Matthew Burns (c. 1976 – 21 February 2002) was a drug dealer shot dead by the Real IRA.
A native of Castlewellan, County Down, Burns was a fitness disciple, and kick-boxed with Northern Ireland's tae kwon do academy. He was a participant in a campaign to have tae kwon do listed as an Olympic sport, and hoped to compete in the [1] Olympics himself. He was also described as a drug dealer, and had been linked to a plot to import heroin into Northern Ireland, along with an accomplice, Frankie Mulholland, shot dead by loyalists in 2002.[2] [3]
Between late 1999 and early 2000, he became involved with a dispute against local members of the Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA), including its commander. This is believed to have led to an incident where the Real IRA commander led a group of seven men to administer a punishment beating on Burns in John F. Kennedy Park. According to an article in the Irish Independent:[3]
Burns was afterwards the subject of a booby-trap bomb placed on his car at the house of the mother of his girlfriend. While Burns was uninjured, his pregnant girlfriend received a leg injury. She later gave birth to the couple's only child.[3]
Burns and his brother Patrick were leaving their mother's home in Rathfriland on 21 February 2002 in Castlewellan, County Down. when "a gunman opened fire with a high-powered assault shotgun, an Italian-manufactured weapon that fires steel ball bearings with destructive power. The first blast disabled the car engine. The second, fired at point-blank range, tore through Matthew's chest and neck. Two of the steel pellets hit Patrick in the hand and arm."[3]
The Police Service of Northern Ireland reportedly believe Burns was shot by a member of the Real IRA "nearby Kilcoo, brought in by the local Provisional IRA boss to carry out the assassination." Several other people are believed to have been involved.[3]
Patrick Burns died on 9 December 2003. Another brother, Sean, received a death threat from the IRA, forcing him into exile.[3] After his death, "stories that he was a drug dealer with links to loyalists" were reportedly disseminated.[4] [5] were claimed to be deliberate vilification by republicans seeking to justify the murder, and refuted by the PSNI at an inquest in November 2004.[3]
Burns' grave was regularly desecrated and his remains were re-interred elsewhere.[3]
Matthew Burns was unrelated to Andrew Burns, killed by the IRA in County Donegal in 2008.[6]