Murder of David Black
Prison Officer and Orange Order member David Black was shot and killed on 1 November 2012 by members of the New IRA. The group claimed responsibility for the killing 11 days later. Black was the first prison officer to be murdered by dissident Irish republicans since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
Attack
On 1 November 2012, David Black was driving to work at Maghaberry Prison when he was fatally shot by members of the New IRA at approximately 7:30 am. While travelling on the M1 motorway between Portadown and Lurgan, a vehicle with Dublin registration plates pulled alongside his car and opened fire. Black's vehicle veered off the road into a ditch following the attack.Reaction
- Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron: "First and foremost this is a dreadful tragedy for the family and friends of David Black who has been so brutally murdered as he went about his work keeping the people of Northern Ireland safe. My heart goes out to them."
- PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott: "It is a completely senseless attack which demonstrates the ruthlessness and recklessness of those opposed to peace and who live for violence."
- Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore: "I know that I speak for every decent man, woman and child on this island, north and south, in expressing revulsion at this act. There will be no return to the dark and violent days of the past. The tragic loss of life that we have seen this morning serves only to bring us together in a shared grief and a shared determination to work together in building a better future for all."
Aftermath
The trial of a man charged with aiding and abetting Black's murder collapsed in 2018.In November 2022, on the tenth anniversary of the murder, Black's widow made a fresh appeal for information on her husband's killers.