Mr. Francie Molloy:

I welcome Mr. Teggart, Ms Quinn and Mr. Ó Muirigh this morning. It is very important that we hear their stories. The dignified manner in which they have put across their stories and run their campaign has been an inspiration to everyone, right across the board. Families across Tyrone and mid-Ulster have been inspired by the commitment and dedication of the Ballymurphy families to bringing about justice for their families. It is important that we view this situation from that perspective. Mr. Teggart, Ms Quinn and Mr. Ó Muirigh are fighting for their families and to justify the innocence of their family members. I reiterate that they have inspired people right across the board.

It must have been a roller-coaster of an experience for them, in the run-up to the inquest and then also in its aftermath. Therefore, I thank them all very much for taking the time now to talk to us about the experience. Their campaign has been undertaken on behalf of everyone looking for justice. In that regard, we think very much of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. The Irish Government has a role to play there to ensure that we do get justice. One of the things which comes across to me is that it has taken 50 years to get this far. However, if governments would get behind these campaigns immediately and fight alongside the families involved to try to get justice, that would serve to move things along faster.

As Mr. Teggart said, the British Government has been happy to tell lies for the last 50 years and to spread the narrative that their families' loved ones were guilty. The families fought very hard to get the inquest findings and in doing that they were pitted against the Ministry of Defence, MOD, the former Royal Ulster Constabulary, RUC, which did not undertake an investigation, and the British Government, which blocked progress in every way, including by blocking inquests and not providing funding for inquests. All that sort of stuff has brought us to a situation where the families have now proved that their loved ones are totally innocent. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. As others have said, the British Prime Minister, in particular, and the British Government then refused to be magnanimous and stand up and admit to that innocence the House of Commons, as other British Prime Ministers have done in the past.

The British Government has a record of not implementing agreements. It has failed to implement every agreement it has ever signed up to. I refer to the Stormont House Agreement, the agreement concerning legacy issues, and it has never even fully implemented the Good Friday Agreement. Under the auspices of New Decade, New Approach, the British Government agreed to legislate for legacy issues within 100 days, but it has again reneged on that commitment. It is now moving to shut down the legal process, which was the only opportunity left to the Ballymurphy families and which was the avenue they had to use. The criminal justice route, therefore, for the Ballymurphy families and others-----