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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| County Armagh: Man drowns in Bessbrook flag incident | County Armagh: Man drowns in Bessbrook flag incident |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| A 68-year-old man has drowned in an incident at a lake in County Armagh. | A 68-year-old man has drowned in an incident at a lake in County Armagh. |
| Oswald 'Ossie' Bradley was swimming to an island in Bessbrook Pond to remove two Irish tricolour flags from trees. | |
| It is claimed Mr Bradley intended to replace them with a union flag when he got into difficulties. Police are not treating the death as suspicious. | It is claimed Mr Bradley intended to replace them with a union flag when he got into difficulties. Police are not treating the death as suspicious. |
| Sinn Féin MLA Mickey Brady last week called for the removal of the flags after they appeared on the island. | Sinn Féin MLA Mickey Brady last week called for the removal of the flags after they appeared on the island. |
| 'Devastating news' | 'Devastating news' |
| A teenage boy managed to bring Mr Bradley ashore at about 17:00 BST on Monday where attempts were made to resuscitate him. | A teenage boy managed to bring Mr Bradley ashore at about 17:00 BST on Monday where attempts were made to resuscitate him. |
| Emergency services took him to Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry, about four miles away, where it was announced that he had died. | Emergency services took him to Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry, about four miles away, where it was announced that he had died. |
| Ulster Unionist MLA Danny Kennedy said the death was devastating news for the man's family and the village of Bessbrook. | Ulster Unionist MLA Danny Kennedy said the death was devastating news for the man's family and the village of Bessbrook. |
| "This is a very tragic outcome to controversies surrounding flags in this village," Mr Kennedy said. | "This is a very tragic outcome to controversies surrounding flags in this village," Mr Kennedy said. |
| "This is too high a price for any family and community to pay. | "This is too high a price for any family and community to pay. |
| "The entire Bessbrook community will join with me in showing our sympathy and support for the whole family circle. | "The entire Bessbrook community will join with me in showing our sympathy and support for the whole family circle. |
| "He was highly respected and liked within the Bessbrook community. I counted him as a personal friend and I am deeply upset by his untimely and tragic death." | "He was highly respected and liked within the Bessbrook community. I counted him as a personal friend and I am deeply upset by his untimely and tragic death." |
| Dominic Bradley of the nationalist SDLP, who knows Bradley family, said the village was in shock. | |
| "I think the action that he undertook yesterday was probably uncharacteristic of him, from what I hear from friends of his," said the assembly member. | "I think the action that he undertook yesterday was probably uncharacteristic of him, from what I hear from friends of his," said the assembly member. |
| "Bessbrook is a mixed community, Catholics and Protestants live side-by-side and, generally speaking down through the years, community relations have been very good. | "Bessbrook is a mixed community, Catholics and Protestants live side-by-side and, generally speaking down through the years, community relations have been very good. |
| "I believe some local councillors and the police have arranged for the flags to be removed." | "I believe some local councillors and the police have arranged for the flags to be removed." |
| Mr Bradley was a member of the County Armagh victims' group Families Acting for Innocent Relatives (FAIR). | |
| He was involved in the campaign seeking justice for the victims of an IRA bomb attack near his village, that became known as the Kingsmill massacre. | |
| FAIR's chaplain Pastor Barrie Halliday, who knew Mr Bradley personally for more than 30 years, said he "loved" the union flag and displayed it at his house. | |
| "Some people say it was totally out of character but maybe we need to take it in context of his great interest in working along with the Kingsmill families - a tragedy of nearly 40 years ago that's going on today. | |
| "Obviously he was affected by it and disappointed by a lack of movement in every area concerning this. | |
| "It had been playing on his mind and it was just something he couldn't stand it any longer - a tricolour being up over the village," the pastor added. | |
| Last week, Mickey Brady of Sinn Féin said last the flags could be seen as intimidating by Protestant residents in the village. | Last week, Mickey Brady of Sinn Féin said last the flags could be seen as intimidating by Protestant residents in the village. |
| He said the flags could be considered by some as "overtly sectarian, intimidating and threatening". | He said the flags could be considered by some as "overtly sectarian, intimidating and threatening". |
| "The issue is one that is causing contention because obviously, in Bessbrook particularly, there is a mixed community," he said. | "The issue is one that is causing contention because obviously, in Bessbrook particularly, there is a mixed community," he said. |
| "I think you have to respect the culture and nature of the people who live in that area." | "I think you have to respect the culture and nature of the people who live in that area." |
| Mr Brady said on Monday that the "community was in shock". | Mr Brady said on Monday that the "community was in shock". |