LONDONDERRY, Northern Ireland, June 24 (UPI) -- The IRA has apologized for the killing of a 14-year-old girl in Londonderry more than 30 years ago.
The republican paramilitary group blamed the British Army for shooting Kathleen Feeney near her Brandywell home in 1973, and later claimed it had killed a soldier in retaliation. However the army said a patrol had come under fire in Quarry Street, but insisted none of the soldiers had opened fire.
In a statement in the Derry Journal newspaper Friday, the IRA admitted that one of its members had shot the teenager. The group said it apologized unreservedly for the killing and acknowledged that its failure to accept responsibility compounded the family's grief.
The family, who had requested the IRA acknowledge responsibility, said the statement "brings closure for them," the BBC reported.
But Ulster Unionist East Londonderry Assembly Member David McClarty said the IRA apology had come "30 years too late."
"There is no justification whatsoever for murdering a child," he added.
