Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Bob Buchanan
Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Bob Buchanan

The submission of Des Merrill’s election address, the murder of two of Ulster’s hiring ranking policemen and the questions remaining about security after a Lockerbie air crash warning was not passed on

I had my breakfast and then got down to laying out my index into five pages of camera-ready copy for the book. Now there was nothing else to do but send it off and wait. Later, I finished off the first election leaflet changes and printed out the artwork for Percy, Des and Michael for then to be taken by Percy to Cambridge this evening. The news tonight is of two of Ulster’s highest-ranking policemen being murdered by terrorists near the border in Ulster. They were a Superintendent and Chief Superintendent who had been south of the border on a liaison meeting. Transport secretary, Paul Channon, is still on the defensive over security arrangements prior to the Lockerbie air crash. He will not make a parliamentary statement to explain why a warning was not passed on.