35-YEAR COVER-UP OF KILLING OF 12-YEAR-OLD ENDS | DEFENCE MINISTER’S APOLOGY TO FAMILY

British Government apologises for Para killing schoolgirl Majella O’Hare

Majella’s mother, Mary, with Majella’s brother, Michael, at Hillsborough Castle after receiving a formal apology from the British Defence Minister

BY LAURA FRIEL

MAJELLA O’HARE was 12 years old in July 1976 when she was shot dead by a British paratrooper close to her home in Ballymoyer, County Armagh.
Majella was on her way to church and walking with some friends when she passed a British Army patrol. A few moments later a British paratrooper opened fire with a machine gun hitting the schoolgirl twice in the back.
Last month the British Ministry of Defence made an unprecedented apology for the killing. In a private meeting in Belfast a letter of apology signed by British Defence Secretary Liam Fox was handed to Majella’s elderly mother, Mary O’Hare, by British Secretary of State Owen Patterson.
After the shooting the British army offered conflicting versions of the event and were accused of organising a cover up. Initially the British army claimed the 12-year-old had been hit in ‘crossfire’ as the patrol engaged an IRA gunman.
Later the British army dropped the notion of an exchange of shots and claimed they had simply ‘spotted’ a gunman. Private Michael Williams, the 3 Para soldier who fired the fatal rounds, insisted he shouted a warning before opening fire on a gunman he spotted in a gap in the hedge.
The soldier’s account was disputed by eye witnesses who said there was no warning and no gunman. Majella’s father, who was cutting grass in a nearby school, ran to the scene and found his daughter injured in the road. Crying as he cradled Majella in his arms he was abused by British soldiers who told him to “close his fucking mouth”.
A local nurse at the scene was held for over ten minutes before being allowed to administer first aid. She later testified that the injured schoolgirl had been thrown into a British army helicopter on her wounded side and denied oxygen as she was airlifted to hospital. She was pronounced dead on arrival.
A subsequent court case was held before Judge Maurice Gibson, sitting without a jury. Renowned for acquitting members of the Crown forces, Gibson ruled that no shots, other than the soldier’s, had been heard by witnesses because an unsubstantiated ‘gunman’ had fired unsubstantiated ‘shots’ simultaneously. He dismissed the case against Private Williams.
Gibson once infamously praised three RUC officers involved in the shoot-to-kill assassination of three unarmed IRA Volunteers. He was subsequently executed by the IRA in 1987.
In the letter of apology, the British MOD admitted responsibility for the killing of Majella O’Hare.
“The soldier’s actions resulted in the loss of a young and innocent life. On behalf of the army and the government, I am profoundly sorry that this tragic incident should have happened,” the letter stated.
The apology followed the publication of a report into the killing of Majella O’Hare by the Historical Enquiries Team which concluded there had been no gunman.
Commenting on the MOD apology, Mark Thompson of Relatives for Justice called for a full reinvestigation into the killing.
After all the HET “on paper at least” is a criminal investigation process and should follow through in the administration of justice, said Thompson.
“However when concerning the role of the British army in killings it appears that an altogether different approach is taken,” said Thompson.
South Armagh Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy said he hoped these initial findings brought some element of relief to the family of Majella O’Hare.
“The O’Hare family was devastated in 1976 by the actions of the Parachute Regiment and the fact that no one has been held to account has only added to their pain and suffering over the years,” said Murphy.
“Findings from the Historical Enquiries Team support the fact that there was one person firing shots on the day Majella was killed. In my view this clearly vindicates what the family and people in South Armagh and beyond have been saying for many years – that the British Army murdered Majella O’Hare and that they subsequently covered up the facts of the case,” he said.
This is only the second occasion an apology has been offered for actions of the British army in the north of Ireland. After the publication of the Saville Inquiry last year, British PM David Cameron made a public apology for the actions of paratroopers on Bloody Sunday.
The British have yet to apologise for the actions of an equally notorious regiment, the Black and Tans during another Bloody Sunday, this time in the south, in Croke Park in November 1920.
Majella O’Hare was not the only young girl to be shot dead by the British army. Others include 14-year-old Annette McGavigan from Derry shot dead by British soldiers in 1971, 13-year-old Margaret Gargan shot dead in Belfast by British paratroopers in 1972, Julie Livingstone (14) and Carol Ann Kelly (11) both shot dead by British soldiers using plastic bullets in 1981.