Image source, Phillips family

A statement read on behalf of Kevin Phillips, whose brother Noel Phillips was among the victims, says the murder "devastated" his family and his mother "never recovered".

"She died a broken woman," he adds.

A ballistics expert told the inquest that Noel Phillips, a 19-year-old window cleaner, was shot three to four times, at least twice by 9mm bullets.

One of these was recovered from his body.

"My family believe Noel was brutally executed and it has taken us 50 years to prove this," the statement continues.

Patsy Mullan, the brother of Fr Hugh Mullan, tells the press conference that "after 50 years the truth we always knew has finally been told".

He says his brother was a man who dedicated his life to helping the community.

"I know my brother would wish for continued peace and prosperity in Ballymurphy and Northern Ireland," he said.

"Ballymurphy is a place that will always have a special place in our hearts."

Speaking during a press conference, John Teggart, whose father Danny was one of those killed, says "we are just ordinary families from Ballymurphy, but we have held the British government and the Ministry of Defence to account".

"The truth is more powerful than any government," he tells the media and campaigners.

"We hope today will give strength to all the other families who, like ourselves, are seeking truth and justice.

"It can be done, don't give up."

Briege Voyle, whose mother Joan Connolly was one of four people shot near the Henry Taggart Army base, says she is "over the moon" with the rulings.

The 44 year old, who had eight children, was shot multiple times.

"I never thought I would see this day that we would get into a court of law and told our loved ones were innocent," Briege tells the BBC's Evening Extra programme.

"Because I knew she was innocent it wasn't a big massive shock, it's just the fact they actually had the courage to actually tell the truth, maybe that was more the point than anything."

Image source, Connolly family

Ms Voyle accuses the Ministry of Defence of using "dirty tricks" to delay the process which brought the families to today's judgement.

She asks: "The world knows she's an innocent woman, and all our loved ones are innocent, but the other way of looking at it is, well, why did they shoot her?

"Who is going to tell me why they shot her, is that person going to come forward and say why he felt the need to shoot my mummy four times?"

Image source, Pacemaker

Kathleen McCarry, whose brother Eddie Doherty was one of those shot dead, says she is "elated that my brother's name is eventually cleared".

"He was a good man and he was a humble man," she tells the BBC's Evening Extra programme.

"I loved him with all my heart, as I do with all my siblings.

"He was the life and soul of the family and when he was taken away the life and soul went out of the family."

Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) MLA Doug Beattie says his thoughts are with the Ballymurphy families.

He says he recognises their loved ones were innocent victims who “require the truth and justice”.

He says the UUP met the Northern Ireland Office earlier on Tuesday to discuss its new plans for dealing with legacy, which many of the parties in Northern Ireland have criticised.

Image source, Doug Beattie

“The UK government and the Irish government need to come up with something which works for victims of our Troubles - they are falling short as we speak, they can’t keep doing this forever,” he adds.

The findings of the Ballymurphy Inquest demonstrate how the legacy of violence in Northern Ireland “remains a deep wound”, the taoiseach (Irish PM) says.

Image source, PA Media

Paying tribute to the victims and their families in the Dáil (Irish parliament) on Tuesday afternoon, Micheál Martin says the inquest has been “very clear” in vindicating the families.

"This demonstrates the commitment of families involved who have waited a long time to get some sense of justice,” he adds.

The DUP leadership contender Sir Jeffrey Donaldson says he accepts the coroner’s findings in the Ballymurphy Inquest.

“We’re very clear where people have been killed who are innocent, then of course, people in those instances have the right to have their case put forward,” he says.

“That has been done in this inquest, but in terms of the way forward we want to see a legacy process that enables innocent victims - particularly those who were victims of terrorism - to have opportunity of access to justice,” he adds.

“At the moment there isn’t a process that delivers this for all victims and that is wrong.”

Catherine Morrison
BBC Newsline reporter

It took the coroner just over two and a half hours to deliver her findings - the families of the victims streamed out of the makeshift courtroom at the Waterftont’s conference centre wreathed in smiles.

Hugging each other, some crying with relief and with joy, they spoke of their delight at the coroner’s findings: the names of their loved ones finally cleared after 50 years.

Image source, Pacemaker

Pat Quinn, whose brother Frank was shot dead during incident one on 9 August, said he shed tears for the first time in many years.

Others remembered family members who have since died and weren’t here for today’s ruling.

