» Peadar Whelan
The families of ten nationalist civilians shot and killed by the British army in Ballymurphy in August 1971 welcomed the findings of coroner Mrs Justice Siobhan Keegan who declared all of the dead innocent and found that the British army used disproportionate force when killing their loved ones in a series of shootings known as the Ballymurphy Massacre.
However their elation was “stolen” from them by the refusal of British Prime Minster Boris Johnston to apologise directly to the families for the actions of the British state and the British army.
A statement released by 10 Downing Street on Wednesday 12 May, after a meeting involving Michelle O’Neill and Arlene Foster, stated that Johnston had apologised during the meeting, a claim rejected by Sinn Féin.