New Lodge Six and Ardoyne families need their truth too

By Gerry Kelly
The strength and perseverance shown over the last 38 years by the families of those murdered and wounded on 'Bloody Sunday' in their pursuit of the truth is truly humbling. The fact that the same search for truth is replicated by families across Ireland is a stark demonstration that the actions of the Paras in Derry weren't the actions of a few rogue soldiers out of control. Rather, any objective analysis can only come to the conclusion that the British State at the very highest level directed a policy of state murder, collusion and cover-up.

In North Belfast between February and May 1973 our community witnessed the organized murders by British soldiers of what is known as The New Lodge Six massacre and the further five murders by the Paras in Ardoyne which were detailed in this paper last week. All of these victims were just like the victims of 'Bloody Sunday' "Completely innocent and posing no threat." The British state attempted to cover-up these killings and sully the victims’ names.

Through their allies in the media the British state in a barrage of disinformation claimed that some of the New Lodge victims had been involved in an attempted suicide bombing when shot by soldiers using night sights in Ireland for the first time.

Through the cover-up of the murder of the 11 victims of the Ballymurphy Massacre in 1971, the 14 victims of Bloody Sunday in 1972 and those 11 victims in the New Lodge and Ardoyne in 1973 the actions of the British state demonstrated a pattern which left nearly 370 victims murdered and with no prospect of justice nor truth. The Widgery report into Bloody Sunday has now been consigned to the dustbin of history and exposed as part of the cover up which enabled the British state to continue their policy of murdering citizens and collusion with loyalists for the following three decades with complete impunity.

The issue of truth and truth recovery is too big and too complex to confine to party politics. This is an all-Ireland issue which Irish society as a whole needs to be engaged in.
Sinn Féin is the only party that has put forward detailed proposals on this issue. We believe - and experiences here and in other countries demonstrate - that an independent and international truth commission is required.
So far the British state has run away from such a process. Indeed we raised it with them again only last week.

That is why you get demands from families for inquiries. Republicans are up for such a process, we have stated this time and again and have pledged to play our full part.
The British State has consistently avoided going down this road. They have consistently denied being a party to the conflict. They have operated a policy of cover-up for decades.

The reaction from the unionist parties to Eames/Bradley was disgraceful, they wouldn’t even discuss it. They rejected it out of hand without even reading it.
The families of the New Lodge Six joined with the community to hold an inquiry nearly ten years ago.

The findings were every bit as conclusive as the Saville report yet nothing has been done to bring justice for the victims. Willie Loughran, whose brother John was one of the victims, spoke movingly at the launch of the community enquiry report. He said that the families always knew the truth that their loved ones were innocent. Now it's time to give that truth full recognition.