Mixed emotions as “Ballymurphy Massacre” inquest gets underway

Posted By: November 12, 2018

Irish News. Belfast. Monday, November 12, 2018
The families of ten people who were killed in gunfire during three days of shootings in west Belfast in 1971 have gathered outside court ahead of fresh inquests.

Family members of those killed in the ‘Ballymurphy Massacre’ held pictures of the victims outside Laganside Court in Belfast.

Political representatives from Sinn Féin and the SDLP are also attending.

John Teggart, whose father Daniel was one of those killed, said: “It’s mixed emotions going into court today but the determination of the families to get to the truth has brought us to here.


Relatives of those killed in the Ballymurphy Massacre pictured outside court this morning 
“We will continue this fight.”

In 2011, Attorney General John Larkin directed that new inquests be heard after a long campaign by family members, who claimed the original probes by the coroner’s office in the aftermath of the shootings were inadequate.

Solicitor Pádraig Ó Muirigh, who represents some of the families, said: “Today, 47 years after these families lost their loved ones, 46 years after the original inquest, seven years after the direction for a new inquest, we are finally here.

“It’s a tribute to the adversity and resilience of these brave families, so I want to commend them through all the difficult days.

“Hopefully this is a new start of a process to find out what happened to their loved ones.

“Over the next few months the court will examine the evidence and we are very confident that their loved ones’ innocence will be clear and their names will be cleared, finally.”