Government apologises over Majella O’Hare killing

| Readers 154

Another of the wrongs of the past forty years here in Northern Ireland has been acknowledged. The BBC are reporting that the government has apologised in writing to the family of Majella O’Hare who was killed by a soldier in Whitecross Co. Armagh on 18th August 1976. Miss O’Hare (aged 12) was on her way home from church when she was shot in the back by Private Michael Williams.

At the time Williams claimed that he was returning fire on the IRA. He was charged with manslaughter following an RUC investigation. To quote the HET which looked at this death in 2008:

“The original RUC investigation found that Private Michael Williams was not returning fire at a gunman as he claimed and they recommended to prosecutors that he be charged with manslaughter.
“The prosecutors agreed and charged him with manslaughter, but he was acquitted.”
“The HET supports the findings of the original investigation. We also said the RUC investigation was thorough and good.”

Hopefully this will bring some closure for the family.

Discover more from Slugger O'Toole

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Recent posts

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast)

SDLP conference – two leader’s speeches delivered to packed room of rapt delegates #sdlp24

Frank Schnittger

United Rugby Championship Round 3: Previews and match summaries

Mick Fealty

Maurice Quinlivan TD on McMonagle: “I’ll be quite clear, I’m pretty sure we didn’t know…”

We are reader supported. Donate to keep Slugger lit!

For over 20 years, Slugger has been an independent place for debate and new ideas. We have published over 40,000 posts and over one and a half million comments on the site. Each month we have over 70,000 readers. All this we have accomplished with only volunteers we have never had any paid staff.

Slugger does not receive any funding, and we respect our readers, so we will never run intrusive ads or sponsored posts. Instead, we are reader-supported. Help us keep Slugger independent by becoming a friend of Slugger. While we run a tight ship and no one gets paid to write, we need money to help us cover our costs.

If you like what we do, we are asking you to consider giving a monthly donation of any amount, or you can give a one-off donation. Any amount is appreciated. 

Give a monthly donation Give a one-off donation