Boris Johnson has apologized “wholeheartedly” on behalf of the British government for the murder of 10 innocent civilians in Ballymurphy, west Belfast, in 1971.
The Prime Minister acknowledged “the enormous anguish” caused by the “long search for the truth” for the families of those killed in shootings involving the British military almost 50 years ago.
It comes a day after a the coroner attributed nine of the 10 shootings for three days in August 1971 in the British Army.
The coroner said there was not enough evidence to determine where the gunshot came from that killed the 10th victim.
In a call with Northern Ireland’s Prime Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy Prime Minister Michelle O’Neill on Wednesday, Mr Johnson said the findings of the Ballymurphy inquiry were “deeply sad” and the events of August 1971 were “tragic”.
Giving details of the call, a Downing Street spokesperson said: ‘The Prime Minister has apologized wholeheartedly on behalf of the UK Government for the events which unfolded in Ballymurphy and the enormous anguish that the long search for the truth caused the families of those killed.
“The Prime Minister reaffirmed the government’s intention to come up with a way forward in Northern Ireland that focuses on reconciliation, provides services to victims of the unrest and ends the cycle of new investigations.
He stressed the importance of working hard to maintain the progress made through the Belfast / Good Friday deal and that all parties do their utmost to help the families of the victims find out what happened to their loved ones, so that future generations will not be overwhelmed by the past. “
On Tuesday, new inquiries into the British Army deaths in Ballymurphy concluded that the victims were “entirely innocent” and that the soldiers were responsible for nine of the …
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Source: news.sky.com
This notice was published: 2021-05-12 17:04:00