Inclusion of Paras in British Coronation 'rightly offend' many people in Ireland

In a statement issued jointly this morning by the Bloody Sunday Trust and the Pat Finucane Centre, Tony Doherty, whose father was murdered on Bloody Sunday said:

“We note with disgust that all four battalions of the Parachute Regiment are to take part in Saturday’s coronation of the English King. 

"At a time when so many are trying to portray the coronation as inclusive, this decision to include the Paras will rightly offend many people in Ireland who are aware of the particularly gruesome track record of the Paras in Ireland.

"In January 1972 on Bloody Sunday in Derry, the Regiment murdered 14 people and shot a further 14 civil rights marchers, an event described by former British Prime Minister as “unjustified and unjustifiable” following the publication of the Saville Report.

"The regiment had earlier in the summer of 1971 shot dead another 10 civilians in the 'Ballymurphy Massacre'.  An inquest verdict in May 2021 found that all the dead were innocents. Victims included a priest trying to help the wounded and a mother of eight who bled to death where she lay.

"There have been no successful prosecutions in either case, despite the Parachute Regiment wrongfully killing at least 24 civilians in these two tragedies alone.

"In the last few weeks, the High Court in Belfast awarded a further £350,000 compensation for the waterboarding of Belfast man, Liam Holden, at the hands of the Paras in Belfast.

"It was in the Shankill area of Belfast, a strongly-Unionist part of the city, the regiment shot dead Ritchie McKinnie, a Protestant father of five, and Robert Johnston, another Protestant, in September 1972 – killings that made Ian Paisley so angry he withdrew from political talks with London demanding an inquiry.

"One soldier described the two murders later, in evidence presented to the Saville Tribunal, as “an enjoyable experience and one which greatly enhanced my standing within the battalion”.

"Particularly horrific is the way the regiment’s members handled the body of trainee teacher, Patrick Magee, shot alongside a friend, Frank McGuinness, by members of the Royal Anglicans as they sheltered in the grounds of a Belfast school in April 1972.

"An ambulance driver in evidence to the inquest, stated how “We were stopped at the front of the school and a casualty was dragged, feet first, by a member of the (Parachute) regiment from the side of the school, along the front, and down the steps, with his face banging on each step”.

"Both ambulance drivers told an inquest of how they were ordered, by a Para, to drive through a nearby strongly-loyalist area where hostile crowds gathered. Ambulance driver 2 told the inquest how a Para had held up two fingers to the crowd, indicating they were carrying two patients causing some “glee” in the crowd.

"The Northern Ireland Office later admitted that both men were innocent and had been shot in error.

"Further atrocities committed by members of the Paras include the murder of South Armagh man Harry Thornton (28).  His skull was later used as an ash-tray.

"Yet another Para killing that lives long in the memory in South Armagh is that of 12-year-old Majella O’Hare, shot in the back on 14 August 1976 as she walked with other children in a South Armagh country lane. 

"The role of General Sir Michael Jackson in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday deserves special mention (at the time he was adjutant, with the rank of captain, of the 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment).

"Not satisfied with the men under his command killing 14 civilians he personally drew up, on the night after the massacre, in his own handwriting what has since become known as the 'shot list'.

"This was a list, entirely false, attempting to justify the shooting of all the victims by labelling the dead as 'nail-bombers', 'pistol-firers' or 'carrying rifles'. Jackson went on to become the highest officer in the British Army.

"Either King Charles is not aware of the views of a significant number of those he claims as his subjects on the actions of the Parachute Regiment in Northern Ireland – in which case he is negligent.

"Or he is aware and has decided that, despite the ignominy with which the regiment is held, that he will retain the 'honour' of being its Colonel-in-Chief – in which case he dishonours himself."