The IRA has issued an apology for the killing of a 14-year-old girl in Derry in 1973.
In a statement released to the Derry Journalnewspaper today, the group apologised for the shooting dead of the schoolgirl Kathleen Feeney near her Brandywell home.
IRA statement
The IRA initially denied her murder and claimed she was the victim of a British army patrol in the area. The British said at the time that an army patrol had come under fire in the area but had not returned fire.
The IRA statement said: "The leadership of Oglaigh na hEireann wish to apologise unreservedly to the Feeney family for the death of Kathleen and for all the grief that our actions have caused to them."
The apology was issued after the Feeney family asked the IRA for full details of what happened to Kathleen and also for an unconditional apology.
The girl was shot dead on November 14th, 1973 near her Quarry Street home in the Brandywell area of Derry city.
Following the death the British army said that one of their patrols was fired upon but did not return fire while the IRA denied responsibility for the shooting and blamed the army.
But last night the IRA issued a statement containing details of what happened and an apology to the family.
It said: "On 14th November 1973 14-year-old Kathleen Feeney was shot dead in Quarry Street, Derry.
"The IRA in Derry in a statement denied that any of its volunteers were responsible for the death of Kathleen Feeney. In a further statement the IRA in Derry claimed to have carried out an operation against the British army in retaliation for the death of Kathleen Feeney.
"The leadership of Oglaigh na hEireann has been asked by the Feeney family to examine the circumstances surrounding the death of their sister and to publicly acknowledge that she was killed by the IRA.
"The IRA leadership agreed to do so. We found, as the Feeney family have always believed, that Kathleen was hit by one of a number of shots fired by an IRA Active Service Unit that had fired upon a British army foot-patrol in the Lecky Road area.
"The IRA accepts responsibility for the death of Kathleen Feeney. Our failure to publicly accept responsibility for her death until now has only added to the hurt and pain of the Feeney family.
"The leadership of Oglaigh na hEireann wish to apologise unreservedly to the Feeney family for the death of Kathleen and for all the grief that our actions have caused to them."
In response the Feeney family said the statement would "help bring closure."
