Families step into light after half century of darkness

POIGNANT Joan Connolly

IT took decades of campaigning, months of hearings, delays due to the coronavirus pandemic and more than two hours of findings.

But 50 years on from the shooting of 10 people in West Belfast, their loved ones say their fight to clear their names has been won.

The longest-running inquest in Northern Ireland’s history finally concluded at Belfast Coroner’s Court on Tuesday afternoon with applause.

The British Army were found to have fired the fatal shots which killed nine of the 10, with not enough evidence around the final death to determine the likely gunman.

Bereaved families walked to the court holding pictures of their mothers, fathers and siblings aloft as they had done for 100 sitting days of the inquests.

Inside the Nightingale Court at the International Conference Centre there was a nervous tension in the air as the families sat in their Covid-19 compliant bubbles waiting to hear Coroner Mrs Justice Keegan’s findings.

Their mission had been to hear an official dismissal of years of misinformation that the 10 were terrorists.

There was relief and spontaneous applause as Father Hugh Mullan, 38, Frank Quinn, 19, Noel

Phillips, 19, Joseph Murphy, 41, Joan Connolly, 44, Daniel Teggart, 44, Eddie Doherty, 31, Joseph Corr, 43, John Laverty, 20, and John Mckerr, 49, were all declared “entirely innocent”.

Joyous scenes outside the court followed as families emerged into the sunshine holding placards with the faces of their loved one with the words “innocent” written on each.

Relatives cheered and embraced as they celebrated the rulings.