Ballymurphy Inquest: Politicians react to inquest findings

The family of Joan Connolly celebrated the coroner's findings

Politicians and other leading figures have been responding to the findings of an inquest into the deaths of 10 people in the wake of an Army operation almost 50 years ago.

A coroner ruled that everyone who was shot dead at Ballymurphy, west Belfast, in 1971, was "entirely innocent".

She said nine of the victims were shot by the Army. It is not clear who shot the tenth.

The victims included a priest trying to help the wounded and a mother of eight.

Michelle O'Neill, Sinn Féin

"My first thoughts today are with the families of those killed in the Ballymurphy massacre. All were innocent and today their families have been vindicated.

"Today is their day; it is a day for truth. What happened in Ballymurphy was state murder and for decades the British government have covered it up. Now the truth has been laid bare for all to see.

"But still this British government are attempting to slam the door to justice, closed in the face of these families and others killed by the state or as a result of collusion.

"As the findings from the inquest were being read, the British government was announcing its plans to legislate to cover up its role in the conflict and to put current and former British soldiers beyond justice and the law. British state forces cannot be above the law."

Colum Eastwood, SDLP

"I am absolutely delighted by the coroner's findings.

"I'm so inspired by the fearless dedication of these families to fight for truth and justice for their loved ones."

Naomi Long, Alliance

"The thoughts of everyone today should be with the loved ones of the victims and their long campaign. It should not have taken 50 years for them to get to today's outcome.

"This is vindication - still, to this day, the families have had to deal with sneers and slurs from those linking the victims with the IRA.

"To have it finally put into public record - the truth they have stated all these years - they were entirely innocent - is justification for their brave stand and dedicated campaigning for so many years.

"The UK government now needs to step up and formally apologise for the actions of the Army on the day in question. We saw how much a similar apology in relation to Bloody Sunday meant to the families there, and I encourage the government to acknowledge the courage of the Ballymurphy families with a similar statement."

Arlene Foster, Democratic Unionist Party

"This has been a long road for the Ballymurphy families, 50 years later the court has considered the evidence and the findings should be accepted.

"I commend the families for their tenacity.

"There are lots of lessons to be learned. Grief is grief. Justice must be blind.

"There are too many empty chairs across Northern Ireland and unanswered questions".

Doug Beattie, Ulster Unionist Party

"The coroner has found that those who were killed were innocent victims and, because they are innocent victims, they require the truth and they require justice.

"We must think of the families at this difficult time who lost their loved ones... in what was a pretty squalid, dirty conflict here in Northern Ireland.

"The government needs to come up with a coherent plan to deal with the past and deal with the victims of our Troubles.

"It is not just the 3,200 who were killed but the many thousands who were seriously injured.

"There must be a coherent plan in order to deal with that and the government must reach out and must listen to victims."

Brandon Lewis, Northern Ireland Secretary

"I want to acknowledge the terrible hurt that has been caused to the families of those killed.

"I pay tribute to the great patience with which their families have conducted themselves during their determined campaign, which has lasted almost 50 years.

"They should not have had to wait this long for details about the events that unfolded.

"The government will carefully consider the extensive findings set out by the coroner, but it is clear that those who died were entirely innocent of wrongdoing.

"This government is clear that the current system for dealing with the legacy of the Troubles is not working for anyone - in particular, the families of the bereaved

"This government wants to deliver a way forward that will provide information about what happened during the Troubles in a way that helps families get the answers they want and lays the foundation for greater reconciliation and a shared future for all communities."

Ministry of Defence

"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."

Lord Dannatt, former head of the Army

"It's a tragedy that anybody should lose their lives in those circumstances and it's a double-tragedy that it's taken 50 years to get to this position.

"Frankly, these matters should have been investigated much more thoroughly a long time ago.

"The families should not have had to wait this long to get the degree of truth that has come out today through this very extensive inquest which has gone on for some time.

"I was in Belfast in August 1971, at the time of internment it was absolute chaos and violence was widespread.

"It's very hard 50 years on for us to penetrate the fog of war, the fog of what happened 50 years ago, but they were difficult, bloody, dangerous days."

Louise Haigh, Labour, Shadow NI Secretary

"The families' 50-year wait was a profound failure of justice.

"For these families, the standard to which we hold ourselves as a nation has fallen far short. Many more families affected by the conflict are, too, still fighting for answers.

"The case for a comprehensive legacy process, with families able to discover the truth about what happened to their loved ones and where possible, justice, is strong and compelling.

"Ministers promised victims such a process, they owe it to families to deliver on their commitments."

Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Micheál Martin

"Our thoughts today are with the families of those who were killed unjustifiably in Ballymurphy on those terrible three days in August in 1971. And the inquest has been very, very clear in its conclusions that all were entirely wrongly killed, that all were entirely innocent.

"I toured that area myself as minister for foreign affairs and I acknowledged the extraordinary perseverance and commitment to the families involved who waited a long, long time - for 50 years - to get some sense of justice for their loved ones.

"I think it speaks more broadly to the legacy issue, more generally, that this inquest deserves to be debated in this house.

"The Irish government has supported the Ballymurphy families for many years and we will continue to stand in solidarity with them. The legacy of violence in Northern Ireland remains a deep wound and we should, maybe next week, have a debate on that."

Simon Coveney, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs

"The principal findings have cast a tremendous new light on one of the darkest pages of the history of the conflict and 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.

"Today's historic developments wouldn't have been possible without the determined campaign by the families of those killed in Ballymurphy for the truth of what took place in those terrible days in August 1971.

"The deaths at Ballymurphy were part of the tragic legacy of the Troubles which saw the loss of over 3,500 lives from all communities.

"Every family bereaved in the conflict must have access to an effective investigation and to a process of justice regardless of the perpetrator."

Claire Bailey, NI Green Party

"The verdict of the coroner affirms what the families of those killed in Ballymurphy in 1971 have always known - that their loved ones were entirely innocent.

"It's shameful that it has taken 50 years for official recognition that the killing of these ten people was unjustifiable.

"Families have lived through the past 50 years with the heavy toll of the injustice that was visited upon them. I only hope that today comes as some degree of comfort after decades of distress and compounded grief."

Gerry Carroll, People Before Profit

"The fact we have got here after many, many decades is down to the hard work and dedication of the Ballymurphy families and I want to send out my solidarity and thoughts to them.

"It is clear from what Mrs Justice Keegan has said today, that those people who were massacred at the Ballymurphy massacre were innocent and were unarmed.

"Despite attempts by the British media, British state and British Army to portray them as men and women of arms, they were not, they were innocent."