Families of Ballymurphy victims receive letter of apology from Boris Johnson

The apology has been met with some criticism.

The families of the Ballymurphy victims have received a letter from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in which he said he was "truly sorry" for the "terrible hurt" caused by the killings. The letter of apology comes after a coroner's report on Tuesday found all 10 Ballymurphy victims "entirely innocent". In the letter, shared by RTÉ, Johnson said he wanted to express personally how sorry he was for "the terrible hurt that has been caused" to all the families who lost loved ones in Ballymurphy in August 1971. He also said he "unequivocally" accepted the findings of the coroner and that "those who died were innocent of any wrongdoing". The letter reads: "The events at Ballymurphy should never have happened. You should never have had to experience such grief at the loss of your loved one and such distress in your subsequent quest for truth. "The duty of the State is to hold itself to the highest standard and that requires us to recognise the hurt and agony caused when we fall short of those standards. "For what happened on those terrible few days in Ballymurphy and for what the families have gone through since you began your brave and dignified campaign almost five decades ago, I am truly sorry. "I recognise that no words of apology can make up for the lasting pain that you have endured. Thank you for the dignity and strength you have shown."

Breaking: this is the letter British Prime Minister Boris Johnson sent to Ballymurphy families @rtenews @vincekearney pic.twitter.com/HUwCeu18Yf

— Laura Hogan (@LauraHoganTV) May 13, 2021

On Wednesday evening, a statement from a Downing Street spokesperson said that Johnson had apologised "unreservedly" on behalf of the UK Government for the killings 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". In response to the letter, John Teggart, whose father Danny was killed at Ballymurphy, stated that the feeling of the families is "anger". RTÉ reports that Teggart said the letter did not explicitly reference the "massacre" that took place and that the victims' families want Johnson to "do this thing right" and speak in parliament about what happened in Ballymurphy. After Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald met with the families today, the party wrote on Twitter: "A second hand apology is no apology at all. The British Prime Minister needs to publicly apologise to the relatives of those murdered in the Ballymurphy massacre."

A second hand apology is no apology at all. The British Prime Minister needs to publicly apologise to the relatives of those murdered in the Ballymurphy massacre - @MaryLouMcDonald after meeting with the families in Belfast today pic.twitter.com/JVE1NvT4Gf

— Sinn Féin (@sinnfeinireland) May 13, 2021

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".