I.R.A. tells of execution

Press, 27 October 1982, Page 8

I.R.A. tells of execution

NZPA-Reuter Belfast The Irish Republican Army said yesterday that it had executed a kidnapped Protestant part-time soldier, but it did not link his death with the murder of two Catholics in Northern Ireland. The I.R.A. said that its general headquarters had ordered the release of Tom Cochrane, aged 54, but that the order had not been received in time owing to “the heavy pressure of security forces in the south Armagh area.” Mr Cochrane, a part-time member of the Ulster Defence Regiment, was ab-

ducted at the week-end on his way to work. Protestant extremists seized Joseph Donegan, one of the two murdered Catholics, at the week-end and had threatened to kill him if Mr Cochrane was not released by midnight on Sunday (local time). Mr Donegan, aged 48, a Catholic father of seven, was found dead in a Belfast street on Monday. He was so badly beaten about the head that he could only be identified by his gold wrist watch. The police said that a second Catholic, Peter Corrigan, was shot from a passing car in the town of Armagh.

Mr Corrigan, aged 47, was a campaign worker for the I.R.A.’s political wing, Sinn Fein. There have been more than 2200 sectarian killings in Northern Ireland since violence flared 13 years ago. The I.R.A. statement said that when Mr Cochrane was seized he was carrying a .38 special pistol, which it said was not a standard issue weapon. The police chief for Northern Ireland, Sir Jack Hermon, gave a clear warning that the police expected more violence. He said that the province was witnessing “vicious

primitiveness in its most depraved form.” The latest upsurge of violence dealt a further blow to hopes of peace in the province. British-arranged elections for a provincial assembly last week ended in political stale-mate after the two main parties representing the Catholic minority reaffirmed that they would boycott the Parliament. The province has been under direct rule from London since 1972, and the British Government is trying, without success, to establish power-sharing between local Catholic and Protestant politicians.