Families of British Army and loyalist victims gather for ‘Bin the Legacy Bill’ protest

Marie Newton [Toland] was among dozens of victims who attended a ‘Bin the Legacy Bill’ rally in Guildhall Square this afternoon prior to the second reading of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill in the British House of Lords.

Mrs. Newton was just 35 years old when her husband – a father of seven – was shot dead by a loyalist gunman at around 5.50pm on Monday, November 22, 1976.

Speaking to the ‘Journal’ at the rally in Guildhall Square this afternoon, she recalled: “He was in top form that morning. The children were going to school.

"But that night, the bullets destroyed him. It had a very bad impact. We've been all these years looking for answers.”

John’s daughter Majella said: “It affected the family for years afterwards. I was afraid to leave the house for years. I was afraid to cross the bridge. It was really terrible.”

Marie – a widowed mother of seven at the time – recalls being taunted by anonymous phone calls after the atrocity: “I got phone calls for months afterwards, 'ah you are a widow now'.”

'It was as if John was a nobody, that's what I felt' Marie Newton

She told the ‘Journal’ that the British government’s new NI Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill will deny justice to any families still seeking redress and called on the British Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris to withdraw it immediately.

Eileen McCafferty, the step-daughter of Charlie McCafferty, was also at the protest at event.

Charlie was aged 32 when loyalist gunmen entered Annie’s Bar in Top of the Hill and fired 20 rounds as people watched a football match on December 20, 1972.

He was among the five innocent victims of the massacre alongside Michael McGinley (37), Charles Moore (31), Bernard Kelly (28) and Frank McCarron (58). Nobody has ever been held accountable.

As the 50th anniversary of the atrocity approaches Eileen told the ‘Journal’ she fears the British government’s amnesty bill will mean no one ever will.

“It's definitely not what we want to see. We just want to know who did it. We know they are never going to get jail time and if they did it would be minimal. But just to know the person that did it would give us something.

“It was five days before Christmas. It was as if they were never looked for. There have been names floated about through the years but nothing has ever been done,” she said.

Annie’s Bar massacre: relatives ‘still being ignored by British government’

‘Minty’ Thompson’s mother Kathleen was aged 47 when she was shot dead by the British Army as she stood outside her home in Creggan on November 6, 1971.

Mrs. Thompson was among six civilians who were shot dead by British soldiers in Derry in 1971 alone. The other victims who were shot dead that year were Seamus Cusack (aged 28, shot dead by the British Army on July 8), Desmond Beattie (aged 19, shot dead by the British Army on July 8), Hugh Herron (aged 31, shot dead by the British Army on August 13), Annette McGavigan (aged 14, shot dead by the British Army on September 6) and William McGreanery (aged 43, shot dead by the British Army on September 15).

William McGreanery anniversary: ‘The impact on our family was colossal. It broke my father’s heart’

During the summer – after decades of campaigning – an inquest ruled that the British soldier who shot the mother-of-six was unjustified in firing the shots that killed her.

Addressing the rally on Wednesday ‘Minty’ Thompson claimed the new legacy bill will deny this recourse to other families.

"We would not have got the truth without the inquest and that is what they want to deny other families: no investigations, no court cases, no truth and no justice.

"The British government claim that we need to draw a line under the past to help us move on but this is another lie. They just want to draw a line under their own past.

"We can't move on while there are so many open wounds in our society, so many families hurting for what was done to them, so many families who have spent years or decades trying to get the truth about what happened to their loved ones,” she said.

Ms. Thompson said delivering truth and justice for everyone will undoubtedly be ‘a painful process’ but added that it must happen if ‘we ever want to move on in this conflict’.

Derry ‘celebrates’ with Kathleen Thompson’s family

She asked: “How can it be right that one of the parties to the conflict has control over how it is dealt with?”

Addressing the protest, she noted: “Over 3,600 people were killed in the conflict here. Their families are entitled to truth and justice. We should not have to say this. It should be accepted by all as a basic human right. One in ten died directly at the hands of the British forces. Hundreds more because of British collusion with paramilitary groups. Their families are equally entitled to truth and justice.

"Again, this should not have to be said. All are entitled to truth and justice but the British government are trying to deny truth and justice for all.”

Describing the amnesty bill as ‘shameful’ she stated: “We must stop this bill by whatever means possible. We must never give up. We must fight on. We will fight on. We will not go away until truth and justice are achieved.”

50th anniversary of Seamus Cusack and Desmond Beattie murders