Families of some of the Ballymurphy victims have criticised the UK Prime Minister’s apology.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has apologised “unreservedly” on behalf of the UK Government for the killings that took place in Ballymuphy in 1971.
The news comes after mounting pressure on the UK Government to apologise after a coroner’s report on Tuesday found all 10 Ballymurphy victims “entirely innocent”.
A statement from a Downing Street spokesperson said that Johnson made the apology during a call with Stormont First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill.
According to the spokesperson, Johnson said the conclusions of the Ballymurphy Inquest were “deeply sad” and that the events of August 1971 were “tragic”.
The statement read: “The Prime Minister apologised unreservedly on behalf of the UK Government for the events that took place in Ballymurphy and the huge anguish that the lengthy pursuit of truth has caused the families of those killed.
“The Prime Minister restated the Government’s intention to deliver a way forward in Northern Ireland that focuses on reconciliation, delivers for victims of the Troubles and ends the cycle of investigations.
“He stressed the importance of working hard to keep the gains made through the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and of all parties doing their utmost to help the victims’ families find out what happened to their loved ones, so that future generations are not burdened by the past.”
Family members of some of the Ballymurphy victims have criticised the manner in which the apology was delivered.
John Teggart, whose father Danny was among those who were killed, told the BBC: “The apology was to third parties, it wasn’t to the Ballymurphy families. It’s not a public apology.
“What kind of insult is it to families that he couldn’t have the conversation with ourselves?”
The daughter of Ballymurphy victim Joan Connolly, Briege Voyle, added: “I don’t care about an apology, I want to know why [our loved ones were killed]”
She also said it would have been “more respectful” of the Prime Minister to make the apology in parliament.
The 10 people shot dead in Ballymurphy in West Belfast in 1971 were all found to be “entirely innocent of any wrongdoing on the day in question” by a coroner on Tuesday.
Delivering her findings in Belfast after the longest-running inquest in Northern Ireland’s history, Justice Siobhán Keegan said she hoped the findings would bring peace to the families of the victims.
She found that nine out of 10 were shot by the British army, and in the majority of cases, the force used was “disproportionate”.
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