Like other colleagues, I was very saddened to hear of the death of a former colleague and friend to many of us in this House, John Carty. John was a humorous person but he was also a solid, serious person. He was a very humble man and while I was aware that he had been ill in recent months, he did not want that to be widely known. That humility was borne out to the end and our thoughts are with Kathleen and his family today and in the months and years ahead.

This afternoon the families of 11 people who were killed in Ballymurphy, west Belfast, in 1971 will meet the Taoiseach to seek his support for the establishment of an independent inquiry to determine the truth about what happened on that very sad day. I ask the Leader to convey my wishes and those of many others in this House that he support their call for an independent inquiry. Ballymurphy is a part of Belfast, with which I am very familiar because a relative of mine served as a priest there for over four decades. These are ordinary, decent people like those in most communities throughout the world and they are entitled to the truth about what happened on that very sad day.