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Friday, 30 July 2010

Church backs Ballymurphy inquiry

Bishop of Down and Connor Noel Treanor (2nd right) with families of those killed in Ballymurphy

The Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor has backed a campaign for an independent inquiry into the Army killings of 11 people in Ballymurphy, west Belfast, almost 40 years ago.

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The Bishop of Down and Connor, Noel Treanor, urged the British Government to apologise and declared innocent those shot dead when he met bereaved families on Friday.

Calls for an independent inquiry have intensified since the publication of the Saville report into Bloody Sunday last month.

Some of the soldiers who were involved in the 1972 shootings in Derry had been in Ballymurphy six months earlier.

"The events of those days in Ballymurphy were a disturbing prelude to the events of Bloody Sunday only six months later. Both were seminal events that profoundly influenced the future direction of the Troubles", Dr Treanor said on Friday.

"The Ballymurphy killings are the unfinished business of the Saville Inquiry. Indeed the events in Ballymurphy on 9-11 August 1971 would and perhaps should have been considered the necessary starting point for such an inquiry."

The shootings took place over three days after the Army entered the republican Ballymurphy area to round up suspected paramilitaries after the introduction of internment.

Young Catholic priest Hugh Mullan was among those killed by soldiers.

Joan Connolly, a mother of eight, was shot dead as she went to help a young man.

Her daughter, Briege Voyle, told UTV her family wants justice.

"People were murdered over three days. When Prime Minister got up and said in Derry the soldiers lost their heads for 20 minutes... They lost their heads over a period of three days? I don't think so. I think they did as much damage as they could and picked on innocent people", she said.

The Catholic Church has agreed to release previously unseen documents relating to the deaths in west Belfast, which the Bishop of Down and Connor handed over to relatives on Friday.

The archives summarise several eye witness accounts, including extracts taken from the personal diary of Cardinal William Conway, at that time Archbishop of Armagh, who wrote on Wednesday 11 August 1971: "I think in a way this was one of the most unhappy days of my life... It was the feeling of hopelessness - of the great suffering in Belfast and my not being able to do much about it".

"When put together with other documents they may help to create a fuller picture of the events of those days. They may fill-in certain gaps or open-up new lines of investigation or prompt the memory of important details that have been lost in the midst of time", Bishop Treanor explained.

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11 Comments

At 01:08 on 04 August 2010, gggg wrote:

@ BIG ERNEST, why would the love ulster parade be in dublin?

At 12:29 on 03 August 2010, maggie wrote:

And let the church give full backing to the Claudy bomb enquiry (if there is one ) for why the RUC and British government let one of the IRA gang escape justice because HE WAS A CATHOLIC PRIEST. Seemly they handed the files to the church.

At 14:31 on 02 August 2010, lorna wrote:

Seamus a leading Orangeman for accross the border claims that the Unionist parties do no service for the Protestants in the south. Its about time the British were challanged about this. If you claim they hold this country in spite for many not wanting them. remember they give you the right to claim Irish identity when the southern Protestants have been denied the right to be British.

At 12:25 on 02 August 2010, BIG ERNEST wrote:

seamus , your right about the english wont allow anyone from the south to have a british passport but that does not take away the fact that they are a non identity down south , dublin rangers supporters club , death threats etc , no orange halls down in dublin remain either , or the love ulster parade , seamus the free staters down in dublin are very much anti british , you make it sound as if they would marry enngland tomorrow . anyway the church needs to tell us why it has taken so long to release these quotes .

At 06:57 on 02 August 2010, seamas wrote:

Lorna. People in Northern Ireland ,Protestant or Catholic, can hold an Irish passport because the Irish Republic allows them to. People in the South ,Protestant or Catholic, can’t hold a British passport because the UK won’t let them. Who’s restricting who ?

At 14:56 on 01 August 2010, lorna wrote:

The church log the activities of the British army and turn a blind eye to the activities of the IRA why did they look after the people living under fear of terrorists. Why are the republicans still bitter even though they have had better education and better living conditions from the british than they would have in the south. Here is something to think about. Catholics in the north can have duel citizenship. But Protestants in the south cannot claim to be British even though they want to.

At 22:24 on 31 July 2010, JCW wrote:

The previous posters all seem to be defensive of fresh evidence coming out? Their focus is to deflect from the fact that many people were murdered/illegally killed by soldiers on a blood lust.