The Death of Innocence 45 years on

“THE First Casualty of war is innocence”

IF?there exists any?one single incident which took place throughout the thirty-year historical narrative of the troubles that could be presented to prove the irrefutable credibility of this?insightful?claim regarding the callous and?indiscriminate destruction that war inflicts upon any society unfortunate to have befallen?the?prolonged?and unrelenting violence that?is a defining characteristic of mass conflict?it would be??the shooting of Majella O'Hare on the 14th of August 1976 on the main road leading from?Ballymoyer Cemetary in south Armagh.?

Majella, (pictured right) the very personification of innocence, was fired upon and killed??in disputed circumstances by a British Army paratrooper while she and a group of her friends were traveling to confessions which were due to be held in Saint Malachy's church located next to Balymoyer?graveyard.?

Although the official record maintained by the British Armies third parachute regiment?after 45 still years states??that Majella was killed as the result of a crossfire incident, with the soldier?who shot her claiming that he saw what looked to be an IRA gunman taking up a position through a hedge in a nearby ditch this is a point that remains heavily contested by several key eye witnesses who were there?that??day in August 1976?when??Majella had her young life?violently ripped away from her.

First hand eyewitness accounts testify to the fact that there was no gunman and that the paratrooper who shot Majella opened fire indiscriminately.?

Majella died being cradled in the arms of her loving father Jim (pictured below at Majella's funeral)?while she was being flown on an army helicopter to Daisy Hill hospital in Newry.?

Also?in the company of Jim and Majella was a?local nurse Alice Campbell, who was in the nearby Ballymoyer cemetery at the time to lay flowers on the grave of the late Brian Reavey, who had been murdered by the notorious Glenanne?Gang earlier in the same year and who Alice was engaged to be married on the exact same day that Majella was shot dead.

Despite this nearly surreal and almost unbelievable convergence of horrendous circumstances, Alice still conducted her duties that day with a level of dignity and professionalism that would typify the selfless and compassionate nature of anyone with the integrity of character to take up her chosen profession.?

It is claimed that the Army paratroopers at the time who, although having called for the helicopter to transport Majella and her father along with Alice to Daisy Hill were extremely physically and verbally abusive to all three of these poor souls who found themselves in the most harrowing of circumstances.?

Now following the 45th anniversary of Majella's death her brother Michael O'Hare, who has long since campaigned for the soldier responsible for Majella's killing to be brought to justice has spoken out publicly criticising the legislation?which will be introduced by Boris Johnson and the Tory government that if passed through parliament?will provide universal amnesty for all those who committed criminal atrocities during the troubles, rendering them immune to prosecution.??

The motion in question?is somewhat innocuously being referred to by the secretary of state for Northern Ireland Brandon Lewis as "Addressing the legacy of Northern Irelands past."

While Boris Johnson and his comfortable majority of Tory MP's in the House of Commons insist?that through the implementation of a statute of limitations on crimes committed during this tumultuous time period will in their own words "allow the people of Northern Ireland to draw a line under the troubles" ,the proposed motion has received almost universal criticism from both victims campaign groups and the friends and families of those murdered as a direct result of the paramilitary violence which will forever be synonymous with Northern Ireland so long as it exists as a constitutional entity.?

The primary criticism being levied against the motion by these groups?is that if the makes it through both the House of Commons and The House of Lords this October then it will effectively rob victims and their families of any hope of ever attaining the justice they rightfully?deserve for both the physical and emotional trauma that over thirty years of sectarian conflict inflicted upon them and their loved ones.?

A families tireless quest for?justice...

MICHAEL O’HARE??is no exception when it comes to vocalising his?criticism of the proposed statute of limitations on troubles related crimes.

He?believes??that not only will the statute?rob the friends and families of those murdered during the troubles of any prospect of justice, but that in his opinion the true purpose of the statute is to "allow the British government to protect their own people and deny that could ever be guilty of the unlawful killing of any innocent civilians, or?having colluded in any kind of atrocity that took place during the conflict, including the death of his beloved sister Majella.

"The introduction of the motion entitled "Addressing the Legacy of Northern Irelands Past" will prevent the relatives of those who were killed by British state forces from challenging the governments account of events and put a halt on the quest for justice of?so many families who have campaigned tirelessly over the years to have those who killed their loved ones brought before the courts,?

"My belief is that through the introduction of the statute of limitations the British government want to protect their own people and deny that could ever be guilty of having been implicated in, responsible for, or having colluded in any kind of atrocity committed throughout the conflict, including the killing of my sister Majella.?

