IRISH CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING

 Distributed to Congress by Irish National Caucus

 

“Today’s Irish News reminds us of one of the most awful murders of an individual by the British Army  in Northern Ireland—the murder of a beautiful little 12-year old girl Majella O’Hare. Her killing is reminiscent of the murder of Emmett Till—the 14-year-old African-American boy who was murdered by

White  racists in Mississippi in 1955. And just as his murder has echoed down the years in its call for justice and the rejection of the evil of racism, Majella’s truth keeps marching on—never to be forgotten. … and which can never be defeated even by one of the most powerful armies in the world.

Majella’s case is one of the many cases I worked on with the late Fr. Denis Faul (God rest his noble soul)

and Fr. Raymond Murray—distributing information to the U.S. Congress that was contained in a pamphlet they both wrote on Majella’s murder.

A girl shot in the back by a British soldier was treated like a piece of meat, an eyewitness said.
Michael McHugh. Irish News. Belfast. Tuesday, October 6, 2020

 Majella O’Hare, right, aged 12 and from the village of Whitecross in Co Armagh, had been walking to church in August 1976 when she was struck by two bullets, Amnesty International said.
Her family has demanded an independent investigation into her death.

Nurse Alice Devlin went to her aid and described the schoolgirl’s treatment after a helicopter arrived to bring her to hospital.“Majella was lifted just like a piece of meat and thrown in head first,” she said.“They just wanted to get her off the road, get rid of her, get her out of the way.”

She travelled in the helicopter with the child but she was pronounced dead upon arrival at Newry’s Daisy Hill Hospital.
Ms. Devlin said: “I know now that on our way in Majella had passed.”
At the time soldiers claimed the shooting had been in response to an IRA sniper attack.
A soldier was later charged by the RUC with manslaughter but acquitted in court.
In 2011, the UK government issued an apology to the O’Hare family in a letter which acknowledged the soldier’s courtroom explanation was “unlikely”.

The family want the record set straight on what happened to Majella and have written to the PSNI requesting an independent investigation.

Ms. Devlin said she saw Majella lying on the road with her late father Jim kneeling over her.
“You can imagine what it was like for that father to see his child lying dying on the road.”
She said the soldiers told him to get away.He said: “But that is my baby.”
She said the child was badly wounded and she was giving her CPR on the road when the helicopter landed to bring her to hospital.
The girl’s brother Michael O’Hare said: “The truth cannot be concealed any longer.
“We need an investigation, there must be justice for Majella. The truth must out.
“My family deserve accountability for what happened.”

Grainne Teggart, Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland campaign manager, said it had been 44 torturous years for Majella’s family. “Justice must be done,” she said.

 “Witnesses to the horrific events of that day are ready to help with an independent investigation, the passage of time has not diminished their memory.

“Their appeal to the PSNI to establish this long overdue investigation must be heard.

 “The family have had an apology from the UK government, but this rings hollow without action and accountability.”