President Connolly to meet sister of 1984 IRA murder victim

Irish President Catherine Connolly has offered to meet with Ann Travers, the sister of Mary Travers, who was murdered by the Provisional IRA in 1984. The offer follows significant public backlash regarding a photograph taken during the President’s recent visit to the Falls Road Women’s Centre in Belfast.

In the photograph, President Connolly was seen standing alongside Mary McArdle, the only individual convicted of the 1984 murder of Mary Travers. McArdle served 14 years before being released in 1998 under the terms of the Belfast Agreement. Ann Travers expressed profound distress over the imagery, stating in an op-ed for The Irish Times that seeing the President standing with the convicted killer ‘broke me.’ She further criticized the setting of a women’s shelter as ‘ironic.’

The President’s office stated that she ‘would be glad’ to meet with Ann Travers to discuss her concerns. Ann Travers has expressed that she is ‘delighted’ by the offer and anticipates the meeting will take place in September.