State Violence by Raymond Murray

Author:Raymond Murray [Murray, Raymond]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Europe, Ireland, General, History, Political Science, Human Rights, Political Freedom & Security, british intelligence, Political prisoners, Civil Rights, Politics and government, collusion, IRA, State Violence, Great Britain, paramilitaries, Northern Ireland, British Security forces, loyalist, Political persecution, 1969-1994
ISBN: 9781856352352
Publisher: Mercier Press
Published: 2011-06-30T10:17:43+00:00

View of Donagh Flats. Figures from left to right mark where Stephen lay, where he was hit and the position of the saracan.

Mrs McConomy heard the news at her sister’s when a little boy came knocking to say the he had been ‘hit with a plastic’. Then followed the traumatic visit to Altnagelvin and the watching by his bedside at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. There was no hope for Stephen. His head had been cracked and his brain damaged. He died on Monday afternoon.

There was strong reaction to the death of Stephen. There was some rioting in Derry. Angry mothers staged a protest march from the Bogside to the Guildhall. Bishop Daly said, ‘There have been too many deaths and serious injuries in Derry and elsewhere in the north in recent years through the use of plastic bullets. The whole question of their use should be subjected to the most careful scrutiny. This supposedly non-lethal weapon has caused so many deaths and serious injuries that it should not be used again whatever the circumstances before a detailed inquiry takes place’. His words were voiced by many others.

More than a thousand people attended the Requiem Mass for Stephen at Saint Columba’s Church. Among the congregation were children from Saint John’s primary school where Stephen had been a pupil. During the Mass the school choir sang the hymns and members of Stephen’s class read the lessons, the prayers of the faithful and presented the offertory gifts. Bishop Edward Daly presided at the Mass which was celebrated by Fr Michael Collins and Fr Séamus Kelly.

The RUC promised an urgent investigation. On 16 August 1982, the RUC confirmed that the DPP had decided against making charges against the soldiers who fired the plastic bullet which killed the boy. This brought an outcry from churchmen and Catholic politicians. Bishop Daly said he was dismayed at the DPP’s refusal to prosecute. He called for clear answers to the question why charges had not been brought in a case where there was an apparent lack of military regulations and death had resulted. So distraught was Mrs Maria McConomy and her sister Rhona that they threatened to go on hunger strike. On 4 July 1983 nine bishops of the northern province issued a statement calling for the withdrawal of plastic bullets as a riot control weapon:

‘Many people have been killed by these weapons, some of them very young. Each of these deaths has caused deep grief in the family of the victim. The deaths have generated resentment throughout whole communities and have been the cause of growing alienation among wide sections of the population. The most recent inquest on such a victim, a boy of 11 years old, made the following findings:

1. It was found that there was insufficient evidence to suggest that Stephen McConomy was rioting when he was shot.

2. It was found that he was shot from a range of 17 feet when the minimum recommended range is 60 feet.

3. It was found that the riot gun from which the plastic bullet was fired was faulty.

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