family are behind it. Tobias has a half-brother, Seán McGinley, who
lives in Castlefin in Donegal.”
The Tobias Molloy Sinn Féin Cumann in Strabane has co-organised a
programme of events for the 50th Anniversary of Tobias' death.
Anne said: "A lady from Lifford wrote a poem about Tobias and I am
going to recite that and we are going to lay some flowers at the
Memorial Stone on July 16. To me that day is the most important day. It
is very nice that people are remembering him."
Itinerary of events:
July 15: Midnight (July 16 morning): Torchlight procession from Daly's
Filling Station - An Siopa Beag on Coneyburrow Road in Lifford, to the
former Camel's Hump site, retracing the steps Tobias took on the night
he was murdered.
July 16: 1pm to 3pm: 'In their Footsteps' Shoes display at Castle
Street in Strabane, hosted by the Pat Finucane Centre. The 'In their
Footsteps' campaign is a call on the British and Irish governments to
implement an acceptable and effective mechanism to deal with the past.
On display will be pairs of shoes belonging to individuals who were
seriously injured or killed during the conflict.
July 16: 6:30 pm: Anniversary Mass, Church of the Immaculate
Conception.
July 16: 7:30 pm: Unveiling of Memorial Stone to Tobias at the Memorial
Garden located at the entrance to Inisfree Gardens.
July 17: 4:00pm: Anniversary March from Cluney Gardens, Clady to
Donnyloop Cemetery. The guest speaker at this event will be Pádraig Mc
Lochlainn TD.