03/06/2026
Today in Ardboe, republicans will gather to commemorate Michael "Pete" Ryan, Tony Doris and Lawrence McNally, three members of the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional IRA who were shot by the SAS at Coagh on 3rd June 1991.
They also held a memorial parade in Coalisland on Sunday for these terrorists. Sundays commemoration also included bands such as the John Brady Memorial Band and the Kevin Lynch Memorial Band, both named after republican terrorists. Once again, the focus is placed on those involved in terrorism rather than on those who suffered because of it.
Thirty-five years later, these men continue to be presented by republicans as heroes and martyrs. I completely reject that narrative. Any one supporting these events are justifying and supporting the heinous atrocities they committed. It is estimated East Tyrone Brigade committed between 50-100 murders. The East Tyrone Brigade was one of the most active IRA units during the Troubles. It was involved in a sustained terrorist campaign of shootings, bombings and murders which left countless victims across Northern Ireland.
The three men being commemorated today were not innocent civilians. They arrived in Coagh, my home village, in a stolen Vauxhall Cavalier carrying two AK-47 rifles, a Browning 9mm pistol and approximately 1,000 rounds of ammunition. They were masked, heavily armed and operating as members of the Provisional IRA.
They did not enter Coagh carrying peace proposals. They entered the peaceful village masked, carrying weapons and ready to take innocent lives.
The weapons recovered from the scene were subsequently linked to other terrorist activity in the area, including the murder of three innocent Protestants, two years previous, just a few hundred yards away from where the terrorists met their end. That fact alone should be enough to remind people of exactly who and what is being commemorated today.
What is particularly striking is that even republican accounts describe the men as “experienced IRA operators”.All quotes referenced from ‘Coagh Martyrs 1991’ a documentary made by republicans who knew the men well.
Micheal ‘Pete’ Ryan- Described by IRA staff in Crumlin Road jail as a ‘indisciplined Rottweiller’ while serving a sentence in Crumlin Road Jail he had a gun smuggled into the jail during a visit where he escaped with 7 other convicted terrorists. During his escape he attacked and beat a prison officer giving him 37 stitches and a fractured skull, he was going to shoot him except he was stopped by another IRA escapee. Senior IRA interviews revealed “The number of operations and actions that Pete ryan had taken part in was 'enormous' and the length of time active within the IRA was 12-13 years of very intense activity that he was engaged in where he engaged the enemy on numerous occasions and Pete played a large part in an operation against a British army checkpoint in County Fermanagh where he led an asu right into the heart of the check point and open fired on the enemy from within the check point
It certainly wasn't on one occasion he would have done things like this- but on many many occasions and for that reason Pete was feared for good cause”.
Tony Doris- Cousin of the First minister for All Michelle O’Neill, described by Republican author Kevin Toolis as a ‘killer’. He was the driver of the vehicle. Described by IRA senior staff in interviews as a “full time operator” and “Tony Doris had operated all through Tyrone, he had stepped out of his operational area and operated in counties Armagh and South Derry and he even left these shores and operated with GHQ and involved in successful attacks against the British”.
Lawrence Mcnally- described in republican interviews as a “great guerrilla fighter” and “everybody knew when they seen Lawrence the burnt Amalite wasn’t far away”. Lawrence attacked innocent Protestants and members of the British Armed forces as any and every opportunity he had. He was arrested and convicted for the shooting of a British soldier.
When asked about this murder squad republicans who knew the men well said:“They knew, absolutely, the consequences of what was going to happen, they had no doubt that they were going to be killed by the British”.
Both Pete Ryan and Tony Doris were on the run at the time of the shooting. Yet despite all of this, we continue to witness inquest after inquest and attempts to transform armed IRA members into heroic figures.
Too often, the victims are forgotten while those who carried out violence are elevated and celebrated.
Every family has the right to remember a loved one. No one disputes that. However, there is a profound difference between private remembrance and public glorification.
The operation at Coagh involved the interception of an armed IRA unit by the SAS. The men involved were carrying military-style weapons and ammunition. Subsequent legal proceedings and inquests found the actions of the security forces to be justified.
That is the reality of what happened.
Thirty-five years later, my thoughts are not with Michael "Pete" Ryan, Tony Doris and Lawrence McNally. My thoughts are with the innocent victims of IRA terrorism, the families who continue to live with the consequences of that violence, and the members of the security forces who risked their lives protecting others during some of the darkest years of Northern Ireland's history.
Terrorism should never be romanticised, justified or celebrated.
Lest We Forget.
