Today marks 50 years since Senator Billy Fox was shot dead near Clones in Co Monaghan. He was the only member of the Oireachtas to be murdered during the Troubles.
The 35-year-old had been visiting the family home of his girlfriend Marjorie Coulson near Clones, when he interrupted a Provisional IRA raid. A gang of around a dozen raiders were searching for guns that they had been wrongly informed were being stashed at the property. The Coulson family was ordered to leave the house, which was burned down.
Senator Fox hailed from Cortubber in Castleblayney and was elected to Dáil Éireann in 1969 where he served as a Fine Gael TD for Monaghan until 1973. A commemoration event is planned next month to remember and celebrate the local senators life. Cllr Sean Gilliland says this murder 50 years on is still etched in local people's minds.
