You can never forget': a woman remembers her three brothers, murdered one by one by the IRA

"When the gunmen came for Jimmy Graham they were thorough. They fired the first two shots as he parked his bus in the school yard, then boarded the bus and fired another 24 shots. As the killers sped away they whooped in delight. Yahoo, they screamed. Yahoo. It was 1 February 1985 and the IRA team had special reason to celebrate: it had bagged a third Graham brother. They had killed Ronnie Graham in June 1981, Cecil Graham in November 1981 and now, just over three years later, they got Jimmy. A hat-trick."

"Even in the grim annals of Northern Ireland's Troubles, what unfolded in the bucolic landscape of County Fermanagh was unique: three Protestant brothers targeted in separate murders. The torture never ended, their sister Pam Morrison, 78, said this week. First Ronnie, then Cecil, then Jimmy. You never really got a chance to get yourself sorted out. She will mark the 41st anniversary of Jimmy's murder on Sunday the same way she has marked all the other anniversaries: with memories, prayers and a dogged determination to go on, to live a life scarred by grief and absence."

"For more than three decades Morrison did not speak publicly about the murders. It was too painful, too dangerous. Other relatives, like her slain brothers, served part-time in the Ulster Defence Regiment, the local wing of the British army which attracted mainly Protestants, and she feared any publicity condemnation of the crimes or airing of the family's anguish might galvanise further IRA attacks. You just had to keep your mouth closed and say nothing."

Jimmy Graham was killed on 1 February 1985 when gunmen fired as he parked his bus in a school yard, boarded the bus and fired another 24 shots while whooping 'Yahoo' as they fled. The IRA had earlier killed Ronnie Graham in June 1981 and Cecil Graham in November 1981, creating the rare case of three brothers murdered separately. Their sister Pam Morrison endured decades of fear and silence because relatives served in the Ulster Defence Regiment and publicity might provoke further attacks. Morrison, now the last of eight siblings, feels responsible to speak and to keep memories alive.

Read at www.theguardian.com