Thursday 19 May 2011

Derry Families back Ballymurphy Families




THE relatives of the 11 people killed in the 1971 Ballymurphy Massacre have described their recent visit to Derry as part of their ongoing campaign for justice as a “great success”.
The day-long visit was hosted by families of the 13 unarmed civilians killed on Bloody Sunday, a massacre  carried out by the same division of the Parachute Regiment responsible for the Ballymurphy deaths five months earlier.
The Derry visit took in meetings with the city’s current SDLP Mayor Colum Eastwood, political commentator and civil rights veteran Eamon McCann and a special presentation from the Ancient Order of the Hibernians (AOH).
“We have met regularly with the Bloody Sunday families over the years,” explained Janet Donnelly, whose father Joseph was shot dead in the Ballymurphy Massacre.
“They advise us and help us in our campaign for justice as they’ve been through it themselves and have come out the other end.  We met with them at the start of the day on a visit to the Free Derry Museum in the Bogside, and afterwards we spoke to Gareth Stewart and Jim Doherty of the Gasyard Wall Féile to discuss what the Féile and the Ballymurphy Families could do jointly.