Murder regiment to play for Pope
By Padraig MacDabhaid
News that the pipe and drums band of the 1st Battalion the Scots Guards are due to play for the Pope in the Vatican on 8 December, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, has angered Jean McBride, mother of North Belfast teenager Peter McBride, who was killed by two members of the regiment, Mark Fisher and James Wright, in 1992. The pair were convicted of murder but were released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement and welcomed back to their regiment.
Jean McBride, who wasn't aware that the Scots Guards were playing the concert until An Phoblacht spoke to her, was shocked and angry at the news.
``I am sick of this. I don't want this to go unnoticed. If I could I would get people to stand outside the concert asking people to boycott this regiment that murdered my son,'' said Jean McBride.
A spokesperson for the Pat Finucane Centre said: ``The Scots Guards regiment is presently a safe haven for convicted murderers. The Free the Scots Guards Campaign was based at Regimental HQ. A member of the regimental band, Pipe Major Jimmy Banks, even went to the extent of composing a piper's tune called `Freedom', calling for the release of convicted guardsmen Wright and Fisher. In April 1998, 60 pipers from the band played the new tune at the annual regimental parade, which was dominated by calls for the release of the guardsmen''.
Given this history and ethos of the band, which offers support to those who murder innocent Catholics, is it right that they should play in the Vatican for the Pope?
Speaking to An Phoblacht, Billy McBride, uncle of the murder victim, asked whether there would be any protest from the Catholic Church in Ireland: ``Bishop Walsh officiated at the funeral of Peter and was scathing in his attack on the British army. Given the large amount of pilgrims who travel to the Vatican from Ireland, will he and his clergy be making people aware about what this regiment stands for?''
This is the latest in a series of publicity stunts carried out by the Scots Guards which have angered nationalists.
The Arbroath Herald, a newspaper in Mark Wright's hometown, carried a story on 4 September 1999, the anniversary of Peter's murder, about the exploits of Wright on ``peacekeeping'' duty in Kosovo. Wright is quoted as saying: ``The work is hard and the days are long, but seeing the hope in the children's eyes, and knowing that I helped put it there makes it all worthwhile.''
A furious Jean McBride said: ``I hope he remembers the look in my son's eyes when he shot him.''
Billy McBride concluded saying: ``The British government has shown a complete lack of feeling towards our family. When we met Mo Mowlam, she said she would do her best to throw them out of the Army and promised us that they would not be the first prisoners released under the Good Friday Agreement. However, they are still in the Army, they were the first released, and they were released in the same week as the anniversary of Peter's murder. Now we have a story being released by the British Army to a newspaper about how great Mark Wright is on the same day as Peter's anniversary.''
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