Ballymurphy massacre explained

Ballymurphy massacre
Partof:the Troubles
Location:Belfast, Northern Ireland
Coordinates:54.575°N -5.974°W
Date:9–11 August 1971
Type:Mass shooting
Fatalities:11
Perp:The Parachute Regiment, British Army

The Ballymurphy massacre was a series of incidents between 9 and 11 August 1971, in which the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment of the British Army killed eleven civilians in Ballymurphy, Belfast, Northern Ireland, as part of Operation Demetrius (internment without trial). The shootings were later referred to as Belfast's Bloody Sunday, a reference to the killing of civilians by the same battalion in Derry a few months later, known as Bloody Sunday.[1] [2] The 1972 inquests had returned an open verdict on all of the killings,[3] but a 2021 coroner's report found that all those killed had been innocent and that the killings were "without justification".[4]

Background

Belfast was particularly affected by political and sectarian violence during the early part of the Troubles. The British Army had been deployed in Northern Ireland in 1969, as events had become beyond the control of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

On the morning of Monday 9 August 1971, the security forces launched Operation Demetrius, the main focus of which was to arrest and intern suspected members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). The Parachute Regiment was selected to carry out the operation. The operation was chaotic and informed by poor intelligence, resulting in many innocent people being interned. By focusing solely on republicans, it excluded violence carried out by loyalist paramilitaries. Some nationalist neighbourhoods attempted to disrupt the army with barricades, petrol bombs and gunfire.[5] In the Catholic district of Ballymurphy, ten civilians were shot and killed between the evening of 9 August and the morning of 11 August, while another died of heart failure.

Members of the Parachute Regiment stated that they were shot at by republicans as they entered the Ballymurphy area and returned fire.[6] The press officer for the British Army stationed in Belfast, Mike Jackson, later to become head of the British Army, includes a disputed account of the shootings in his autobiography, stating that those killed in the shootings were republican gunmen.[7] This claim was strongly denied by the families of those killed in the shootings, including in interviews conducted during the documentary film The Ballymurphy Precedent.[8] [9] The claim was found to be without basis by a later coroner's inquest, which established that those killed were "entirely innocent".[10] [11]

Timeline

Six civilians were killed on 9 August:

One civilian was killed on 10 August:

Another three civilians were shot on 11 August:

An eleventh civilian died on 11 August, following an altercation with a group of soldiers:

Inquests

In February 2015, the conviction of Terry Laverty, younger brother of John Laverty, one of those killed, was quashed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.[29] He had been convicted of riotous behaviour and sentenced to six months on the eyewitness evidence of a private in the Parachute Regiment. The case was referred to court because the sole witness retracted his evidence.[30]

In 2016, Sir Declan Morgan, the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, recommended an inquest into the killings as one of a series of "legacy inquests" covering 56 cases related to the Troubles.[31] [32] These inquests were delayed, as funding had not been approved by the Northern Ireland Executive. The Stormont first minister Arlene Foster of the Democratic Unionist Party deferred a bid for extra funding for inquests into historic killings in Northern Ireland,[33] a decision condemned by the human rights group Amnesty International.[34] Foster confirmed she had used her influence in the devolved power-sharing executive to hold back finance for a backlog of inquests connected to the conflict. The High Court said her decision to refuse to put a funding paper on the Executive basis was "unlawful and procedurally flawed".[35]

In January 2018, the coroner's office announced that the inquest would begin in September 2018.[36] On 11 May 2021, this coroner's inquest found that the 10 civilians killed were innocent, and that the use of lethal force by the British Army was "not justified".[10] The circumstances of the 11th death were not part of the inquest, since Paddy McCarthy died from a heart attack, allegedly after being threatened by a soldier.[19] Following the inquest verdict, Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, apologised for the deaths at Ballymurphy in a phone call to Foster and deputy first minister Michelle O'Neill. The lack of public apology was criticised by some relatives of the victims and Northern Irish politicians.[37]

In May 2021 families of those shot dead by British soldiers in Ballymurphy urged the Irish government to oppose any attempt to prevent the prosecution of British soldiers alleged to have committed crimes during the Troubles.[38]