There were cheers as relatives left the Waterfront and had their photographs taken by the waiting press in the bright sunshine.

It’s been a hugely significant day for these families and it’s not over yet.

Next is a press conference in Ballymurphy and then a cavalcade around the area this evening - a socially distanced way of thanking the local community for their support over the last half century.

The Ministry of Defence has responded to the verdict.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Her Majesty's Government said: “We note the coroner’s findings which have been long awaited by the bereaved families of the deceased, military personnel and their relatives.

“We recognise how difficult the process has been for all of those affected by the events of August 1971 and the inquest.

"We will now take the time to review the report and carefully consider the conclusions drawn.”

Green Party NI leader Clare Bailey MLA says the verdict "affirms what the families of those killed in Ballymurphy in 1971 have always known - that their loved ones were entirely innocent".

She says it is "shameful" that it has taken 50 years "for official recognition that the killing of these 10 people was unjustifiable".

“Families have lived through the past 50 years with the heavy toll of the injustice that was visited upon them," she says.

"I only hope that today comes as some degree of comfort after decades of distress and compounded grief."

Image source, Pacemaker

The Bishop of Down and Connor says the church’s "immediate thoughts and prayers" are with the relatives of those killed.

Bishop Noel Treanor says he has “witnessed over many years their respectful dignity and fortitude as they have pursued and campaigned for truth and justice”.

“It is a sad indictment on our society and state that these families have had to listen to misinformation and untruth propagated about their loved ones for almost 50 years,” he adds.

Alliance Party leader Naomi Long tweets, external that the Ballymurphy families have battled "too hard and too long to finally hear that truth".

NI's justice minister adds: "They have carried themselves with courage and fortitude throughout the last 50 years.

"This is vindication of their fight."

Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) MLA Dolores Kelly tweets that 50 years after the killings, “the whole world has been told that which the families and many in the community always knew”.

Image source, Pacemaker

Responding to the coroner's findings, Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney says his thoughts are with the Ballymurphy families.

Mr Coveney says the findings have "cast a tremendous new light on one of the darkest pages of the history of the conflict".

He says the verdict will come as an "immense relief and vindication for the families who have maintained for decades that their loved ones were innocent and their killings unjustified".

Julian O'Neill
BBC News NI Home Affairs Correspondent

Today is another of those days in which the past makes itself felt in the present.

A day which serves as a reminder that while the Troubles officially ended 23 years ago, historical events are still being fought out in courtrooms.

The Ballymurphy families battled long and hard for this moment.

The new inquest was granted back in 2011, ordered by the attorney general, who was presented with a fresh dossier of evidence.

Other cases wait in the wings to start or finish.

Image source, Pacemaker

There have yet to be findings made in the inquest into the murders of 10 Protestants by the IRA at Kingsmill in 1976.

Scores of others legacy inquests will run over the next five years, many dealing with state actions from the 1970s and 1980s.

In most cases families are seeking to get at the truth or a form of closure denied them by a police investigation and a criminal justice process.

Read more from our home affairs correspondent here.

A coroner has found that 10 people killed in west Belfast almost 50 years ago in the wake of an Army operation were "entirely innocent".

You can read the full ruling here, external.

Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill says "today is a day for truth".

She says her thoughts are with families of those killed, who today have been "vindicated".

"For five decades (the families) have campaigned with dignity and determination for the truth about what happened to their loved ones and despite all the setbacks they have kept going with such resilience and resolve," she said.

"Today is their day; it is a day for truth."

In a tweet, she describes the killings as "British state murder".

Image source, Pacemaker

The coroner found that John McKerr was an "entirely innocent man" who was "indiscriminately shot on the street".

Mrs Justice Keegan said he had "no association with the IRA" and that his family can now know that any claim to the contrary can be allayed "once and for all".

She said he was "a proud military man" and was not acting in any suspicious way when he was shot.

The coroner also said there was an "abject failure of the state" to properly investigate the death of an innocent man.

She said Mr McKerr was shot from a distance and the source was unclear, and it could have been military or paramilitary.

The coroner also concluded that two other men who died, Joseph Corr and John Laverty, were not gunmen.

A soldier claimed at the time that Mr Corr and Mr Laverty were part of a group that fired on his patrol.

Mrs Justice Keegan said, on balance, she believed that both men were shot by the Army.

She concluded that it "was wrong to describe these two men as gunmen" and she said any other view should be "dispelled".