May 11, 2021: Relatives of victim Joseph Corr, wearing shirts that say 'The Truth is Free,' react after the findings of the Ballymurphy Inquest were released by the coroner at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland.Getty Images

On May 11, the ten victims of the Ballymurphy Massacre in Belfast were found to be innocent and their killings unjustified nearly 50 years after their deaths.

Throughout the inquest that began in November 2018, Justice Siobhan Keegan considered five incidents surrounding the deaths of 10 people that occurred in West Belfast between August 9 and 11 in 1971 during the Troubles.

Ultimately, Justice Keegan found that the deaths of Father Hugh Mullan (38), Francis Quinn (19), Joan Connolly (44), Daniel Teggart (44), Noel Phillips (20), Joseph Murphy (41), Edward Doherty (28), Joseph Corr (43), John Laverty (20), and John McKerr (49) were unjustified. (The death of Paddy McCarthy (44), who died of a heart attack shortly after a confrontation with a group of soldiers on August 11, was not considered in the inquest.)

Politicians in Ireland, Northern Ireland, the UK, and even the US have now responded to the monumental findings in which Justice Keegan declared the ten victims as "entirely innocent."

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Michelle O’Neill, the Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland and Vice President of Sinn Féin, said that the "truth has been set free."

Arlene Foster, the First Minister of Northern Ireland and the head of the DUP who recently announced her resignation from both roles, said "justice must be blind."

Brandon Lewis, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, said the findings renew his ambition to "ensure that other families do not have to go through similar experiences in the future."

Alliance Party MLA Naomi Long, the current Minister for Justice in Northern Ireland, called for an apology from the UK government.

Colum Eastwood, leader of the SDLP,  questioned whether or not Prime Minister Boris Johnson would continue to pursue amnesty for British soldiers in light of the findings.

The day after the findings were published, however, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson engaged in a phone call with Northern Ireland’s First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill. During the call, Johnson “apologised unreservedly on behalf of the UK Government for the events that took place in Ballymurphy and the huge anguish that the lengthy pursuit of truth has caused the families of those killed.”

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In the Republic of Ireland, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said on the day the findings were published: "While we will need to examine the full detail of the Coroner’s statement, the principal findings have cast a tremendous new light on one of the darkest pages of the history of the conflict, and will come as an immense relief and vindication for the families who have maintained for decades that their loved ones were innocent and their killings unjustified."

Taoiseach Micheál Martin told the Dail that victims' relatives have waited "a long, long time, nearly 50 years, for some sense of justice for their loved ones."

He added: “The Irish government has supported the Ballymurphy families for many years and we will continue to stand with solidarity with them."

Mary Lou McDonald, the President of Sinn Féin, said in a statement: "Today, after 50 years, the families have been vindicated and facts have been laid bare before the world. The families always knew the truth and people across Ireland always knew the truth and today it has been proven."

In the US, Congressman Richard Neal, who sits on the Friends of Ireland Caucus, said the verdict is a "complete vindication" for victims and their families. 

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