THE LOUGHINISLAND MASSACRE - A Survivor's Diary

Revised in December 2014 to include new diary entries that outline my experiences during the summer of 1994 and in more recent times.

The background to my Diary:
On the 18 June 1994 fifteen people were in the Heights Bar, Loughinisland, Northern Ireland, watching the Ireland vs Italy world cup soccer match taking place at Giants Stadium in New Jersey.

At approximately 10.15pm, members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group, burst into the bar with an assault rifle and pistol and fired repeatedly on the fifteen customers killing six civilians and wounding five.

My name is Colm Smyth and I am a survivor of that night. I was shot four times. This short 13,500 word diary, describes in my own words, the events of that night as they happened, along with my experiences over the following days and months. It also highlights the long term effects I face as a survivor.