Mary Travers (murder victim)

The guns used in the attack had previously been used to assassinate Judge William Doyle in similar circumstances, in January 1983.

Sinn Féin spokesperson Danny Morrison described the killing of Mary Travers as "tragic and regrettable" but said the targeting of her father was "directly related to the political situation in Ireland".

Mary McArdle, then aged 19, was arrested shortly after the attack and charged "after two hand guns, a grey wig and a black sock concealed in bandages were found strapped to her thighs."

Two months later, 33-year-old IRA member Joseph Patrick Haughey was arrested and charged in connection with the attack.

At the trial two years later, McArdle was found guilty and received "a life sentence for her role in the murder of Mary Travers and an 18-year concurrent sentence for the attempted murder of Mr Travers".

Haughey was acquitted due to lack of forensic evidence and doubts over his identity, although Thomas Travers had positively identified him.

McArdle served 14 years in prison before being released early under the terms of the Belfast Agreement.

Mary Travers (Irish: Máire Ó Treabhair; 1962 – 8 April 1984) was a teacher who was shot dead in Belfast on 8 April 1984 by Provisional IRA gunmen trying to assassinate her father, Thomas, a Catholic magistrate.

Mary Travers was about 22 at the time.

She, her parents and siblings had left St Brigid's Catholic Church in Derryvolgie Avenue in south Belfast when two gunmen opened fire.

Mary Travers was shot once through the back and her father was shot six times.

One gunman brought his gun to point-blank range at her mother's face and attempted to fire twice, but the gun jammed.

In a long letter published in The Irish Times in 1994, Thomas Travers wrote:""Mary's murder was carried out by member of an evil and brutal criminal organisation.

Some of her killers were members of the murder machine, self-named Provisional IRA.

At least one was a member of political Sinn Féin... May I say that on the day my lovely daughter was murdered her killer tried to murder my darling wife also.

At that time Mary lay dying on her mum's breast, her gentle heart pouring its pure blood on to a dusty street in Belfast.

The murderer's gun, which was pointed at my wife's head, misfired twice.

Another gunman shot me six times.

As he prepared to fire the first shot I saw the look of hatred on his face, a face I will never forget.""

""After the attack the IRA claimed the judge had been a legitimate target because of his role in the British judicial system.

They also tried to claim that the bullet which killed the young schoolteacher had passed through her father's body first but a post mortem found she was shot directly in the spine.""

The IRA said in a statement that the killing of Mary Travers was accidental and that she had been killed by a bullet which passed through her father, hitting her in the back.

Retired detective superintendent Alan Simpson wrote in the Belfast Telegraph on 11 June 2011 that he believed the shooting of the Travers family was revenge for a successful prosecution in the murder of a prison warder, William McConnell.

He went on to say that "It is hard to believe that Sinn Féin are acting other than disingenuously by appointing Mary McArdle to a position carrying a taxpayer-funded salary of £78,000 – three times what a senior nurse in one of our hospitals would earn."

Haughey was later charged in connection with the murder.

However, Haughey was acquitted after doubt was cast over Mr Travers' identification of the gunman.

Twenty years later it was claimed that he was a long-time double agent for the British secret service (see Freddie Scappaticci).

Both men have been closely linked to Sinn Féin President, Gerry Adams.

Mary McArdle was released under the terms of the Belfast Agreement.

In 2011, McArdle was appointed Ministerial Special Adviser to Sinn Féin Culture Minister Carál Ní Chuilín, herself a former PIRA paramilitary who served four years in prison for firearm possession, possession of explosives with the intent to endanger life, and attempted murder.

This move led to outrage that a convicted IRA murderer could hold such a post.

Mary Travers' sister, Ann, called on McArdle to resign.

In response, McArdle told the Andersonstown News that the killing was "a tragic mistake."

McArdle's statement was rebutted by Mary Travers' sister, Ann, who stated:""Mistake?

Mistake?

My sister was murdered.

There were two gunmen, one standing over my dad shooting him and one who shot my sister in the back and attempted to murder my mother but the bullets jammed in the gun.

The fact that she [McArdle] calls my sister’s murder a mistake, well, that day two gunmen went with two guns, so if they were just planning to kill my dad, why did they go out with two guns.

They knew my dad wasn't armed.

After 27 years I'd have thought I'd be able to speak about my sister's murder factually and without grief but when I heard of Mary McArdle's appointment last Thursday it did something to me which I just have not been able to contain the grief it brought back.