Springhill: Inquest into 1972 west Belfast shootings opens

Margaret Gargan, who was 13, was one of five people shot dead in the Springhill estate on 9 July 1972

Relatives of five people killed in shootings involving the British Army in west Belfast in 1972 have described the pain of losing their loved ones on the first day of a long-awaited inquest.

Three Catholic teenagers, a father-of-six and a priest were shot dead in the Springhill estate.

Their families believe they were killed by the British Army and say they are seeking truth.

Soldiers at the time said they had been firing at gunmen.

Teenagers Margaret Gargan, John Dougal and David McCafferty, as well as 38-year-old Patrick Butler and Fr Noel Fitzpatrick, 42, were killed in the shootings.

The inquest is to examine whether they were killed by military gunfire, or by gunfire from republican or loyalist paramilitaries.

Counsel to the inquest said evidence available at the time suggested the breakdown of an IRA ceasefire over housing issues in the nearby Lenadoon area had led to disturbances.

He said it would be up to the inquest to adjudicate on whether any unrest had developed in the Springhill-Westrock part of the city.

He told the inquest the narrative of the British Army was of "legitimate and justified use of force at a time of heightened tension".

The counter narrative, he said, was that the killings resulted from "illegitimate indiscriminate use of force" by the Army on innocent civilians.

An original inquest into the five deaths was held in 1973. The coroner at the time returned an open verdict.

In 2014, then Attorney General John Larkin directed that new inquests should be held.

'Momentous day'

Harry Gargan, brother of 13-year-old Margaret Gargan, told the inquest she had been helping to set up a bingo night at the local community centre on the night of the shootings, on 9 July 1972.

He said she had been going back to the family home when she was shot in the head.

Mr Gargan described the opening of the inquest as "a momentous day".

Relatives described the opening of the inquest as momentous

Mary Judge, sister of 16-year-old John Dougal, told the hearing his ambition had been to join the British Army, and that as a youngster he had served as a British Army cadet.

She said her family's lives had been changed forever following his death.

"We have always missed him and we think about him every day," she added.

"We hope this inquest will give us some truth after five decades. Only then can our parents rest in peace."

'Our childhood ended'

Jacqueline Butler, youngest child of father-of-six Patrick Butler, told the inquest her father had gone into the estate to offer help to those wounded after the gunfire broke out.

"That was the day our childhood ended," she told the inquest.

"We experienced grief no child should have to experience."

In a statement, Betty Kennedy, sister of 15-year-old David McCafferty, said her family had been left heartbroken by his death.

Ruth O'Reilly, niece of Fr Noel Fitzpatrick, described her uncle as a "gentle and charismatic person" with a "tremendous open heart".

The inquest is expected to continue for a number of weeks.