Killing of Rosemary Nelson

Uncommon card · No. 128762

Rosemary Nelson (née Magee; 4 September 1958 – 15 March 1999) was an Irish solicitor from Lurgan, County Armagh. She represented clients from the Irish nationalist community in several high-profile cases, including the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition, the family of Robert Hamill, and Provisional IRA member Colin Duffy. She was killed by a bomb planted under her car by an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. The assassination was claimed by the Red Hand Defenders, a covername for members of the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF). Nelson was posthumously awarded the Train Foundation's Civil Courage Prize, which recognises "extraordinary heroes of conscience". Allegations that the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) were involved in her killing led to a public inquiry. It found that the RUC's hostility towards her helped to "legitimise her as a target in the eyes of loyalist terrorists", that some police intelligence about her had "leaked", and that the authorities failed to give her proper protection.

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