Blog
The Paper Trail Blog features new archive releases and significant information in legacy cases.
Many of the articles on the Paper Trail Blog feature in the news so make sure you hear it here first by subscribing with your name and email.
Make History. Follow the Paper Trail.
Subscribe to the Paper Trail Blog
Read critical archive finds and new reports first.
Thank you.
New Service: Digital Newspaper Search
By Ciarán MacAirt |
The charity, Paper Trail, is offering to search and retrieve digital newspaper articles for victims and survivors of the conflict. Paper Trail is helping victims and survivors of the conflict in Ireland and Britain to retrieve information in digital newspaper archives about incidents that impacted their lives. For many family researchers, the first stage of […]
Read More British Supreme Court Considers PSNI’s Lack of Independence
By Ciarán MacAirt |
The British Supreme Court in London is considering whether the Police Service of Northern Ireland is “sufficiently independent to investigate and/or review investigations” into conflict-related killings in the North of Ireland. In a hugely significant case, the British Supreme Court will consider whether the Legacy Investigations Branch of the Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI) is […]
Read More British State Fails to Investigate Cop Killers of Donegal Civilian
By Ciarán MacAirt |
The Royal Ulster Constabulary gunned down unarmed Donegal civilian, Michael Leonard, on 17th May 1973. Press release below. The family of Donegal civilian, Michael Leonard, who was shot and killed by a Royal Ulster Constabulary patrol in 1973 are lobbying Irish politicians including Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney, and Minister of Justice Helen McEntee, […]
Read More New Evidence in the Murder of Martha Campbell, Schoolgirl
By Ciarán MacAirt |
Today is the 49th anniversary of the murder of 13-year-old Martha Campbell, schoolgirl. Later today, the family of Martha is releasing critical new evidence in a report. You can read some of that new evidence here. The new evidence proves that the British Army poured fire into the exact area when Martha was shot and […]
Read More New Evidence: Joe McCann Was No Threat When Shot In The Back
By Ciarán MacAirt |
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 […]
Read More EXECUTION: Three Scottish Soldiers
By Ciarán MacAirt |
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 […]
Read More McGurk’s Bar Families versus Office of Police Ombudsman
By Ciarán MacAirt |
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 […]
Read More 40 Years: The Start of the Second Hunger Strike
By Ciarán MacAirt |
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 […]
Read More Britain’s Failure To Proscribe Loyalist Extremist Groups
By Ciarán MacAirt |
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 […]
Read More