Atrocities

Michael directs his criticism at the rational laid out by the Tory government to justify the introduction of the statute drawing attention to the fact that "drawing a line underneath the past does not come into the equation for the families and friends of those murdered and maimed during the troubles."

"In most, if not all cases relating to atrocities committed during the troubles this motion will not provide any solutions, only further exacerbate the grief of having lost a loved one to sectarian violence.

?“There is no way that the friends and families of those killed during the conflict can ever draw a line under the past without first justice having been gained for those that they lost. A statute of limitations for those who are guilty of some of the most heinous crimes imaginable will not provide the justice that victims and their families are entitled to.???

?“That being said?formal recognition of a wrong doing committed by either the state or by a paramilitary organisation be they republican or loyalist could at the very least provide some small amount of consolation for the friends and families of those who fell victim to the violence of the troubles, as in my sister Majella’s case."

As the immediate relative of an innocent civilian who was killed during the troubles, it is?Michaels firm belief that if this motion does make it through the legislative process and provide universal amnesty for all those guilty of troubles related atrocities then it will effectively "Sweep Majella's case, along with so many others, under the rug" and "rob both myself and?my family?of any hope of attaining the justice we deserve.?

Michael remembers rather vividly what happened in the immediate aftermath of Majella's death, recalling specifically both the trial of the paratrooper who shot her and the army's subsequent efforts to both obfuscate and confuse the facts of the case so as to prevent the delivery of justice.?

"I know the identity of the Paratrooper in question who is responsible for shooting Majella. He did appear in court in 1977 following Majella's death. The RUC investigation at that stage lobbied for the charge of manslaughter rather than murder because with the then Chief Justice Gibson sitting in a diplocked situation, they believed that a charge of manslaughter would stand a better chance of getting into court.

"At the time the paratrooper who killed Majella was charged with manslaughter. It is an undisputed fact that the paratrooper in question who stood trial for Majella's death on charges of manslaughter did shoot her but it is still unknown if this was by accident or if the shooting had been premeditated.?

“The only person who knows the answer to this question is the soldier who shot Majella, but he has?made every?effort not to contact the family or make any efforts to demonstrate any amount of empathy with us or show any remorse for what it is he did that day.

"In the immediate aftermath of the shooting the army tried to cover up what happened by claiming that the soldier who had opened fire that day saw an IRA gunman in taking up a firing position in a ditch through a hedge?and that he supposedly shouted out "halt or I will shoot" before he opened fire.?They tried to portray it as if Majella had been killed in an incident of crossfire.

Michael’s mother Mary?would later receive direct correspondence from the British Ministry of Defence (MOD) in the form of a letter of apology (pictured below) authored by the then defence secretary Liam Fox,?which indirectly stated that??even they did not believe the account of events given by the soldier who stood trial for the killing of Majella?

However, this was in 2011, 35 years after Majella's death and since then they?have received no further correspondence from the MOD, leading Michael??to scrutinise the sincerity of the letter and labeling it as somewhat "half-hearted apology." The letter read as follows:

?Investigation

"Both the initial investigation carried out by the RUC and the more recent review carried out in 2011 have concluded that it was unlikely that?there was a gunman in the area when the soldier involved opened fire and struck Majella”, as he claimed.?

“The soldiers' actions resulted in the loss of a young and innocent life, causing sorrow and anguish for those who knew and loved Majella. On behalf of the Army and of the Government, I am profoundly sorry that this tragic incident should have happened.

"If you ask me, this was a somewhat half-hearted apology in that they claimed that they really were not persuaded by the evidence provided by the soldier who killed my sister.?

“In effect they were saying that they did not believe his account of events and if this is the case one can only logically conclude that they also know that Majella was killed for absolutely no reason whatsoever.?

“ I mean this was in 2011 and despite the Ministry of Defence and Liam Fox effectively admitting that they believed the account of events given by the paratrooper?at the time to be false, there has been no follow up investigation, nor have we received any subsequent correspondence from the MOD.

"Even if we received a formal acknowledgement of the fact that Majella was not killed in crossfire but as the result of a soldier indiscriminately opening fire in an area populated with civilians, it would go a long way to honouring her memory because the official historical narrative still maintains to this very day?that this is what happened.??

“Almost everyone believes?this account of events to be false.”?

One Nurses selfless efforts to save an innocent life

DESPITE?the fact that over forty years have now elapsed between Majella's death at the hands of the British Army's third parachute regiment , Alice Campbell (pictured right) ?recalls the events of the day in which Majella lost her young life in?1976 so vividly??that one could be forgiven for?thinking that they?happened?only?yesterday.?

