LAST UPDATE | 1 hr ago

PRESIDENT CATHERINE CONNOLLY today met with Ann Travers, the sister of IRA murder victim Mary Travers. 

The meeting at Áras an Uachtaráin comes after Connolly was photographed beside Mary McArdle, the only person convicted of Mary Travers’ 1984 murder, while at a press event at a women’s centre on the Falls Road in Belfast.

Mary Travers, a teacher, was 23 when she was killed. She was targeted alongside her parents, who both survived the shooting. 

McArdle was given a life sentence, but was released after serving 14 years, as per the terms of the Belfast Agreement.

Following the photograph, Mary Travers’ sister Ann wrote an op-ed in the Irish Times, in which she expressed her “upset” at Connolly “standing smiling” for a photograph with McArdle.

She said it was “ironic” that the photo was taken at a women’s centre.

Travers wrote: “To see [McArdle] standing alongside our President broke me.”

Travers lamented that those responsible for the violence of The Troubles are now “accepted and welcome into normal society”.

Following the op-ed, Connolly’s office emailed Travers to say the president “would be glad” to meet her to discuss her concerns.

At the time, Travers said she was “delighted” and hoped for a positive outcome from the conversation.

The Áras today shared a photo of the meeting and said the president welcomed Ann and her brother Paul on a “courtesy call” to the Áras. 

A spokesperson for Connolly said: “President Connolly was pleased to have the opportunity to meet with Ann Travers today and to discuss the experience of all those families who lost loved ones over the years of violence in the Troubles as well as the ongoing importance of peace and reconciliation.”