Ballymurphy families express fury at Troubles crime amnesty
Atrocity is remembered 50 years on
THE families of victims shot dead by British soldiers in Ballymurphy have been joined by victims from all sides of the Troubles to voice their opposition to a proposed statute of limitations on legacy prosecutions.
Ten people were killed in Belfast during a British army operation in 1971.
Families of the victims held their annual Time For Truth march in Belfast on Sunday to mark the 50th anniversary of the atrocity.
The march comes during a significant year when a fresh inquest into the deaths of the woman and nine men earlier this year found they were ‘entirely innocent’.
The British army was found to be responsible for nine of the deaths, which included a mother of eight and a Catholic priest.
Another person later died from a heart attack after a soldier allegedly put an unloaded gun into his mouth and pulled the trigger, however, this death was not included in the latest inquest.
Around 1,000 people attended the 50th anniversary march, which set off from Springfield Park and passed many of the places where the victims were killed.
Families carried banners and pictures of their loved ones, while other marchers carried white flags with ‘innocent’ written across them.
Northern secretary Brandon Lewis last month unveiled proposals which include a statute of limitation on Troubles prosecutions.
There has been widespread opposition to the proposed amnesty for army veterans and paramilitaries.
Among those attending the march were representatives of Bloody Sunday families.
John Teggart, whose father Danny was shot by a soldier in August 1971, said the march was to remember loved ones and to celebrate how far families have come in their search for answers.
‘Fifty years ago today, the paras were just down the street from where we are. They were getting ready for the onslaught in Ballymurphy which ended up with 11 local civilians dead.
‘What we have today is, 50 years later, the families
‘No amnesty for anybody’
remembering our loved ones but also celebrating where we have come.
‘It has been a good year where all our loved ones have been declared innocent but our fight hasn’t stopped.
‘It continues because these new proposals of amnesty for all is not going to go away.
‘There is representation from cross-community, we are here with one voice, and that is no amnesty for anyone.
‘We don’t want murderers to be let off, we don’t want the amnesty to cover up for the war crimes of the British government and the MoD (Ministry of Defence), sending in their soldiers, massacring the locals here.
‘No amnesty for anybody and that’s what all the families and all the victims want, they are united with one voice and that’s what we say today.
‘We sent a strong message today that we are all united.’
Briege Voyle, whose mother Joan Connolly was killed in the atrocity, said this year has been like no other.
‘It is hard to believe that is 50 years since 11 of our loved ones were murdered on the streets of Ballymurphy,’ she told the crowd.
‘Another year, another march for truth and justice. But this year is like no other, for this year I can stand here and say my name is Briege Voyle and my mummy was Joan and was entirely innocent.
‘There can be no British Army lies about my mummy, no more shameful lies about all our victims.’
Carmel Quinn, whose brother John Laverty was one of the victims, said the families will not be silenced.
She said: ‘Our John had his whole life ahead of him. He was a loving son and brother.
‘What the British government do not realise is the sheer determination and the resilience of every single person who has lost a loved one.’