Chai Brady
Some of the family members of those killed in the Ballymurphy Massacre in 1971 at a rally. 
The beginning of an inquest into the shooting of 10 innocent people during the Ballymurphy Massacre is the “first step on the road to justice” according to campaigners.
The inquest began in Belfast on Monday, with relatives of the victims gathering outside the Laganside Court and holding pictures of their loved ones.
Ballymurphy parish priest Fr Patrick McCafferty thanked God that after “terrible suffering” and after the “atrocities perpetrated against the people of this parish” the families have the chance of getting “vindication” .
Over 47 years of campaigning, he said, the relatives had had the chance to “share their grief and experience, which was empowering”.
“This generated a fresh impetus among the people to challenge this terrible murder of their loved ones.”
The attacks occurred in west Belfast in 1971, from August 9-11. Ten people were gunned down by the 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment and one person is believed to have had a heart attack as a result of an altercation with soldiers.
Opening statements of the inquest will be heard throughout the week followed by personal statement from relatives of the victims. Evidence will then be heard from November 28.
Callum McCrae, the director of The Ballymurphy Precident, a film that aims to highlight events that occurred during the Ballymurphy Massacre, said that despite the long journey, the beginning of the inquest “was possibly one of the most emotional moments of the campaign”.
“It means finally they’re being listened to. It feels like this is the first day on the road to justice,” he said.
Joint inquest
On Monday the counsel for the coroner Sean Doran QC explained that the joint inquest into the deaths would be broken down into “five incidents that occurred in Ballymurphy over a three-day period”.
The court will examine a period of time in Belfast when there were approximately 12 explosions, 59 shootings, 17 deaths, 25 injuries, 13 rioting incidents, 18 arson attacks and numerous reports of civil disorder, Mr Doran said, adding that “we ought not to lose sight of the context of when these deaths occurred”.
“That is not to say however that the context provide shield or buffer against scrutiny.”
The inquest is expected to last up to six months.
