Families Hopeful As Inquest Into Ballymurphy Massacre Gets Underway

Soldiers have long been held responsible for the killing of 10 people in Ballymurphy between August 9th and 11th, 1971.

But earlier this year, former members of the parliamentary Ulster Volunteer Force came forward to claim their organisation was also involved.

The shootings took place as the Army moved into republican strongholds to arrest IRA suspects.

It was in the wake of the introduction by the Stormont administration of the controversial policy of internment without trial.

Now, the relatives of the people killed say that they hope to obtain some form of truth, after a 47-year fight for justice.

In 2011, Northern Ireland's Attorney General John Larkin directed that new inquests be heard after a long campaign by family members, who claimed the original coronial probes in the aftermath of the shootings were inadequate.

Coroner Ms Justice Siobhan Keegan confirmed the inquests would proceed as scheduled on Monday during a final preparatory hearing in Belfast last week.

Briege Voyle, whose mother Joan Connolly, 44, was one of 10 people killed in the incident, said:

"We've waited this long for it to come, it's a wee bit hard to believe that it's actually happening, but at the same time, we are just so glad that it's here.

"We think that after 47 years we are going to get some form of truth."

John Teggart, whose father Daniel was one of those killed, added: "The determination to clear our loved ones' names is not because we are trying to rewrite history but because we are correcting history."

A Catholic priest was among the 10 fatally injured in the shootings, involving members of the Parachute Regiment.

Another man died of a heart attack following an alleged violent confrontation with the troops in the west Belfast estate.

Opening statements in the inquests will be heard this week, followed by personal statements from relatives of those who died.

Evidence in the first inquest will be heard in the week commencing November 28th.