The U.S. premiere of Pulitzer Center grantee Callum Macrae’s The
Ballymurphy Precedent screened at the E Street Cinema in Washington,
D.C., on Monday, June 10, 2019. The film covers the Ballymurphy massacre,
an event that occurred early in Northern Ireland’s
“Troubles.” In August 1971, members of the British
Army’s Parachute Regiment killed 11 unarmed Catholic civilians in Belfast’s predominantly
Catholic Ballymurphy neighborhood.
The Parachute Regiment gained worldwide notoriety six months later on
“Bloody Sunday,” for the murders of an additional 13 unarmed
civilians in Derry, an event that sparked international outrage and is now
seen as one of the key events leading to the emergence of the
Provisional IRA.
The British government recently apologized for its role in the Bloody
Sunday massacre in Derry, but Macrae notes that the government effectively
absolved itself of full responsibility by claiming it could not have known
or planned the attack. Macrae suggests that the fact the same unit
was involved in another massacre in Belfast just six months earlier–at
best–shows a pattern, and–at worst–something far more sinister.
History is one the central components of the film, and a substantial
portion is devoted to explaining the events that occurred across Ireland
from the 1920s until the 1960s that led to the massacre.
“Unless people understand what led to Ballymurphy, I don’t think you could
make sense of what happened,” Macrae said after the film screening, during
the Q&A session with Pulitzer Center Contributing Editor Kem
Sawyer. He further explained that history not only provides necessary
context, but also gives invaluable insight into the actions taken by all
sides during the fighting.
The film is part of a broader campaign by the families seeking answers to
what happened to their loved ones in August 1971, and Macrae hopes that it
will help publicize their struggle and put pressure on the British
government to reveal the truth about the massacre.
The film resonated with the audience. Father Sean McManus was resident in
County Fermanagh in the western part of Northern Ireland when the massacre
happened. He thanked Macrae sincerely for his efforts publicizing
what he called “a declaration of war on the non-unionist,
non-loyalist Catholic community” of Northern Ireland.
“It is an extraordinary film,” Fr. McManus later wrote. “Powerful, moving
and beautiful—agonizingly beautiful. Not only beautifully filmed and
narrated, but beautifully revealing the dignity, courage, and grace of the
innocent victims’ families: their heroic determination to find and
reveal the truth, without hatred or vengeance.”
The push for truth continues, but it is only the first step towards the
ultimate objective, Macrae told the audience.
“The truth is difficult for all sides,” he said. But “you need to have
truth before you can have justice.”
Fr. Sean Mc Manus
President
Irish National Caucus
Chief Judge
World Peace Prize
P.O. BOX 15128
Capitol Hill
Washington, DC 20003-0849
Tel. 202-544-0568
Fax. 202-488-7537
Sean@IrishNationalCaucus.org
Sean@WorldPeace
PrizeWashington.org
IrishNationalCaucus.org
WorldPeacePrizeWashington.org
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