Last night a new bannerette was dedicated in the city of Londonderry to mark the 40th anniversary of the cruel murder of Churchill LOL 871 member John Olphert .
Family statement ref the 40th Anniversary since the murder of John Olphert
From Mark Olphert (Son)
18th January 1983
Mark states: “My Daddy was the best, he loved Mummy (Madeline) dearly and he doted on my older brother Peter and I. Family meant everything to him and he was determined to leave a legacy for us, he had a very strong work ethic and sound moral character, nothing came easy to him, anything he and we had as a family was hard worked for”.
“Dad worked for Courtalds Synthetics factory and BOC Gas and Gear in the city, he was a boilerman by trade but his ambition was always to open and run his own shop. This aspiration was borne within him when he acted as a messenger boy for Robinson’s shop based on Clooney Terrace”.
“We grew up in the Triangle Estate and were very much in the minority, we then moved to the supposed sanctuary of a strongly Unionist area of Nelson Drive and yet ironically it was here that my Daddy was stolen away from us, he had survived three murder attempts on his life prior to that point so had understood that he was a target”.
“He lived to achieve his dream of owning his own shop, it was opened close to our home in June 1982 and that Summer was probably the happiest Summer of my life, we were all so excited and also proud that a foundation for the future (as we saw it) was laid through the business being opened".
“At the point Daddy was murdered he had actually resigned from the RUC, he wanted to devote his future efforts to the shop and building the business so as to leave a legacy behind for his sons. He also wanted to provide the community in Nelson Drive with a much needed local shop. His resignation was to be confirmed one month after he was murdered by the Provisional IRA”.
“The Provisional IRA didn’t just murder a Policeman, they murdered a good man, a family man and a hardworking man, someone who was well respected across the community as was reflected following his murder when many Roman Catholic clergy spoke out against what had happened".
Mark added: “Dad was proud of his culture, faith and identity and was a member of the Loyal Orders, but he never, ever taught us to be bitter towards our neighbours, his view was that we are all people who have to live together and that we should help each other out, and live as a genuine community”.
“One of my treasured memories is laying in front of Dad on a Sunday night watching The Professionals TV Programme, a Policing and crime series, and I also loved spending time with him on family holidays, or having him teach me something new - my Dad was literally my Hero”.
“After Dad was murdered mummy tried to keep the shop going and with the support of wider family and friends she remarkably achieved this; more torment was to follow when the UVF then arrived to rob the Post Office which she ran from within Daddy's shop, that was also a very difficult pill to swallow - how dare they! Mummy was never the same after Daddy’s murder, part of her also died that day, Granda Olphert also died just 20 months later of a broken heart and a big part of me is still trapped as the 12-year-old boy who had his world turned upside down”.
“In 1988 just 5 years after Daddy was murdered I had a serious motorbike accident where I broke my back, today I am required to use a wheelchair almost full-time. My life is difficult because of all that but I am determined not to give up, I owe that to my Dad. Terrorists stole his voice, so I need to speak up for him”.
“I want to believe in Reconciliation, I really do but I don’t believe Irish Republicans are serious about it. Provisional Irish Republicans aren’t ready to meet with the son of an RUC GC Police Officer and to view me as an equal and as a human being. I want an answer to the question, what was it all for? Was it really worth tormenting me and so many other children and adults who have shared such lived experiences?”
“The Provisional IRA and Sinn Fein suggest that there was “no alternative” to their actions, this phony position empowers and justifies loyalists to claim likewise, that they were justified in carrying out their campaign of violence - let us be clear, none of it was right, it was all wrong and unjustified and in the absence of justice ever being served in this life, let them at least stop their pathetic, self-serving lies. What they did was neither noble nor courageous”.
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