Gareth O'Callaghan: 50 years after Miami Showband killings, the scars of The Troubles still remain
The last photo of the Miami Showband taken before the massacre on July 31, 1975. From left: Tony Geraghty, Fran O'Toole, Ray Miller, Des Lee, Brian McCoy and Stephen Travers.
Maybe everybody feels this way about the long hazy days of their teenage summers, but the summers in the mid-1970s were unforgettable. Long sunny days were hitched to an endless soundtrack of classic songs and pop stars whose posters adorned every teenager’s bedroom in the country.
The year 1975 was particularly memorable, but not just for the weather. I remember where I was on the morning of July 31 that year. Sitting in the back of the family car, I listened in shock as news of the ambush and execution of three members of the Miami Showband broke on RTÉ. I was 14, and what I was listening to was unthinkable. Fifty years later, as the anniversary approaches next Thursday, it still is.
