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Secret British Army files prove that Joe McCann was no threat when shot in the back by soldiers of the Parachute Regiment. The family of Joe McCann will present the evidence to the Attorney General when seeking a fresh inquest into his killing on 15th April 1972. Unredacted British Army files secured by Paper Trail […]

The British military files brutally exclaim EXECUTION. Today is the 50th anniversary of the execution of three Scottish soldiers on a lonely brae overlooking the city of Belfast. Their names were John McCaig (17), Joseph McCaig (18) and Dougald McCaughey (23). The teenagers were brothers. All were friends and Fusiliers in the 1st Battalion Royal […]

The families of those killed and injured in McGurk’s Bar have been forced to begin legal proceedings against the Office of the Police Ombudsman Northern Ireland (OPONI). The Office of the Police Ombudsman is supposed to provide an “independent, impartial investigation of complaints about the police in Northern Ireland” (source OPONI website). That includes complaints […]

March 1st 2021 is the 40th anniversary of the start of the second hunger strike. It began when Bobby Sands, the Officer Commanding Irish Republican Army prisoners in the Maze Prison, refused food. At  the start of the second hunger strike, Republican prisoners called off the Blanket Protest which began in 1976. This was reported […]

Britain’s failure to proscribe Loyalist extremist groups will feature in legacy court cases for years to come. Britain, of course, also stands accused of arming and funding Loyalist extremist groups during the conflict, but its failure to proscribe these from the start will be tested by litigation too. The British state’s defence that it was […]

Paper Trail Chairperson Niall Ó Murchú writes on the news of the new inquest for the New Lodge Six and their families and Paper Trail's ongoing archive work.

Martha Campbell was 13 years old when she was murdered close to her home in West Belfast on 14th May 1972. The murder of Martha Campbell is one of a small number of child killings that lies unclaimed by any organisation. Her family and local witnesses have long believed that the British Army shot Martha, […]

In a world of smoke and mirrors, the case of Ranger Hammond is still hazy to this day. The British state kept it deliberately so, although new documents we publish here will help to set the record straight – especially for Ranger Hammond. After the damaging loss of its Four Square Laundry intelligence-gathering operation (never […]

The McGurk’s Bar Bombing: Post-Script is our latest publication. The McGurk’s Bar Bombing: Post-Script features new evidence discovered by Paper Trail manager Ciaran MacAirt whose grandparents were two of the many victims of the atrocity. It is FREE to download. Post-Script features new evidence either missed or buried by historical investigations of the Office of […]