Carol Coulter on a book which gives a voice to a group of Belfast people whose stories have never been heard before

Tomorrow an unusual book will be launched in the Ardoyne GAA club in Belfast. Its publication will be marked by the presence of Seamus Deane, academic and novelist, who has written the preface; of former Taoiseach and one of the architects of the peace process, Albert Reynolds; and Jimmy McGovern, writer of the TV series Cracker and the film on Bloody Sunday, Sunday.

Yet the authors are not famous. The vast majority of them never even wrote anything for publication before.

They are drawn from the north Belfast nationalist and working-class community of Ardoyne, made unfortunately famous for being one of the main hunting grounds for the Shankill Butchers and for the more recent scenes of sectarian hatred outside the Holy Cross school.

The book is the work of the Ardoyne Commemoration Project and is the product of four years' interviewing, discussing, editing, consulting with interviewees and amending. It sets out to tell the stories of the 99 people from the Ardoyne who lost their lives as a result of the political violence between 1969 and 1998.

In his preface to the book Seamus Deane writes: "The first moment of the so-called 'troubles' of 1969 contained the history of all that has happened since. Any demand for justice or equality on the part of the minority in Northern Ireland was met and continuously has been met by state violence, unionist outrage and a barrage of lies and propaganda."

In their introduction the editors write: "The project's aim is to ensure that these unheard voices of ordinary people will enter the public discourse." They see the project in terms of the international trend towards truth-telling following conflicts and comment: "There is evidence from countries emerging from conflict around the world that public recognition of such loss and human rights abuse can provide a cathartic experience for many victims' families."

INEVITABLY, the overwhelming majority (though not all) of the victims in Ardoyne were Catholic. The statistics tell their own story: of the 99 people from the area killed (the project decided to make this the defining qualification for inclusion, rather than the location of the killing) 26 were killed by one of the state forces; 50 were killed by loyalists; nine were killed by the Provisional IRA, three by the INLA and one by the Official IRA; six were killed while on active service with the IRA. Another died accidentally, and in three cases the editors were not able to clearly ascribe responsibility.

For many of the victims' families this was the first time they had been able to talk in any public arena about what had happened. In numerous cases, they had never before learned the full circumstances of the deaths of their loved ones, and this project brought forward information not previously known to them.

The method used by the researchers involved putting the survivors at the centre of the process. Interviews were transcribed and brought back for checking and, if necessary, amending. "The interviews were an emotional and sometimes difficult experience for individuals and families," according to the editors, and were also harrowing for the volunteers engaged in the work.

Some of the most poignant testimonies are from the children of those who died, often when they were very young. Sam McLarnon, the son of one of the first victims, shot in his living-room by the RUC on August 15th, 1969, wrote: "When I grew up I always felt guilty when I visited my father's grave. That was because I did not know an awful lot about the circumstances of his death and had not done anything to help his memory." Later he participated in a project aimed at helping the survivors of such traumas, which he found very helpful.

However, when a book and exhibition based on the project was brought to the Cultra Folk and Transport Museum, his entry, starting, "My father was shot dead in the house by the police when I was 2½ years of age," was removed at the request of the RUC, which denied the shooting ever happened. It was later replaced.

Ardoyne: the Untold Truth is published by Beyond the Pale, 5-7 Conway Street, Belfast BT13 2DE email@info@btpale.com