by Ronan McSherry
Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral yesterday of Eilish McCabe, the Tyrone woman who brought the campaign for justice for the victims of state violence to the doorstep of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Mrs McCabe was one of the co-founders of Relatives for Justice set up three years after her brother Aidan (24) was shot dead in Aughnacloy by a British soldier in 1988.
The 50-year-old mother of two passed away at her home in Aughnacloy after a lengthy illness. She led high profile campaigns demanding the truth regarding her brother's death and that of other victims of the British Army and RUC.
Expressing his 'deep sadness' at the loss of Mrs McCabe, the director of Relatives for Justice, Mark Thompson told the UH, "Eilish was a tower of strength.
"After Aidan's murder a number of families came together and founded Relatives for Justice in St Patrick's Hall in Dungannon in April 1991.
"She was instrumental in the foundation of the movement and an inspiration to many families particularly throughout her native and beloved Tyrone. She gave great leadership which was important for people going to inquests. Eilish was tireless campaigner and a tower of strength."
The director of the group told how she confronted Prime Minister Tony Blair as part of a UTV Special when a number of relatives were invited to Downing Street in 1997.
"She stole the show in terms of putting that firmly on the agenda with Tony Blair. She floored Blair and left him speechless without an answer. It was a pivotal moment. It was the first time anybody had sat with a British Prime Minister and challenged him and there was no better person in Relatives for Justice to do that than Eilish McCabe. Television presenter Mike Nesbitt who was there still talks about that as an amazing piece of TV how Eilish challenged Blair.
"She was also part of a delegation travelled to Geneva in 1995 to lobby our cause at a hearing of the Human Rights committee of the UN. That resulted in the issue of state collusion being investigated by the UN. Eilish played a pivotal and a central role. Without her Relatives for Justice would not be here today."
In June a report by the Historical Enquiries Team vindicating the McAnespie family's fight for justice stated that the British Army's account of the shooting was "the least likely version of what happened."
Paying tribute to her cousin Eilish Gormley from Carrickmore said, "The announcement seven weeks ago that Aidan was murdered was some consolation to Eilish on her deathbed. She told me she was delighted to get that announcement from the Historical Enquiries Team. She had said before she couldn't leave this world with that case not solved without an answer.
"In January Eilish knew she had a very short time to live. She has been remarkable and was very heavily involved in organising the 20-year commemoration to Aidan. She bore her illness with such dignity to the point were most people actually didn't realise she was sick until very recently. She was a huge inspiration. Eilish thought so much of everybody else and put other people first all the time."
Mrs McCabe is survived by her husband Paul, daughter Una and son Finbar, grandchildren Grace and Senan, parents John and Lizzie and brothers and sister Sean, Gerard, Vincent and Margo and a wide family circle.
