Adams Bids For Ballymurphy Inquiry

The Sinn Fein President has revealed what he claimed is new information on the British Army killings of 11 people in west Belfast's Ballymurphy in 1971.

Calling for an investigation into the deaths to be opened, Gerry Adams said on Friday morning the new information and evidence should make the UK Attorney General to re-open the inquest into the deaths.

The move came after the families were "disappointed" by the outcome of their meeting with Secretary of State Owen Paterson earlier this month.

The West Belfast MP and the families of the victims revealed that a submission is to be handed to the Attorney General John Larkin asking him to establish new inquests into the killings under Section 14 of The Coroner's Act 1959.

Mr Adams (pictured) said: "In the 36 hours after the introduction of internment in August 1971 11 people - ten men, including a local priest and a mother of eight children - were killed by the Parachute Regiment in the Ballymurphy area.

"The families have spent years carrying out their own inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of their loved ones.

"They believe that not all of the facts pertaining to the shootings were made known or that the RUC or Military Police properly investigated the killings.

"They also have grave concerns about the inquests that were carried out," he said, noting that, in July the Catholic Church released archive documents surrounding the events in Ballymurphy in August 1971.

This included new eyewitness accounts which lend support to the families' opinion that vital evidence was withheld. In recent months the families and their legal team have prepared an extensive submission to put to the Attorney General John Larkin.

The submission includes inquest verdicts, autopsy reports, inquest depositions and statements by Royal Military Police personnel, RUC reports from the date of incident, Catholic Church archive documents and a preliminary report into circumstances of the death of the deceased.

"I will be presenting all of this to Mr Larkin," said Mr Adams.

"The Ballymurphy families want an independent international investigation into the deaths of their loved ones and an apology from the British government which recognises their innocence.

"They believe that new inquests, which are Article 2 compliant, will help prove that their loved ones are innocent, were murdered and that an independent international investigation is required."

See: Ballymurphy 'Massacre' Relatives 'Unhappy'

(BMcC/GK)