She relates the beginning of her story just after she had finished a night shift working at Daisy Hill Hospital doing what she has always done best throughout her life, attending to the needs of the ailing and weak in her role as a nurse.

"I had been on night duty in Daisy Hill the previous evening and Seamus Reavey along with his late father Jim picked me up once I had finished my shift to lay flowers on Brian's grave in Ballymoyer Cemetery as the 14th of August was the day I was to be married to him. Also in our company was Colleen Reavey, Brian’s?younger sister who would have been around 15 at the time.

"We travelled up to the graveyard and when we arrived, we saw soldiers on patrol in the area. Seamus advised us to act is if they were not there and to just go about our business as usual. So, we proceeded to head down to Brian’s grave to lay some flowers and pay our respects.

It was after having paid her respects to her late husband to be that Alice and the surviving relatives of the Reavey family ran into difficulty with the British Army personnel in the cemetery who demonstrated?absolutely no empathy or compassion for Seamus and his father Jim, proactively mocking the fact that both Seamus's beloved siblings and Jims cherished sons had been murdered only six months prior in?Whitecross.

"After visiting the gravesite, we returned to the car.?While we were approaching the cemetery gate a soldier stopped both Seamus and Jimmy. They were heckling them and making fun of the fact that Seamus brothers had been killed earlier in the year. I remember specifically that one soldier said to Seamus "Oh, you were down to see your brothers today, weren't you?" They were also getting quite aggressive. At this point Seamus advised both?myself and Coleen to get into the car while he challenged the soldier on the comments that he made.

“It was while Seamus was engaged in conversation with the soldiers and discussing the comments that he had made regarding his deceased brothers that Alice first saw Majella, perfectly happy and healthy as any 12-year-old girl should be travelling along with a group of other friends to attend confessions at Saint Malachy's Catholic Church.?

"While we were sitting in the car a?group of girls going to confessions in the nearby church, Majella amongst them, walked past the vehicle while Seamus was speaking to the soldiers.?The next thing we heard this unmerciful bang, and Seamus shouted "get out of the car! So, we immediately left the car and lay down alongside it for cover. At this stage the soldiers became very, very aggressive.

"While we were laying down next to the car, we saw a soldier running back up the road shouting "There has been a little girl shot!" Seamus realised that in all likelihood the girl who was shot was probably?part of the group that passed by the car while we were sitting in it.

"When I heard the soldier shout out that there had been a little girl shot, I informed him that I was a nurse and that they should allow me to go down the road to see if there was anything I could do to help. I will not repeat the language that he used in response to my offer of help but suffice to say he told me that I would be staying right where I was for the time being.

"Seamus also pleaded with?him, informing the soldier that I was a nurse from Daisy Hill, but this still did not persuade the soldier to let me head down the road to tend to the injured girl. We pleaded with him and I remember that he pushed me back with the butt of his gun.?He was Saying things like "This is your f**king Provo's for you", and that "You will stay right where you are."

Alice however did not allow the paratroopers insistence that she would remain "right where she was" to deter her from carrying out here duties as a medical professional, with persistent effort she persuaded the soldier to bring her down to the sight were Majella had been wounded, a prime example of completely selfless behaviour having now entirely disregarded any consideration to?her own personal wellbeing.?Her mind was now entirely preoccupied with the thought of how she was going to attend to the wellbeing of the person who had been wounded.

"I responded "Please, please, I am begging you let me go down the road and see if I can do anything to help". Eventually I managed to persuade him and he said "alright then come on". I remember thinking to myself running down the road that the next bullet was going to be for me, but this did not deter me from seeing what it is I could do to help so I just kept running down the road.?I don't know where it is I got the strength from that day but I was determined to get down to Majella and do my job as a nurse.

Alice claims that the sight of Majella's father Jim cradling the little wounded girl in his arms will forever be ingrained in her psyche and that even to this very day it is impossible to blind that image from her mind's eye.

"Majella's father, also called Jim, had been cutting the grass at the side of the school near the church and he had heard the gunshot as well. When I arrived down to where Majella had been shot, I saw him cradling Majella in his arms. Even after 45 years I can still see that image in my mind, Majella being held in Jim's arms on the road. The army did not help matters because they were so rough with him.?When he first found Majella and picked her up one soldier asked him "What the f**king hell are you doing here". When Jim explained that he was Majella's father, he was told by the soldier to "close his f**king mouth.”?

