THE story of the Loughinsland Massacre and the fallout following the arrest of t wo journalists who worked on the documentary focused on the massacre is the subject of a new book.

In the opening pages of ‘Shooting Crows: Mass Murder, State Collusion and Press Freedom’, Enniskillen born journalist and documentary maker Trevor Birney, who began his career with The Impartial Reporter, thinks of his family and his mother in Enniskillen as he is arrested by the PSNI on suspicion of stealing documents.

Investigating the collusion between the RUC and Loyalist terrorists behind the attack, journalists Mr. Birney and Barry McCaffrey produced the ground-breaking documentary No Stone Unturned in 2017.

This would lead to their arrests in a dawn raid as, rather than pursuing the guilty, the PSNI trained their attention on the journalists who had exposed them.

The book opens with Mr. Birney travelling back in time to remember the fateful morning of August 31, 2018 when he and his family were awoken by PSNI vehicles on the street in East Belfast.

In this section, he thinks of his mother who would just be beginning her day in Enniskillen.

As well as covering the ins and outs of the investigation, the book also examines the emotional toll of the arrest and the court cases on Mr.Birney, Mr. McCaffrey and their families.

Mr. Birney described in detail how as he sat in a cell in Musgrave Police Station, he worried for his mother at home in Enniskillen and how she would find out the news.

Mr. Birney writes in the book: “At around 8.20 a.m., the cell door slammed shut behind me. The day had taken a dramatic turn. I was incarcerated for the first time in my life. There was a blue plastic mattress on a shelf to my right and a toilet and wash-hand basin to my left.

“On the wall in front of me were forty-two glass bricks. I counted them repeatedly as I began to consider just what had happened.

“I began to pace the cell. I started banging on the wall to try to get Barry to respond. I sat down on the mattress, thinking of my eighty year old mother in Enniskillen and wondering how she would find out what was going on. It wasn’t easy to concentrate with so much swirling around my mind.”

The book takes the reader through the early days of the Troubles and explores the background of the conflict, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), the village of Loughinisland itself and the details of the lead-up and aftermath of the attack.

Sought the truth Further, it lifts the curtain on the arrest of Mr. Birney and Mr.

McCaffrey and explores their battle with legal forces as they sought the truth in the aftermath of their arrest. When the legal case was dropped by the PSNI, they paid legal damages totalling £875,000.

One of those to praise the book was former Editor of The Impartial Reporter, Denzil McDaniel who said; “The deadly murderous campaign by loyalism is chilling enough but the involvement of the British state is absolutely shocking. A remarkable story brilliantly told.”

This is Mr. Birney’s second book, his first Quinn focusing on the rise and fall of Seán Quinn was a best seller. Earlier this year, Mr. Birney was the producer of the 2024 box office hit Kneecap.