Forty years today, three members of the popular Miami Showband were gunned down in cold blood by the UVF.
On July 31, 1975, a UVF gang stopped their minibus on the A1 road near Banbridge at what appeared to be a military checkpoint.
They planned to plant a bomb on the band’s bus but it exploded prematurely, killing two of the loyalists – Harris Boyle and Wesley Somerville. The rest of the gang then opened fire, killing three members of the band and wounding two of them.
Band members Fran O’Toole, 29, guitarist Tony Geraghty, 23 and trumpeter 32-year-old Brian McCoy were killed while Stephen Travers and Des McAlea survived.
The Miami Showband
