The sister of an IRA man killed by the SAS at Loughgall has welcomed a decision by a coroner to press ahead with an inquest.
Mairead Kelly was speaking after coroner Gerry McAlinden, who is also a High Court judge, ruled that work on the inquest should continue during a hearing on Friday.
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Eight IRA members were shot dead at Loughgall in Co Armagh in May 1987 as the unit attempted to launch a gun and bomb attack on the local RUC station.
Ms Kelly’s brother Patrick was one of the eight republicans killed.
A passing civilian, Anthony Hughes, was also shot dead in what many believe to have been a British army 'shoot-to-kill' operation.
The controversial Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act, which passed into law earlier this year, will end civil cases and inquests which have not finished by May 1 next year.
Immunity will also be granted to perpetrators in some cases.
After the May deadline Troubles related cases will pass to The Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), which some relatives say they have no confidence in.
During Friday’s hearing Mr McAlinden said the Loughgall inquest would need six months to be heard, meaning it would have to run from November to be completed by next year’s deadline, adding this is not possible.
Lawyers for the Ministry of Defence and PSNI told the court that work on the Loughgall inquest may impact on preparation for other cases.
Mr McAlinden described a "delicate balancing exercise" between the need to proceed with the investigation until it is prevented from doing so, while ensuring that any direction does not "sabotage the prospects of other case".
The coroner also concluded that state bodies need to reflect on what can be done, and provide a business plan of what can be done, to ensure there is "some level of resourcing", so that "meaningful progress" can be made.
"The state agencies should not simply sit on their hands and wait for that date (May 1, 2024) to expire," he said.
"The state agencies should, in the view of this court, take steps to ensure that some meaningful progress is made."
He added there is "no guarantee that date will remain cast in stone", in light of legal challenges and an election next year.
"In those circumstances, to permit the downing of tools at this stage would be an abdication of this court's responsibility to ensure that these deaths are investigated and to ensure there is meaningful progress in the investigation of this matter," he said.
He directed that the MoD and PSNI "come back within six weeks with proposals and business plans”.
Ms Kelly welcomed the coroner’s determination to continue with the inquest.
“I think it was very positive, we all thought it was very positive,” she said.
“There is that thing realistically, is a complex case, as it is, going to be completed before the first of May?
“But because the MoD and PSNI are dragging their feet on the PII (Public Interest Immunity) and disclosure from the MoD into the inquest itself….it’s not going to start this month, which it would need to really for it to be completed.”
“But there’s nothing there that actually states that these inquests can’t continue and there are a lot of them getting pushed through.”
Gavin Booth, of Phoenix Law, said: "It is encouraging that the Judge today has continued to progress the PII aspect, which is of considerable importance to these families.
"We now encourage the chief constable to ensure the necessary resources are deployed to ensure maximum progress, whilst the ongoing challenges to the Legacy Act continue."