In a rustic leafy estate located in the suburbs of Belfast city, some days after Christmas, a father and daughter were watching television, enjoying the quiet that comes when the festivities have finally ended. A fir tree with tiny lights glowed in the darkened room as tinsel hung on its branches and ornaments gently swayed in the shadows. The pair exchanged jokes and laughed together at the antics of television hosts who were desperately playing to the gallery in their attempts to keep viewers watching. Thomas Niedermayer, the forty-five-year-old West German honorary consul to Northern Ireland and manager of the German Grundig factory situated in Dunmurray, was at home with his daughter Renate, then fifteen. His older daughter Gabrielle was staying with friends and his wife, Ingeborg, was in hospital. Along the road, from inside the houses, similar sounds emitted of carol singing and muted television jingles.
At 11pm, there came a loud rapping and knocking at the door. The area was peaceful, and Renate did not consider checking to see who it was. It might have been a neighbour seeking help or her older sister who had arrived home for some reason. Outside stood two men, who claimed they had crashed into Niedermayer’s car. They asked him to accompany them to witness the damage. Thomas Niedermayer was wise enough to realise something was amiss, but deciding to protect his daughter, he meekly acquiesced to their request and left with the duo. It was December 27th, 1973. Thomas Niedermayer was never seen again.
In late February 1973, an IRA Active Service Unit consisting of eleven members, arrived in London with a view to detonating car-bombs in the capital . Four targets were selected – the Old Bailey, the Ministry of Agriculture, an army recruitment office near Whitehall and New Scotland Yard. Two sisters, Marion and Dolours Price formed part of the gang. Once the marks were chosen, the group’s commanding officer in Belfast was contacted and the IRA Council then gave the order to act. The bombs were set to detonate at 3pm on March 8th, but at 8.30 am that morning, an observant police officer on patrol at New Scotland Yard noticed a discrepancy with the number plate on the car containing the explosives and alerted members of Scotland Yard. The device was successfully defused by a senior member of Scotland Yard. Two other bombs were located and rendered safe. However, the device at the Old Bailey detonated and hundreds were injured, some seriously. As a result of the first car bomb being located at New Scotland Yard, the police were alerted to the presence of an IRA active service unit and all but one member of the group were arrested as they tried to board their return flight to Ireland.
Dolours and Marian Price were imprisoned in HMP Brixton, a facility primarily used to house male prisoners. The sisters promptly went on hunger strike, demanding to be returned to Northern Ireland and serve out their sentence there.
Born in 1941, Brian Keenan was a key member of the Army Council of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. As a teenager, Keenan moved to England to work with his brother where he came to the attention of police when he vandalised a cigarette machine. Keenan decided to return to Northern Ireland where he found employment at the Grundig Factory in Dunmurray. He soon gained a reputation as a radical due to his involvement in factory trade union activities.
Tension between Thomas Niedermayer and Brian Keenan began to emerge - both parties were at the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of how they dealt with issues. Differences between the two became increasingly more apparent as time went on. Niedermayer tried to resolve the problems but met with no success.
In late 1972, senior IRA personnel in both the Republic and Northern Ireland were arrested. On the foot of this, the IRA decided to take their campaign to English soil and started to plot a bombing offensive to take attention away from the IRA in Northern Ireland. The bombing of the Old Bailey was the beginning of new overseas tactics by the IRA.
By December 1973, with the Price sisters threatening to hunger strike until they died, Brian Keenan realised drastic action needed to be taken. The early 70s witnessed the IRA kidnapping individuals who they believed had done them harm – either by snitching, through differences of opinion, or feeling wronged in some way. Thomas Niedermayer was thus propelled directly into the spotlight. He was a prime target – a West German Honorary Consul, he had no security detail in place, the area he lived in was easily reachable and Keenan and Niedermayer had a history of disagreements stretching back over a number of years. The Niedermayer abduction was a perfect calamitous storm – the perpetrator had access to his victim, the means to carry out the crime and Keenan had a longstanding grudge against his employer and boss.
In the aftermath of the kidnapping, the Niedermayer family endured calamity after tragedy after misfortune. The clan was torn apart, not just from the disappearance of their beloved husband and father but through generational heartbreak and guilt at not being able to save Thomas Niedermayer’s life. Time did not heal. Memories never faded. Resolution did not come. There was no closure. Even when the body of Thomas Niedermayer was found seven years later in a grave in Colin Glen, less than a mile away from where he was taken, the nightmare continued.
When Thomas Niedermayer’s remains were discovered, he was face down.
Director Gerry Gregg has constructed the story through the voices of Thomas Niedermayer’s grandchildren – travelling to Australia and Devon to speak with Rachel Williams Powell (Adelaide) and Tanya Williams Powell. Both parties confessed to not knowing the full account of what happened to their grandfather, Thomas. Their mother Gabrielle never spoke of it and neither did their aunt Renate. Ingeborg Niedermayer died before Rachel and Tanya were born. The tale of Thomas Niedermayer is one of the most tragic ever told and is a dark stain on the history of Northern Ireland. Gerry Gregg has done justice to this kindly, compassionate man. Focus has been taken from the evil act that befell Niedermayer and ahead lies hope and finally a gentle road to healing.
Released in Irish cinemas on 11th August 2023. Face Down: The Disappearance of Thomas Niedermayer is available to watch on the RTE Player.
