Tributes to murdered solicitor Rosemary Nelson, 20 years on

PRESS EYE - BELFAST_N.IRELAND_15th April 2008 - File picture of Lurgan based solicitor Rosemary Nelson pictured in her office in County Armagh. She was murdered in 1999 by the LVF close to her home. Picture by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye.

From her tiny office at the top of William St, she represented some very high profile clients but the majority were ordinary people from her home town.

Often her fees were waived for those who might struggle to pay and the respect she was held in the town was unparalleled.

Rosemary came to prominence as the solicitor for some high profile republicans, including Colin Duffy.

She also represented the family of Robbie Hamill who was killed after a barbaric kicking in Portadown in 1997.

She also worked as a solictor for the Garvaghy Residents Association during the Drumcree disputes in Portadown in the late 1990s.

Rosemary was killed after a bomb exploded under her car outside her home close to a local primary school in Lurgan.

The murder was claimed by the loyalist gang, the Red Hand Defenders however there was widespread concern of security force collusion in the murder.

Mrs Nelson had previously complained that she had received numerous death threats and had voiced these concerns with the United Nations and US Congress.

A public inquiry into her murder found no evidence that the security forces had ‘directlly facilitated’ her murder but ‘could not exclude the possibility’ that individual members had helped the perpetrators.

Today on the 20th anniversary of her murder some of her colleagues paid tribute to Mrs Nelson.

KRW Law Human Rights said: “Thoughts and prayers with the family and friends of our esteemed professional colleague Rosemary Nelson on the 20th anniversary of her murder.”

Madden & Finucane Solicitors said: “Fond memories of our friend and colleague Rosemary Nelson on the 20th anniversary of her murder.”