Legacy of Miami Showband ‘is more than music, it is bringing people together’ says survivor

The legacy of the Miami Showband is about more than just music, it is bringing people together, a survivor of the loyalist ambush which targeted its members has said. Singer Fran O’Toole, guitarist Tony Geraghty and trumpeter Brian McCoy were shot dead on a roadside close to Newry on July 31 1975 after having been pulled over at a bogus security forces checkpoint. Two of the loyalist terrorists from the Ulster Volunteer Force were also killed in the incident, when a bomb they placed on the bus exploded prematurely. Survivors Des Lee and Stephen Travers were among those who gathered at the roadside where the atrocity happened on Thursday to remember their bandmates.