Volunteer Joe O'Connor

We remember with pride today volunteer Joe O'Connor, Belfast brigade Irish Republican Army, on the 26th anniversary of his death.

Joe was murdered at his mother's home in Ballymurphy by a state backed gang nicknamed the "dissident hunters", in an attempt to quell rising support for genuine Republicanism. Immediately after his murder local Sinn Fein councillors tried to deflect blame onto others in an effort to portray some form of feud between anti-agreement Republicans.

It is widely believed those who murdered Joe colluded with the RUC and other state agencies, in what British MP Mo Mowlam described as "internal housekeeping", a process by which former Republicans were given carte blanche to rid any semblance of dissent in the wake of the Good Friday Agreement.

It is clear that Joe’s Republican beliefs represented a huge hurdle in the British government plans at the time and a major thorn in the side of the provisional movement during their surrender negotiations.

For genuine Republicans, Joe will be remembered proudly while history tells of the shame on those guilty perpetrators who acted on crown orders.