NEWS FROM SAOIRSE
(freedom).
The Voice of the Irish Republican Movement.
Republican Sinn Féin
http://rsf.ie
223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1
229 Falls Road, Belfast
| NEWS FROM SAOIRSE
(freedom).
The Voice of the Irish Republican Movement. Republican Sinn Féin
|
THE community inquiry in the New Lodge in Belfast into the killing of six men almost 30 years ago in February 1973 has concluded that none of the men were armed when they were shot by the British army. The British had initially claimed that the six men were armed IRA members but later retracted their own statement.The six killings took place within 90 minutes of each other on the night of February 3-4, 1973. The first two men, Jim Sloan (19) and Jim McCann, were killed when unidentified gunmen opened fire from a car on Lynch's Bar at the junction of the New Lodge and the Antrim Road with a machine gun. Sloan and McCann were both unarmed IRA members. The car continued down the Antrim Road where the gunmen again opened fire on a Chinese restaurant, injuring more people.
An hour later, unarmed IRA member Tony Campbell was returning home from a disco where he had been celebrating his 19th birthday when he was shot at the junction of Ellington Street and the New Lodge Road.
Another man Brendan Maguire who went to help Campbell was shot dead at the same spot. Another local man John Loughran (34) who ran from his house to try to help the two men was also shot dead.
The sixth man, Ambrose Hardy (26) had been in a local bar when the first shootings took place. Hoping to get home to safety he left the club, holding a white cloth and was also shot dead.
The British army claimed in a statement following the killings that
they had killed six armed IRA members and injured a seventh between 11.15pm
and 3am.
However forensic tests showed that five of the six men had not been
in contact with weapons, while the sixth had traces of lead particles,
which would have come from the bullet which killed him.
Although all six families later received compensation from the British government an investigation into the killings was never held. While three of the dead were IRA members, none were armed and none were on duty at the time of the killings.
A local community inquiry into the killings was held in November. A
panel of international jurists, headed by author Don Mullan, concluded
that all six were innocent.
The inquiry concluded: “There is no evidence to indicate that any of
the deceased and wounded were armed at the time of their shooting or acting
in a manner which might have been interpreted as a potential threat.”
Or
Make a donation to SAOIRSE
for its internet service.
DO NOT SEND CASH IN THE POST.
SAOIRSE -- Irish Freedom, 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1, Ireland
Telephone: 00-353-1-872 9747 FAX: 00-353-1-872 9757
e-mail: saoirse@iol.ie
Web layout by SAOIRSE -- Irish Freedom December 7, 2002 Send links, events notifications, articles, comments etc, to the editor at: saoirse@iol.ie. |
