{"id":10,"date":"2023-11-13T13:40:09","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T13:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/justiceforjohnhayes.com\/?page_id=10"},"modified":"2025-12-11T09:37:38","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T09:37:38","slug":"justice-for-john-hayes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/justiceforjohnhayes.com\/","title":{"rendered":"Justice for John Hayes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Background<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My name is Brendan Hayes. My father, John Hayes (pictured), was murdered on the 29th of November 1975 in a bomb attack at Dublin Airport.
He was 38 years old and worked for Aer Lingus as a baggage handler.
He was married to Monica and they had three young children (Brian, Karen and myself).
The atrocity was committed by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), a loyalist paramilitary organisation with strong links to the British state.
My father was a victim of ‘The Troubles’<\/a>, a conflict that claimed
over 3000 lives.
If you would like more detailed information on the conflict, please see the
CAIN<\/a> website.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Mental Health<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The murder of a loved one has devastatingly traumatic<\/a> effects on the surviving family members. Common related mental health conditions include Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Depression, Anxiety and Personality Disorders. One of the most common reactions to trauma is emotional avoidance<\/a>. I have experienced this and it is only within the last couple of years that I have felt strong enough to talk about what happened to my father. I have even managed to speak on RTE radio ‘Liveline’<\/a> about the effects of the murder on the family. The choice not to avoid the issue gives rise to other painful emotions such as fear, anger, disgust and sadness. To deal with these emotions, I have undergone counselling and I have been diagnosed with PTSD and depression. The counselling process has been difficult because it has highlighted how badly my life chances and relationships with others have been affected by the murder. The sessions have been beneficial however, as they allowed me to talk about my feelings after all this time. I will need further counselling sessions to help me deal with the trauma that I experience on a daily basis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Our search for justice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As far as I am aware, there has been no effective investigation into my father’s murder and there was no contact from any law enforcement agency. His case, like so many others, has been forgotten. This is something that I would like to put right with the help of my friends at KRW Law<\/a> and Justice for the Forgotten (JFF)\/Pat Finucane Centre (PFC)<\/a>. The UDA and other loyalist terror groups – including the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) – often colluded with the British Army, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and the intelligence services<\/a>. My friend, Margaret Urwin from JFF has written a very interesting and disturbing book on the subject of collusion titled ‘A State in Denial’.<\/a> It causes me great distress to think that the people who are supposed to protect us could have been involved in the murder of my father. The knowledge of collusion has compounded my mental health problems and has made me more distrustful. My father’s case is being looked at by Operation Denton<\/a>, a ‘review’ that is being conducted by former and serving police officers. It would be nice to think that they can provide some answers which can lead to some form of justice, but I am not very hopeful. The British government is also trying to block any route to justice with the ill-conceived and inappropriately named Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill<\/a>. If this bill becomes law, it will not achieve reconciliation. It will only compound the pain that the families have endured for so long.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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News<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

18\/09\/2023 – The UK government has disregarded the rights of the families of the victims and have departed from the normal standards of internatonal law
by enacting the
Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023<\/a>.
This Act seeks to remove our access to justice, but we will continue
our fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

20\/12\/2023 – The Irish government has taken the courageous step of launching a legal challenge to the British government’s Legacy Act<\/a>. We hope that this will strengthen our claims for justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

04\/12\/2024 – The new Labour government are making preparations to repeal the iniquitous Legacy Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

20\/09\/2025 – This is a series of excellent articles in the Irish News, highlighting our father’s murder, the links between the paramilitaries and the British state, and our struggle for justice: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Family of man killed in UVF bomb at Dublin airport \u2018let down by RUC and gardai\u2019 \u2013 The Irish News<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Special Report: Members of the UDR and RUC were directly involved in sectarian murder, major report confirms \u2013 The Irish News<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inside the UVF at the height of its murderous campaign – Irish News special report \u2013 The Irish News<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Revealed: The bitter takeover of the UVF at height of its sectarian murder campaign \u2013 The Irish News<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

22\/09\/2025 – Me talking on RTE Drivetime (from 1:42) about my experience with Operation Denton and the authorities’ failure to provide adequate support to our family. https:\/\/www.rte.ie\/radio\/radio1\/drivetime\/2025\/0922\/1534785-drivetime-monday-22-september-2025\/\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

14\/10\/2025 – My appearance on RTE Prime Time taliking about our fight for justice and calls for a Garda investigation. https:\/\/www.rte.ie\/news\/primetime\/2025\/1014\/1538554-family-calls-for-new-garda-probe-into-forgotten-airport-bombing\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

28\/11\/2025 – We had a remembrance mass at the Dublin Airport church to remember our father, who was taken from us 50 years ago. https:\/\/www.rte.ie\/news\/primetime\/2025\/1129\/1546403-family-call-for-justice-50-years-on-from-forgotten-airport-bomb\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Photos<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Contact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

e-mail: brendanhayes2002@yahoo.co.uk<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twitter: @BrendanHayes12<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instagram\/Threads: @brendanhayes2002<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Background My name is Brendan Hayes. My father, John Hayes (pictured), was murdered on the 29th of November 1975 in a bomb attack at Dublin Airport.He was 38 years old and worked for Aer Lingus as a baggage handler.He was married to Monica and they had three young children (Brian, Karen and myself).The atrocity was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/justiceforjohnhayes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/justiceforjohnhayes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/justiceforjohnhayes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justiceforjohnhayes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justiceforjohnhayes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/justiceforjohnhayes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66,"href":"https:\/\/justiceforjohnhayes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10\/revisions\/66"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/justiceforjohnhayes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}