“When I arrived down, they were pulling him away from his child and I told them "This man is the child's father, this child needs to get help." Majella had placed her hand up to near Jim's right shoulder and I remember hearing her say faintly "Daddy, Daddy."

"After a short period of time an army medic arrived on the scene with primitive bandaging and we tried to dress Majella's wound which was horrific. The bullet had made its entry point through her back and exited through her abdomen. Despite this I did the best that I could to stem the bleeding and keep Majella comfortable. Jim was in total shock, the situation was so unreal to him.

"An army helicopter then landed on the road to carry Majella to Daisy Hill. Majella was still alive at this stage and I was talking to her, trying to console her. The soldiers said that they would get Majella of to the hospital."

Alice believes?that although the wound that Majella had sustained at the hands of the paratrooper who shot her was ultimately what caused her to die, the treatment that both Majella and Jim received at the hands of the British Army paratroopers at the time did not in any way help to alleviate their suffering?with the paratroopers effectively treating Majella as if she was a rag doll in the way they handled her into the army helicopter that was to take her to Daisy Hill.

"The soldiers were still in a frenzy following what happened and were so, so abusive to poor Jim. The put him into the helicopter first and then they literally threw Majella in headfirst. They threw?her in?in such?a way that they cut of her air supply. Instead of keeping her head elevated to allow for her to breath, they threw??the poor girl' in?head facing down. It was myself and Jim that raised her head up. Although the gunshot wound that she received was a mortal wound, the rough handling that she received did not help her in any way. I remember that her legs were still dangling out of the helicopter while it was taking off.

“It was a very small helicopter; I think only designed to carry cargo and so there was very little space for me but despite this I decided to get on board anyway and stay with Majella and Jim throughout the whole flight to Daisy Hill.

?"I will never forget it. To this day it still feels like it was the longest journey that I have ever made. The cold steel touching my knees while I knelt next to Majella, the fact that I had to use one of my hands to brace myself in place with a handle to prevent me from falling out of the helicopter because there were only two seats, like I said I think it was a cargo helicopter and not a personnel carrier.?

“Neither myself, Jim or Majella were braced in place. I could hear Majella groaning and I said the act of contrition into her ear. It felt like we would never get there in time. I remember Jim kept saying "She's gone, She's gone". I kept trying to reassure him regardless of the situation."

Despite the best efforts of the staff at Daisy Hill hospital to be ready to treat the 12 year old immediately as soon as she arrived at the hospital,?Majella O'Hare died on route to the hospital in the arms of her grieving father Jim.

?Alice, still imbued with some small amount of hope that she could be saved from the brink of death implored the on-call Doctor to prepare an IV drip to help treat Majella, but was informed rather somberly that "there was nothing he could do" and that "Majella was already gone."?

In shock herself from the experience Alice relates the fact that she could not bring herself to tell Majella's mother Mary who had arrived at the hospital, that her beloved daughter had died, well aware of the fact that it only took Majella's brother Michael one look at her tear strewn face to know that this was indeed tragically the case.

"The soldiers radioed through that we were coming and the staff in Daisy hill had a stretcher ready out in the forecourt were the helicopter landed and they transferred Majella out from the helicopter onto the stretcher onto the trolly very quickly into A and E. The on-call Doctor told me that he couldn't do anything to save Majella, she was already gone.

"Majella's Mother, Mary then arrived at Daisy Hill. I remember that Mary asked me at the entrance to the hospital, "tell me honestly, is she dead," but I couldn't tell her, the words just would not come out of my mouth.

"To this day Michael will still say that when he looked into my face when he arrived at the hospital with his mother that day, he knew that Majella was gone.”

Justice

Alice?reiterated the point that although, like so many other people who lost loved ones as the result of the innumerable atrocities committed during the troubles, she is vehemently opposed to the proposed statute of limitations, she is sure that regardless if the motion makes it through parliament or not that "Michael and his family will still?continue to campaign to ensure that Majella receives the justice that she deserves.

"It is sickening when you think about it. Forty-five years have passed since Majella was killed and we are no further in acquiring the justice that she deserves. Both her parents Jim and Mary have gone to their graves without ever seeing their daughter's killer being held responsible for robbing them of their beloved child

"I admire Michael and his family as despite everything they have campaigned tirelessly since 1976 for justice to be done and I have every confidence that they will continue to do the same regardless if the statute of limitations makes it through parliament or not. I wish both him and everyone else who lost loved ones as the result of the troubles the best of luck in securing justice for the relatives they lost as a result of the conflict."