BALLYMURPHY MASSACRE | UNITED STATES CONGRESSIONAL HEARING IN WASHINGTON

Taoiseach agrees to meet families of victims

Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Congressman Chris Smith

TAOISEACH Enda Kenny has agreed to meet with the Ballymurphy Massacre families after Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams TD raised the issue in the Dáil during Taoiseach’s Questions.
Gerry Adams pointed out that, in March, the relatives of the 11 civilians shot dead by the British Army’s Parachute Regiment in August 1971 in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast gave evidence at a United States Congressional Hearing in Washington.
The Louth TD and former MP for West Belfast asked the Taoiseach to meet the families soon and the Taoiseach agreed to do this.
The Ballymurphy families have been campaigning to secure an independent international investigation into the events that led to the death of their loved ones.
Eleven civilians, including a local priest and a mother of eight, were shot dead over a 36-hour period by the Parachute Regiment during internment.
The families have also provided the North’s Attorney General with a full dossier seeking new inquests. Gerry Adams noted:
“Regrettably, their discussions with the British Government have not been productive. Their last meeting with the British Secretary of State was very unsatisfactory.
“The Ballymurphy families deserve the truth and I welcome the Taoiseach’s agreement this morning to meet with them.”
The US Congressional Hearing in Washington was chaired by Congressman Chris Smith and held in Washington DC on March 16th under the auspices of the US Helsinki Commission, which monitors human rights issues.
Congressman Smith is also Chair of the House Human Rights Sub-committee and Co-Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs.
Testimony was given by John Finucane, son of Patrick Finucane, human rights lawyer murdered by unionist paramilitaries; John Teggart, son of Daniel Teggart, victim of the 1971 Ballymurphy Massacre; Ciarán McAirt, grandson of Kitty Irvine, McGurk’s Bar bombing victim; and Jane Winter, Director, British Irish Rights Watch.
Congressman Donald Payne was also present along with Fr Seán McManus of the Irish National Caucus who gave valuable support to the Ballymurphy delegation.
Representatives of the AOH Freedom for All Ireland Committee, the INA and IAUC from New Jersey, New York, Washington DC and Baltimore came to the hearing to lend their support and thank Reps Smith and Payne.
The hearing was facilitated through the work of Sinn Féin’s representative in the USA, Rita O’Hare.
Congressman Smith told reporters before the hearing:
“Today, family members of people killed in Northern Ireland will tell us about their efforts to learn the truth about possible British Government collusion or complicity in their loved one’s murders.
“I join my voice with theirs to say: enough obfuscation and stonewalling. We must continue to press for the truth -wherever it leads - and continue to press until justice has been served and those responsible have been held to account.”
Families of those killed in the violence were among those to call for independent investigations and accountability for past abuses and collusion between security forces, the military and paramilitary groups in the North of Ireland. The hearing also touched on implementation of key provisions of the Good Friday Agreement, including those relating to policing and the administration of justice in the North.