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Arlene Foster meets Kingsmill massacre families as inquest continues

DUP leader Arlene Foster meets some of the Kingsmill victims' families outside an inquest into the killings. Picture by Hugh Russell
DUP leader Arlene Foster meets some of the Kingsmill victims' families outside an inquest into the killings. Picture by Hugh Russell DUP leader Arlene Foster meets some of the Kingsmill victims' families outside an inquest into the killings. Picture by Hugh Russell

DUP leader Arlene Foster met the families of 10 Protestant workmen murdered at Kingsmill as an inquest into the killings continues.

Mrs Foster spoke to the families yesterday outside the inquest in Belfast into the 1976 murders, which resumed on Monday after a delay of almost a year.

The families were visibly upset when they heard details of the killings, including the clothes the men were wearing when they were murdered.

The elderly mother of one of the victims became distressed when the inquest was told her son's flask was found at the murder scene.

After she was helped from the public gallery by relatives, Judge Brian Sherrard noted the families' distress and adjourned the inquest for a short time.

The 10 workmen were shot dead on January 5, 1976 after the gunmen stopped their van and asked which among them was a Catholic, and instructed that man to leave the scene.

No-one has ever been held to account for the murders but in recent years the PSNI's Historical Enquiries Team identified the killers as the Provisional IRA.

The inquest was adjourned almost a year ago after the PSNI arrested a man in connection with the murders. However, the Public Prosecution Service later decided not to prosecute him.

Speaking after yesterday's hearing, Mrs Foster said the victims' families had "endured over forty years of trauma" and deserve to know the truth about the killings.

She claimed the inquest process had been hampered by delays in the release of Irish government files.

"Later this month it will be two years since Enda Kenny gave an undertaking that his government would cooperate fully and relevant documentation would be shared," she said.

"The DUP has demanded full disclosure and transparency from the Irish government in the talks process and will persist when they resume."

The Irish government has previously said it had already taken the "unprecedented" step of producing legislation to facilitate legal co-operation with the inquest.

"The Irish authorities have continuously sought to cooperate with the coroner and his legal team as part of an ongoing legal process," a spokesman has said.