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Murdered teen remembered in
bursary
22.10.10
by Linda McGrory
AN INISHOWEN teenager murdered 37 years ago is to be
honoured in a human rights essay competition to be
launched in his memory later today.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has awarded an
annual €500 schools essay prize to commemorate
16-year old Henry Cunningham from Carndonagh. The
Presbyterian teenager was killed when UVF gunmen
opened fire on the work van he was travelling in on
the M2 motorway near Belfast on August 9, 1973.
Henry Cunningham was sitting in the front passenger
seat. His older brother Herbert was driving the van
and was injured in the attack. Another brother,
Robert, was sitting in the back with their
brother-in-law and two other workmates.
The men had travelled the same route for three
months and it is believed their van was targeted by
the UVF because it bore Southern number plates. The
killers presumed the workmen were Catholic when, in
fact, they were both Presbyterian and Catholic.
Nobody was ever charged with the teenager’s murder. |
“The Henry Cunningham
Human Rights Essay competition will be launched
today at Carndonagh Community School by Paul
O'Connor, project manager at the Pat Finucane
Centre, Derry; Henry Cunningham's brother, Robert
and Professor Christine Bell of the Transitional
Justice Institute at the University of Ulster.
It is open to transition year students in the
Inishowen peninsula and asks |
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The late Henry Cunningham |
them to write an essay
on the topic 'Defending the Rights of Minorities in
Ireland'.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Micheal Martin, said he
met Robert Cunningham last year and was given a copy
of the Historical Enquiries Team’s report into the
killing.
“Though it is almost 40 years since Henry was
murdered, the pain that the family feel has not gone
away. I am impressed that the family have decided to
commemorate Henry’s short life by providing a
valuable opportunity for students of the same age
that Henry was when he was murdered,” said Mr
Martin.
Robert and Herbert Cunningham said: "For many years
we feel that Henry was forgotten, even here in
Donegal. We can never bring Henry back but his name
will forever be associated with the need to protect
human rights and that’s a good thing." |
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