New inquests into Ballymurphy deaths

Published Monday, 14 November 2011
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UTV can reveal new inquests have been ordered into the British Army killings of 10 people in Ballymurphy 40 years ago.

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Attorney General John Larkin has written to each of the victims' families to confirm the hearings which will take place in the coming months.

The intervention comes after Mr Larkin reviewed the original inquests held a year after the August 1971 shootings and found many unanswered questions.

He found that in many instances no witnesses were called, there was no effective investigation first time around and the accounts of some soldiers conflicted.

Pat Quinn, whose 19-year-old brother Frank was amongst those shot dead in the west Belfast estate, has welcomed the development.

"It's brilliant news," he told UTV.

"The original inquests were a farce and just gave open verdicts.

"At the time a lot of witness statements weren't taken on board, they were just collected but it was the military police at the time that were doing the investigating."

Eleven people - including a Catholic Priest and a mother of eight - died in the shootings, carried out over a three-day period following the introduction of internment.

Army chiefs insist the Parachute Regiment, who had entered the republican heartland to round up suspected terrorists, only opened fire because republicans were shooting at them.

But for years the families have demanded to know the truth about what happened, claiming their loved ones were all innocent victims.

Despite the passage of time, UTV understands some soldiers involved in the Ballymurphy shootings are still alive and have been traced by the Historical Enquiries Team.

Now the families are hopeful the new inquests, due to begin in a few months time, will bring their four decade long campaign to an end.

"I hope it will bring our story out there," Pat Quinn continued.

"Hopefully it can lead to something else like an international investigation which we can get and the truth can be told for our loved ones."

© UTV News
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35 Comments
Ulysses32 in Belfast wrote (188 days ago):
So a man being shot on the ground, a man who was shot 14 times in the back is not a fact then? That's interesting, JT. Try reading up on reputable sources concerning the incident. You can find a plethora of such articles and reports on Cain which do not dispute the facts. Don't try to allude that you are sitting on the fence. Your comments concerning innocent victims are quite clear and any amount of backtracking can't cover that up. Rather than addressing the issue of innocent people you prefer to deflect the topic towards terroists. Typical unionist whataboutery. We do not prove your point at all you just prove a stereotypical unionist mindset.
JT in Antrim wrote (189 days ago):
You are both proving my point exactly. There have been many thousands of innocent civilians, innocent soldiers and innocent police officers killed over the years. Not one of these people deserved to die. We will never get to the truth of many, if not all these murders. Noone can be relied on to give a full impartial witness account. An objective person will look at all the evidence, but if part of that evidence is missing, say for example from the terrorists who took part, then the result will not be a true representation of the facts. Ulysses has given a full and probably honest interpretation of the facts as he understands them. I can't dispute them, but that doesn't mean that they are true.
Davy McFaul in South Derry wrote (189 days ago):
Classic piece of muddying the waters there JT. Slip a wee suggestion in that is impossible to be proven / disproven to create a wee bit of doubt and before you know it the "Are the IRA beyond shooting from behind civilians? From what I have seen there's no depths they wouldn't go to, and wouldn't be beyond human shields or shooting their own for their own gains" will quickly become the accepted truth to those opposed to these inquests. Well done, absolute objectivity. It looks like you have made your own mind up too.
Ulysses32 in Belfast wrote (189 days ago):
There you go again, JT. Alluding that they were not inocent victims despite evidence to contrary. Are you telling me that civillians are cannon fodder for security forces and terrorists alike? A few innocent (that's right, I said it again as it has not sunk) civilians being shot by those charged with protecting and serving is justifiable? Daniel Teggart was shot fourteen times with most of the bullets entering his back while he lay on the ground. Francis Quinn was shot by a sniper while he went to aid an injured man. Paddy McCarthy, after a confrontation with a group of soldiers who then put an empty gun in his mouth and pulling the trigger, died of a heart attack. Father Hugh Mullan was shot by a sniper while he went to the aid of an injured man. But, hey, none of those were innocent were they? Even if they were innocent, sure, they were collatoral damage and the people who murdered them are at no fault and immune from any liability. What price life, eh?
JT in Antrim wrote (190 days ago):
@Ulysses. There you go again, innocent civilians. Not very objective are you. Why need an investigation as you have obviously made up your mind as to what happened, as have a great many others. I have no problem with the truth being sought, but therein lies the problem, getting the truth. Are you saying there was no shooting or nail bombs in Derry or Ballymurphy, other than by the army? Are the IRA beyond shooting from behind civilians? From what I have seen there's no depths they wouldn't go to, and wouldn't be beyond human shields or shooting their own for their own gains.
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