Documentary

The killings are the subject of the August 2018 documentary The Ballymurphy Precedent, directed by Callum Macrae and made in association with Channel 4.[39]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: McDonald . Henry . Were Bloody Sunday soldiers involved in 'Ballymurphy massacre'? . 26 August 2020 . The Guardian . 20 June 2010.
  2. News: Moriarty . Gerry . Ballymurphy massacre inquests set to open next week . 26 August 2020 . The Irish Times . 5 November 2018.
  3. News: Ballymurphy inquest findings to be published in Belfast in May . The Irish Times . 26 March 2021 . 11 May 2021 .
  4. Web site: Ballymurphy inquest: 10 innocent people killed without justification, coroner finds . Sky News . 11 May 2021 . 11 May 2021 .
  5. News: Carroll . Rory . The Ballymurphy shootings: 36 hours in Belfast that left 10 dead . 12 May 2021 . The Guardian . 11 May 2021 . en.
  6. News: Ballymurphy families meet First Minister Peter Robinson . . 18 February 2011.
  7. Book: Jackson, Mike . 2007 . Soldier: The Autobiography . Bantam Press . 978-0593059074 . registration .
  8. Web site: Massacre at Ballymurphy . . 8 September 2018 . 14 November 2018 .
  9. Web site: The Film . TheBallymurphyPrecedent.com . 14 November 2018.
  10. Web site: Ballymurphy Inquest: Coroner finds 10 victims were innocent . BBC News . BBC . 11 May 2021 . 11 May 2021 .
  11. Web site: Ballymurphy inquests: Use of lethal force by British Army in 1971 shootings 'not justified', coroner rules . TheJournal.ie . Journal Media Ltd . 11 May 2021 . 11 May 2021 .
  12. Web site: An Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland (9 August 1971) . Malcolm . Sutton . . . 29 August 2017.
  13. News: Ian . Cobain . Ballymurphy shootings: 36 hours in Belfast that left 10 dead. . 26 June 2014 .
  14. Web site: Fr Hugh Mullan . BallymurphyMassacre.com . 26 June 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100619123927/http://ballymurphymassacre.com/fr_hugh_mullan_10.html . 19 June 2010 . dead.
  15. Web site: Joan Connolly . BallymurphyMassacre.com . 26 June 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100619123548/http://ballymurphymassacre.com/joan_connolly_12.html . 19 June 2010 . dead.
  16. Web site: A powerful documentary on a horrific moment during The Troubles is on TV this weekend . Joe.ie . 7 September 2018 . 14 November 2018.
  17. Web site: Woman recalls horror moment she discovered British army shot her innocent mother . . 30 August 2018 . 14 November 2018.
  18. Web site: Noel Phillips . BallymurphyMassacre.com . 26 June 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100621005258/http://ballymurphymassacre.com/noel_phillips_7.html . 21 June 2010 . dead.
  19. News: Bullet found in body of exhumed Ballymurphy massacre victim . Gerry . Moriarty . The Irish Times. 27 October 2015 . 29 August 2017.
  20. Web site: An Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland (10 August 1971) . Malcolm . Sutton . . . 29 July 2020.
  21. Web site: Joseph Corr . BallymurphyMassacre.com . 26 June 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100621005003/http://ballymurphymassacre.com/joseph_corr_8.html . 21 June 2010 . dead.
  22. Web site: An Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland (11 August 1971) . Malcolm . Sutton . . . 29 August 2017.
  23. Web site: John McKerr . BallymurphyMassacre.com . 26 June 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100619124000/http://ballymurphymassacre.com/john_kerr_16.html . 19 June 2010 . dead.
  24. News: Carroll . Rory . Ten people shot dead in Ballymurphy were innocent, inquest finds . 12 May 2021 . The Guardian . 11 May 2021.
  25. News: Innocent victims of Ballymurphy killings vindicated by coroner's findings . Belfast Telegraph . 11 May 2021 . 15 May 2021 . The coroner said she was unable to deliver a finding on who had shot Mr McKerr due to weaknesses in the evidence [..] "This abject failing by the authorities to properly inquire into the death of a civilian on the streets has hampered me greatly" .
  26. Web site: 'Entirely innocent' What happened at Ballymurphy? . BBC News . BBC . 15 May 2021 . she was unable to determine who killed the 10th victim - John McKerr - in large part because of the "abject failing" of authorities to investigate at the time .
  27. http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/heart.html CAIN - Index of Deaths - Sudden deaths due to heart problem during an incident
  28. Web site: Paddy McCarthy . BallymurphyMassacre.com . 26 June 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100621005039/http://ballymurphymassacre.com/paddy_mccarthy_15.html . 21 June 2010. dead.
  29. News: Ballymurphy conviction: Terry Laverty cleared of rioting . 10 February 2015. BBC News Online.
  30. News: Belfast man cleared of rioting during 1971 Ballymurphy unrest . 10 February 2015 . Henry . McDonald . .
  31. News: 18 January 2016 . Kearney . Vincent . The Troubles: Judge begins review of inquests . . London . 4 May 2016 . There are 56 cases involving 97 deaths. ... The stalled inquests into the Army shootings of 10 people in Ballymurphy, west Belfast, in 1971, and of five more civilians in nearby Springhill a year later, were examined on the opening day in Laganside Courts..
  32. News: 12 February 2016 . Legacy inquests in Northern Ireland 'can be dealt with in five years' . . London . 4 May 2016 . After a review of more than 50 outstanding cases it has been decided that all are suitable for inquest..
  33. Web site: Arlene Foster wrong to defer bid for legacy inquest funding, says judge . The Irish News. 8 March 2018 .
  34. News: 3 May 2016 . Kearney . Vincent . Lord Chief Justice legacy inquests plan put on hold . . London . 4 May 2016 . A radical plan by Northern Ireland's most senior judge to deal with inquests into some of the most controversial killings of the Troubles has been put on hold..
  35. News: Arlene Foster will not pay damages over blocking legacy inquest funding plan . Belfast Telegraph.
  36. Web site: Coroner in Ballymurphy shootings' inquest appeals for witnesses to come forward . Michael . McHugh . Press Association . The Irish News. 19 January 2018 .
  37. News: PM 'apologises for events in Ballymurphy' in 1971 . 12 May 2021 . BBC News . 12 May 2021.
  38. News: Ballymurphy families press Government to oppose amnesty for UK soldiers. 25 May 2021. 25 May 2021. TheJournal.ie. Press Association.
  39. News: Clarke . Cath . The Ballymurphy Precedent review – touching personal accounts of the Troubles . 15 May 2019 . . 20 August 2018.

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