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Movies & TV

03rd Oct 2019

There was an extremely powerful reaction to No Stone Unturned on RTÉ

Paul Moore

No Stone Unturned

The outstanding documentary is now available to watch. It’s superb.

In 1994, six people were gunned down as they watched the World Cup match between Italy and Ireland in a small pub in a village in Down. Members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group, burst into a pub in Loughinisland and fired on those in attendance.

Decades later, family members looking for answers have become increasingly convinced that the truth is being hidden from them.

Like so many places in the six counties, Loughinisland wanted no part of the sectarian violence that unfolded in The Heights Bar on that horrific night. Ultimately, the UVF claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that it was retaliation for the killing of three UVF members by the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA).

The Emmy Award-nominated No Stone Unturned documents the horrific events that unfolded and highlights the collusion between the British state and the loyalist paramilitaries.

Simply put, it’s an outstanding piece of work.

The BBC decided not to air the documentary and the film was thrown into the spotlight again after two investigative journalists who worked on the feature, Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey, were detained over the suspected theft of confidential documents relating to the killings.

In May of this year, three appeal judges at the High Court in Belfast quashed warrants for the arrest of Mr Birney and Mr McCaffrey, arising from their work on the documentary.

In an interview with Ray D’Arcy, director Alex Gibney said that he made the documentary because he’s still interested in fighting for justice for the families of those who had their loved ones killed.

“No, they still haven’t got any justice and no sign that the PSNI are even investigating anymore. I think that may be one of the most frustrating things when your own government just turns its back on you. We found pretty convincing evidence of who the suspects were but the only investigating seemingly the PSNI have done is into the filmmakers themselves,” said Gibney.

He adds: “Two of my producers, Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey, were arrested by 100 police all bearing weapons very early one morning in front of their kids… and then they were taken to the police station and the idea was that they were briefly being accused of stealing government documents. That’s not true.

“Documents were leaked to us as part of the investigating process but ultimately that warrant was thrown out by a judge. But it was a long time that arrest and prison hung over the heads of Trevor and Barry and to some extent myself for trying to investigate what the police should have investigated.”

RTÉ is the first terrestrial broadcaster in the world to show the documentary and since it was aired, No Stone Unturned has left a lasting impression on those that have seen it.

In case you missed it, the documentary is available to watch on the RTÉ Player.

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