The Taoiseach will travel to the UK to meet with Boris Johnson tomorrow.
It comes amid increasing tensions over Brexit, the UK’s response to the Ballymurphy inquest and plans to introduce an amnesty for crimes committed during the Troubles.
The meeting is due to take place at the UK Prime Minister’s Chequers country estate.
NEW: Taoiseach Micheál Martin will travel to London tomorrow for a meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Expected the two will discuss Northern Ireland, Troubles amnesty, Ballymurphy inquest, Brexit and Ireland/UK relations
— Seán Defoe (@SeanDefoe) May 13, 2021
In a phone call with Mr Johnson Northern Irish political leaders yesterday 'apologised unreservedly' on behalf of the UK Government for the Ballymurphy massacre, in which ten people were killed and another person died.
The apology was condemned by the families of the victims – who demanded a public apology that addressed them personally.
This morning, Mr Johnson apologised to them directly; however, he did so in writing. In his letter, he expressed his personal sorrow for the "terrible hurt" caused by the killings.
Ballymurphy Massacre
On Tuesday, a coroner found that ten people shot dead in the west Belfast area were entirely innocent and killed without justification.
Mrs Justice Siobhan Keegan said the British Army was responsible for nine of the murders.
The victims included Father Hugh Mullan, 38, and Francis Quinn, 44 who was shot when he went to the priest’s aid.
Four people died in the second incident – 19-year-old Noel Phillips, 44-year-old mother of eight Joan Connolly, 44-year-old Daniel Teggart and 41-year-old Joseph Murray.
Edward Doherty, 43, John Laverty, 20, and Joseph Corr, 43 were the last three victims.
She found the tenth victim John McKerr, to be an “entirely innocent man”; however, she said it was impossible to say where the shot that killed him came from or who fired it.
She also found an 11th victim, Paddy McCarthy who died of a heart attack while he was being shot at, innocent of any wrongdoing.
Speaking in the House of Commons today, the Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said the UK government was "truly sorry."
Amnesty
In his phone call last night, Mr Johnson also referenced the amnesty plans, noting his ambition to deliver a way forward for the North that “focuses on reconciliation, delivers for victims of the Troubles and ends the cycle of reinvestigations.”
On The Hard Shoulder earlier this week, John Teggart, whose father Daniel was murdered in the Ballymurphy Massacre, said the families will “totally oppose” any amnesty.
Meanwhile, the SDLP has labelled the plans a ‘betrayal of the peace process.’
