McGurks families have inquest denied

Posted by Jim on July 7, 2018

 

 

Calls for a fresh inquest into the McGurks Bar Bombing in Belfast have
been rejected by the Six County Attorney General.

Fifteen Catholic civilians including two children were killed in the UVF
blast in December 1971, which was then falsely blamed by the Crown
Forces on an IRA ‘own goal’.

Relatives and campaigners discovered a large amount of new evidence not
heard at the original inquest, which was held the year after the
atrocity. It was confirmed that the British Army bomb squad knew the
bomb had been placed at the entrance to the bar and was not inside, as
was claimed.

Gerard Keenan, whose parents Sarah and Edward Keenan were both killed in
the bombing, said, “This is yet another devastating blow to family
members who have campaigned for truth and justice for two generations.

“At no stage up to the present day have our families been able to rely
on a just, fair and transparent police investigation. We have had to
discover and retrieve new evidence regarding the McGurk’s Bar Massacre
ourselves.”

KRW Law, who represent a number of the victims’ families, are expected
to seek clarification of the decision.

“The families are unhappy with the decision given the serious
difficulties they have faced in establishing the truth concerning the
death of their loved ones,” they said.

“There is on-going public law and civil litigation being pursued before
the courts in Northern Ireland but the decision of the Attorney-General
is unwelcome and his response will be carefully analysed.”

A Police Ombudsman’s report in 2011 said RUC (now PSNI) police had shown
an “investigative bias”.

However, the PSNI’s then-chief Matt Baggott refused to accept that
finding by the ombudsman and a subsequent probe by the PSNI’s Historical
Enquiries Team (HET) concluded there was no such bias.

Mr Baggott’s successor George Hamilton reversed the police’s position in
2015, admitting there had been bias in the initial RUC investigation. He
said the HET report findings had been amended to reflect the change in
stance.

Sinn Fein’s North Belfast representative Gerry Kelly expressed “deep
disappointment” at the refusal to hold a new inquest.

“These families have been campaigning for truth and justice for 47
years,” he said.

“There are still too many unanswered questions about the involvement of
various state agencies in the attack on McGurk’s Bar both before and
after the massacre of 15 people.

“A fresh inquest was an opportunity to test in the courts the mounting
weight of evidence, painstakingly uncovered by families and campaigners,
around the involvement of the state.

“The families have waited over 40 years for a new inquest and Sinn Fein
will continue to support the families in their campaign.”