Bradley shown picture of dead boy, 11, killed by soldiers
A PICTURE of an 11-year-old boy in his coffin after he was shot dead by the British Army was handed over to Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley yesterday.
Ms Bradley has been faced with calls to quit after claiming in the House of Commons on Wednesday that killings carried out by the RUC and military during the Troubles were not crimes but the actions of people ‘fulfilling their duties in a dignified and appropriate way’.
The Northern Ireland Secretary met victims’ groups yesterday following the controversy during which she was given a number of pictures of Stephen McConomy, who was shot and killed by a plastic bullet close to his home in Derry in 1982.
The photographs of the schoolboy included one of him in his school uniform two weeks before he was killed, another of him on a life-support machine and one of him in his coffin.
Representatives from the campaign group Relatives For Justice said Ms Bradley was left ‘speechless’ at the images.
The delegation of relatives travelled to Stormont House in Belfast yesterday to discuss the furore. Speaking after the meeting, Frances Meehan, whose brother Michael Donnelly was shot dead by the British army in 1980, called for Ms Bradley to resign.
‘I wanted to meet her because I wanted to look her in the eye to tell her how I felt about her comments in the House of Commons,’ she said. ‘I also wanted to say to her that on this day, International Women’s Day, that she is an insult to women. We know she has apologised but her position is completely and utterly untenable and she needs to resign.’
Relatives of those killed in shootings involving the British army in Ballymurphy in west Belfast in 1971 refused to meet Ms Bradley. John Teggart, whose father Danny was shot 14 times during the Ballymurphy massacre in 1971, in which the army killed 11 civilians, said Ms Bradley should resign.
‘We will not meet her, and have one request for Mrs Bradley and that is for her to resign immediately,’ he said. ‘Families request that those parties who support our campaign join us and refuse to meet with Karen Bradley.
‘Do the dignified and appropriate thing – resign, Karen Bradley.’
Mairéad Kelly, whose brother Patrick was one of eight IRA men killed at Loughgall on May 8, 1987, has claimed Ms Bradley is ‘unfit for office’.
Civilian Anthony Hughes was also killed in the incident.
Last year, his widow Brigid Hughes won a court action in which she challenged the failure to provide adequate funding for legacy inquests. Ms Kelly, director of the Loughgall Truth and Justice Campaign, additionally questioned other MPs seen nodding as Ms Bradley made her remarks in the House of Commons. ‘We don’t accept her apology, she is unfit for office,’ she said. ‘We requested more than once to meet with her in light of the Hughes Judgment and she refused. I don’t believe she is genuinely sorry, it was not an unintentional slip of the tongue remark. ‘She is demonstrating how she truly feels about their armed forces and I think the timing of it is crucial. Also the nodding heads of some of the backbenchers should put them in the spotlight because they are clearly in agreement with her.’
Ms Bradley made it clear on Thursday that she would not be leaving her role. Downing Street has said Prime Minister Theresa May retains full confidence in her.
The minister’s comments carried added significance as they were made a week before longawaited decisions from Northern Ireland prosecutors on whether 17 soldiers involved in the Bloody Sunday shootings in Derry in 1972 will face prosecution.
She returned to the Commons on Wednesday in a bid to clarify the comments and, on Thursday, issued a statement of apology, saying she was ‘profoundly sorry’.
In an interview with the Press Association in Belfast on Thursday evening, Ms Bradley said there were ‘no excuses’ for what she said.
‘I shouldn’t have said it and I want to say sorry to all those people, all those families that have been kind enough to share their experiences with me,’ she said.
‘I recognise that a slip of the tongue at the wrong moment has caused enormous distress. I want to be very clear – I do not believe what I said, that is not my view.
‘I believe that where crimes have happened, no matter who the perpetrator, they should be properly investigated by an independent authority and they should be prosecuted.’
Speaking about Ms Bradley yesterday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he thought her apology ‘was genuine, and it was heartfelt’.
‘She is an insult to women’ ‘It was not a slip of the tongue’