Aontú leader Peadar Toibín TD has hit out at the UK’s Tory government for offering amnesty to British soldiers over killings carried out in Ireland.
Speaking about the acknowledgment of the Ballymurphy victims by the British state for the first time, Toibín welcomed the development.
“It was a wonderful day for the families of Ballymurphy,” he said. “It was a day in which the innocence of their loved ones were recognised by the State for the first time.
“It’s an incredible situation that it took 50 years for the British system to recognise the innocence of their loved ones, who were murdered by the British soldiers 50 years ago.”
Toibín went on to recount some of the “tragic” stories of those killed, referring specifically to a woman named Joan Connelly and several others.
“After these people were shot dead, the British army then defamed them, trying to mix it up and indicate that some of them were gun men or that some of them were involved in violence against the British State on that day,” said Toibín.
“That family have had to live with the injustice of the loss of their loved ones, and that defamation as well. And that’s an incredibly sad thing.
“I’ve raised this, their cases, in the Dáil a number of times. And it always strikes me the number of southern politicians who didn’t know the details of the victims of the Ballymurphy case. So not only were they defamed, and have lost their lives, but they were actually discriminated against by the southern state in death as well in my view.”
Toibín said the British state must not be allowed to “stop justice from being achieved in the future.”
“There are many other families who suffered in the North of Ireland,” he said.
“And yesterday, at the same time we heard the good news about the Ballymurphy inquest, the British parliament and the English Queen, made a speech indicating that the Tories are now seeking to give an amnesty to British soldiers who were involved in killings such as these.
“So just as we get good news with regards the innocence declared for these families, the British are looking to take it and stop justice being achieved in the future.
“The Ballymurphy families have found the truth. Now they need to find justice. And the Tory government needs to ensure that people can pursue justice through the courts if needs be.”