On the fiftieth anniversary of his brother’s murder, Gerry stops speaking publicly about Paul

Well-known victims’ campaigner Gerry Armstrong – who has spent the last 25 years keeping alive the memory of his brother Paul, who was murdered by the UVF on November 8, 1974 – will no longer speak about him publicly.

Gerry said he will stop speaking about Paul’s murder and the events surrounding it after the 50th anniversary on November 8 this week, explaining that the past 25 years have been a momentous journey for himself and his family.

The North Belfast man said: “It has been a huge journey for myself and my family to keep Paul’s memory alive. It led me to talk endlessly about Paul over the past 25 years and eventually write a book.

“For the first 25 years we didn’t talk about Paul and for the last 25 years I haven’t been silent about him. On October 13th we planted a tree at the Wave Trauma Center in memory of Paul, which will remain there forever and we will use November 8th this year as a family moment to remember Paul.

“My mother never spoke about Paul, she couldn’t attend the funeral and she couldn’t bring herself to visit Paul’s grave in Milltown. My father couldn’t really talk about Paul either and he died in 1986.

“When my mother passed away in 1999, I thought it was good to talk about Paul and what he meant to our family. No reporters came to our door to ask us about him and now, after 25 years, I I’m making this the last time we talk about what happened to Paul.

“I do want to say that if newspapers approach me on November 9 and ask me to do a story about Paul, I will politely tell them no.”

Belfast writer Gerry Armstrong, whose 18-year-old brother Paul was murdered by the UVF almost 50 years ago, has revealed that his family were so traumatized 25 years after Paul’s murder that they never spoke his name.

Today I spoke in the garden of the WAVE, where… pic.twitter.com/CuhQieHrNA

— WAVE Trauma Center (@WAVETrauma) October 13, 2024

Gerry revealed that he had recently met privately with the British Foreign Secretary for the North, Hilary Benn, and took the opportunity to tell him about Paul’s murder. replacing the infamous Legacy Bill.

“He didn’t say much, but I didn’t expect him to say much,” he recalls. “I was able to tell him my story and where I come from. I gave him a copy of the book and he shook my hand and said it was an honor to meet you Gerry, but I never had any confidence in it had governments or politicians.

“On October 13, we planted a tree at the Wave Trauma Center in memory of Paul, which will remain there forever and we will use November 8 this year as a family moment to remember Paul.”

A special evening at the Wolfhill Center in Ligoneil on the occasion of the relaunch of Gerry Armstrong’s beautiful book ‘A young life stolen’. It is dedicated to his brother Paul Armstrong who died in 1974. A fitting tribute to keep Paul’s memory alive. Gerry’s parents would be so proud pic.twitter.com/sJklNjm6I5

— WAVE Trauma Center (@WAVETrauma) September 28, 2023

Gerry described writing his book ‘A Young Life Stolen: A Memoir of Growing Up in War-torn Belfast’ and said the book was his way of telling the whole story of what happened to Paul and what happened next with the inept investigation into Paul’s life. murder and the journey his family has taken. He reflected on the book and said he still receives letters from people who said the book had helped them immensely in coping with the loss of their own loved ones.

“Over the years, many people have contacted me to say how much my story has impacted them, but that was never my intention. I wrote the book primarily for Paul, myself and my family, but the journey I have been on about Paul over the past 25 years has led to many people saying that reading the book has helped them immensely and I have received countless letters from people saying they were deeply moved by it.”

He added: “For years I was told over and over again to forget the past and draw the line in the sand, but I have decided that now I will draw the line on my own terms, on the family’s terms Armstrong.

“Paul was only 18 when he was murdered. He was a merchant at sixteen and traveled the world and then he came back to this place and was captured, tortured and murdered in broad daylight while all of Ligoniel was crawling with British army patrols.

“For years people have used this phrase in relation to Paul’s murder: ‘he was in the wrong place at the wrong time’, but that wasn’t the case. He was in the right place at the right time. He was walking down his own street on his way to report back to the shipping pool. Paul was exactly where he should have been; it is those who killed him who were not.”

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REMEMBER: Paul Armstrong (18) was murdered by the UVF on November 8, 1974

Asked if the last 25 years have brought him any closure, Gerry said: “I don’t know if the decision to stop now has brought closure; There is no word for that in the English language. I think about Paul all the time, but writing the book helped me enormously. But I feel a sense of contentment now, I’m at peace with it and I know I was in a very bad situation with it for many years, but over the years telling Paul’s story has almost been an uplifting experience in many ways.

“The trauma of Paul’s murder will always be there, but by telling Paul’s story we have been able to grow through that trauma somewhat, they call it post-traumatic growth and by telling Paul’s story it has helped both me and can help my family. ”

“Over the years people have asked for truth, justice and reconciliation, but I don’t want their truth or their righteousness, and how can we reconcile with what was done to Paul? All I want is for people to know who Paul Armstrong was and that he mattered. He was a person, he was loved and he mattered.”