John Turnley ( 1935 – 5 June 1980) was an assassinated Irish nationalist councillor and activist. Originally from a unionist background, he was gradually drawn to

Irish nationalism Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cult ...

and became a republican activist. He was killed in 1980 by loyalists in Carnlough,

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

Background

A teacher by profession, Turnley was born into a wealthy landed Protestant family. He attended

Rockport School Rockport School is an independent day and boarding school for boys and girls from 2.5 years to 18 years in the British Public School tradition. It is situated in of woodland on the shore of Belfast Lough in Craigavad, near Holywood, County D ...

in Holywood, Co Down. His father was a leading member of the Ulster Unionist Party. After serving as a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer, Turnley worked in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, marrying a Japanese woman. In 1972 he returned to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, set up home in his native Carnlough and joined the

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; ) is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly ( MLAs) and two members of Parliament (M ...

(SDLP). Upon joining the SDLP, his father reacted by trying to disinherit him.Dillon, Martin (1989). ''The Dirty War''. London: Arrow Books. p.296 The following year, he stood unsuccessfully for the party in the local government elections for Larne borough council, and was also unsuccessful in North Antrim at the 1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election. He took second place in an Assembly by-election the following year, and in 1975 he was elected to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention. He was also elected to Larne council in 1977, representing Larne 'Area A' which covered the Coast Road areas. Turnley became disillusioned with the SDLP in the late 1970s, and in October 1977 became a founder member of the newly formed Irish Independence Party, becoming the party chairman. He unsuccessfully contested North Antrim in the 1979 Westminster Election. He also became a leading member of the National H-Blocks Committee, which sought to obtain political status for Irish Republican prisoners.

Death

On 5 June 1980, Turnley drove to Carnlough, for a meeting with other councillors to discuss development in the area. When his car came to a halt, three Ulster Defence Association (UDA) gunmen struck, firing numerous shots, hitting Turnley several times in the chest and body. He died in the ambulance on the way to Larne's Moyle Hospital. Two years later, three men from Larne were convicted of his murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Aftermath

One of the three men, Robert "Bobby" McConnell, later joined the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and holds the position of vice chairman of the West Belfast Ulster Unionist Association. He was selected to run in the 2011 Belfast council elections but was unsuccessful. McConnell was also convicted of the murder of a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in Larne six weeks after the assassination of Turnley."Booze sorry now"
Sunday Life 20 March 2011 Retrieved 13 May 2015

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turnley, John 1930s births 1980 deaths 1980 murders in the United Kingdom Assassinated politicians from Northern Ireland British Army officers Members of Larne Borough Council Deaths by firearm in Northern Ireland Members of the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention Irish republicans People educated at Rockport School People from Ballycastle, County Antrim People killed by the Ulster Defence Association People murdered in Northern Ireland Place of birth missing Protestant Irish nationalists Social Democratic and Labour Party politicians Murder victims from County Down Murder victims from County Antrim European politicians assassinated in the 1980s Politicians assassinated in 1980 Assassinated councillors