Relatives of child victims of Troubles tell stories to MPs

Martin McGavigan and Mary Feeney-Morrison, both now in their 60s, were among a group of six families who took part in a special event in Parliament last night that aimed to bring the reality of their experiences to Westminster.

Mr McGavigan’s sister Annette was shot dead by British soldiers during a riot in the Bogside area of Londonderry in 1971. She was just 14 years old and still wearing her school uniform.

He told PA he remembered his mother “talking to Annette’s clothes that she was murdered in, the blood-stained slippers, the school uniform” and that as an adult his daughter, Maria, would find him reading Annette’s papers and crying.

Ms Feeney-Morrison’s sister, Kathleen Feeney, was also 14 when she was killed by an IRA sniper in Londonderry in 1973. In 2005, the IRA made an official apology to her family, but so far nobody has been convicted for the murder.

She said: “When my sister was shot dead, when we buried her nobody came to us and said are you okay. That’s widespread around the north of Ireland – there was no assistance, there was no help for anybody.

“They couldn’t cope, you just had to get on with it. You just blended it into your daily life while you were fighting mentally.”

Although both are still affected by the loss of their siblings, they said they had been helped by a production staged by the Derry Playhouse in which their children helped tell their stories.

Ms Feeney-Morrison said seeing her daughter, Sarah, perform her story had helped her “heal”, while Mr McGavigan said seeing Maria on stage had made him both “proud” and able to talk more openly about his experiences.

It is a stripped-down version of that production that was brought to Westminster at the invitation of SDLP leader and Foyle MP Colum Eastwood, who hopes the families’ testimonies will persuade MPs to oppose the government’s controversial Troubles Legacy Bill.

The bill is due for its next debate in the House of Commons today.

Mr Eastwood told the PA news agency: “Particularly on the Tory benches there has been a fairly cavalier attitude to the impact that this bill will have on ordinary people’s lives. I’ve not met a victim yet who supports it.

“It’s important they have the opportunity to see for themselves the impact that the past has had on people.”

Only one Conservative – Northern Ireland Affairs Committee chair Simon Hoare – is believed to have agreed to see the production.