An inquest into the shooting of five people by the British Army at Springhill in Belfast shows that format is the “best tool to deliver truth”.
The inquest was the last one to complete before the 2024 guillotine on legacy court cases fell as part of the previous Government’s Legacy Act.
It saw the setting up of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) to probe cases from Northern Ireland’s troubled past.
The Labour Government is currently reforming the Act into the Troubles Bill which will be debated in the next Parliamentary session at Westminster, however the ICRIR remains in place.
Natasha Butler, whose father Patrick was among the five killed by the Army at Springhill in 1972, heard inquest findings on Thursday which concluded he had been unarmed and no threat to anyone, and that the use of force was unreasonable.
Speaking outside Belfast Coroner’s Court, she urged the Government to rethink the Bill and the ICRIR, saying it cannot deliver what an inquest can.
“We feel the Legacy Bill was wrong, what we have seen today in terms of Springhill shows that even after 54 years inquests can deliver some measure of truth,” she said.
“There are families out there who are still waiting for some measure of truth and this is the reason why the British Government needs to rethink the Legacy Bill.
“The Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery can’t deliver the detailed narrative findings and will never get the same closure or recognition or vindication that our loved ones have got today.
“We call on the British Government to engage with legacy families and give them hope.”
Solicitor Padraig O Muirigh, who supported the Springhill families throughout their campaign and the proceedings, said inquests have been a viable tool.
“This inquest, Ballymurphy, Desmond Healey and many, many other examples of where inquests have been a viable tool for families, and it’s precisely for that reason why a guillotine was placed on these legacy inquests,” he said.
“They did work, they were getting a measure of truth for families, and remember 50 years on, 30 years on, it’s difficult to get 100% of truth, but you can get as great an approximation as you can, and the inquest was the best legal tool at the disposal of families.
“It’s no accident that that has now been stopped by the British Government.”
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