AOH to host webinar on Springhill massacre verdict and legacy of justice in Northern Ireland

The Ancient Order of Hibernians will host a live webinar on Saturday, May 9, examining the long-awaited inquest verdict into the 1972 Springhill-Westrock massacre in Belfast. Family members of the victims and civil rights lawyer John Finucane MP are set to discuss the ruling, the decades-long campaign for justice, and the growing concern over new British legislation that could limit accountability.

On July 9, 1972, British troopers shot dead five people in the Springhill-Westrock area, including Catholic priest Fr. Noel Fitzpatrick, parishioner Patrick Butler, 13-year-old Margaret Gargan, and teenagers John Dougal and David McCafferty. After 54 years, Justice Schoffield’s verdict exonerated the victims, finding that John Dougal was shot in the back without warning as he ran away and that the others were killed while unarmed and posing no threat.

The court found that Fr. Fitzpatrick and Patrick Butler were acting in a humanitarian capacity when they were shot and killed by the same bullet. David McCafferty was also shot in the back as he ran to help Fr. Fitzpatrick, while Margaret Gargan was killed as she stopped to talk with friends on her way home from the Whiterock Community Centre.

The webinar will feature remarks from Harry Gargan, who has campaigned for more than five decades to secure justice for his sister, Margaret. Gargan has called for what he describes as a genuine, heartfelt, and unequivocal public apology from the British government for the pain and grief caused to the families.

Jacqueline Butler, one of Patrick Butler’s six children, will also speak about the impact of her father’s killing and the broader fight for truth among families affected by the Troubles. She is expected to address fears that new British legacy legislation could shield former troopers from accountability just as families are finally seeing hard-won recognition in cases like Springhill.

Finucane, who has been outspoken on the issue of legacy law, will give a legal overview of where the legislation now stands. He has warned that the British government is taking a dangerous path and said the bill risks being treated more as veterans’ legislation than victims’ legislation.

The inquest verdict was welcomed by families and justice campaigners, even as British officials continue to press ahead with efforts to add special protections for former troopers. That controversy was sharpened after Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch drew criticism for using Bloody Sunday footage in a video arguing that former troopers deserved legal protection for Troubles killings, a message she later apologized for and deleted.

The Ancient Order of Hibernians, which has long supported the Springhill-Westrock families alongside Relatives for Justice, said National President Sean Pender is traveling to Belfast to offer a message of solidarity. The group also said a 43-member AOH-LAOH fact-finding delegation met with the families on April 10, underscoring the organization’s long involvement in legacy issues affecting Irish and Irish American communities.

The webinar will stream live at 11 a.m. Eastern Time and 4 p.m. in Ireland, and will later be available on AOH YouTube. Register for the AOH Webinar here.