The attorney general has ordered a new inquest into the murder of a husband and wife in the McGurk’s Bar massacre more than 50 years ago.
Fifteen civilians, including two children, were killed when the UVF detonated a bomb in the North Queen Street bar, in north Belfast, in December 1971.
At the time security forces blamed the IRA but this was later shown not to be true.
Campaigners believe there was collusion in the murders and that attempts were subsequently made to mislead the public.
The decision by Attorney General Brenda King to order a new inquest comes days before the controversial Legacy Act comes into force next week.
Under the legislation all inquests that are not at ruling stage by May 1 will be halted.
Lawyers acting for relatives of Edward Keenan (69) and his wife Sarah Kennan (58) have been told that Ms King “considered the submissions and documents provided and has decided that it is advisable to order a new inquest into their deaths”.
In 2018 Attorney General John Larkin rejected a request for a fresh inquest.
Gerard Keenan was 13 years of age when he lost his parents and watched the recovery of bodies from the bomb site.
“Our families welcome the historic decision of the Attorney General to direct a new inquest as all the families have campaigned with great dignity for over 52 years for scraps of truth and justice from the British state,” he said.
“Like many other bereaved families now, though, we face the reality that the British state will not allow this inquest to go ahead as it desperately wants to stop us from discovering why our loved ones were murdered in the McGurk’s Bar Massacre and how it failed to prevent it.”
In recent years research charity Paper Trail has uncovered new evidence relevant to the case.
Ciarán MacAirt, whose grandmother Kitty Irvine was one of those killed and his grandfather John badly injured, had submitted new evidence discovered through archive and other research.
The new evidence included British army logs that identified the location of military observation posts in the vicinity of McGurk’s Bar.
Mr MacAirt said “British armed forces had previously denied the presence of any of its units in the area”.
The campaigner, who works for Paper Trail, suggests the truth about what happened at McGurk’s Bar has been supressed.
“Even before we buried our loved ones in those dark days of 1971, the British state buried the truth,” he said.
“The British state’s shameful Legacy Act in 2024 is another attempt by a serial human rights abuser to bury the truth.
“Our families will not roll over and surrender to this latest British attack on our basic human rights. We will continue to fight for equal access to due process of the law and demand an Article Two (right to life) compliant inquest.”
Family representative Niall Ó Murchú said: ”This is a poignant reminder of the power of family campaigning and the fact that legal processes – however slow – can work if not shut down by the British state.
“The British government and its Ministry of Defence have spent millions covering up their involvement in the McGurk’s Bar Massacre and its aftermath.
“Even after more than half a century, an inquest may offer the families an opportunity for truth and justice but now, of course, they first must fight for the repeal of the shameful Legacy Act, Britain’s latest attempt to bury its war crimes in Ireland.”
