Enda Kenny Visits Ballymurphy Massacre Scene
Posted by john in
Taoiseach Enda Kenny [Irish Prime Minister] has met families of civilians who were murdered by members of the Parachute Regiment in the Ballymurphy Massacre over a three-day period in August 1971.
The Taoiseach was welcomed by families at the location of the shooting dead of four of the eleven civilian at the Manse on Springfield road. He was shown the close proximity of the murder scene to the then Henry Taggart Army Barracks, the Taoiseach commented himself that it was not more than 25 yards. He also took the opportunity to lay flowers at the scene and took a moment for reflection. This walkabout in Ballymurphy was followed by a private meeting with families and political representative, including Alliance Party, Sinn Fein and SDLP as well as Fr Tim Bartlett representing the Bishops office.
Commenting afterward John Teggart said “ The meeting went extremely well, the Taoiseach lived up to his promise to come to Ballymurphy and meet with us, it was an opportunity for him to see firsthand the locations of our loved ones deaths and I think he was moved by it. We also had the opportunity to brief him on the progress of the campaign and the new evidence that has come to light since we last met in January 2014.”
The new evidence is the report by Dr Laurence Rock former consultant in the RVH casualty department, who has stated that had Joan Connolly received proper medical attention she may have survived her injuries.
The recent acquittal of Terry Laverty who’s case has demonstrated that no “riot” took place and that the Army personnel lied to secure a conviction.
The ordering of Coroner Kitson of the exhumation of Joseph Murphy.
Briege Connolly added that the Taoiseach has committed himself to again fully endorse the independent Panel Proposal and he has agreed to call on British Prime minister David Cameron to meet with the families. We are delighted to hear that he is making progress on drawing up an all party motion in the Oireachtas, in support of the Ballymurphy Massacre Campaign, which he will be putting forward at the end of march.
The PSNI and The MOD have consistently delayed and obstructed the disclosure process and documents have been over redacted making them useless in many cases, families raised this with him today. The Taoiseach has reassured the families that he will be raising these issues with the Prime minister as a matter of urgency. He has already committed the Irish governments full resources to the Kingsmill families in terms of disclosure, which the Ballymurphy families welcome. The Ballymurphy Massacre families have called on David Cameron to show leadership and follow the example of the Taoiseach in this matter.
John Teggart can be contacted on 02890230222
The Ballymurphy Massacre Film is being shown today in Rome as part of the Irish film Festival
