Ann Travers has made a heartfelt appeal to the President, asking for help in getting a meeting with the woman convicted for her role in the murder of her sister Mary.
Mary Travers was shot dead by the Provisional IRA in 1984 outside a church in Belfast, just moments after attending Sunday Mass with her family. Her father, a magistrate, was the intended target. He survived the attack but Mary, who was just 22 years old, was killed.
Ann has spent decades seeking answers about what happened that day and who was behind the killing. At the centre of her current campaign is Mary McArdle, who was convicted for her role in the murder and later went on to become a special adviser to a Sinn Fein minister at Stormont, a appointment that caused significant public controversy at the time.
Now Ann is asking the President to use whatever influence he has to encourage McArdle to sit down with her and finally give her the answers she has been looking for. Specifically, Ann wants to know who else was involved in the murder of her sister and what exactly happened on that day over 40 years ago.
For Ann, this is not about revenge or political point scoring. It is about truth. It is about a sister she lost when she was still a young woman, and a family that has carried that grief ever since. She believes McArdle holds information that could bring some level of closure, and she feels that after all this time, she deserves to hear it directly.
The Travers case has long been one of the more painful and publicly known stories to come out of the Troubles. The image of a family being attacked leaving Mass, a young woman dying on the footpath, stayed with many people who lived through that era. For those who did not, it remains a stark reminder of what ordinary families endured during that period.
Ann has been a vocal advocate for victims of IRA violence for many years. She has spoken publicly about her experiences, engaged with politicians on both sides of the border, and pushed back against what she sees as attempts to rewrite or soften the history of paramilitary violence. Her campaign to block the appointment of McArdle to the Stormont advisory role drew widespread attention and eventually led to changes in legislation around the appointment of convicted terrorists to public positions.
But legislation and public wins have not filled the gap left by her sister. Ann has made clear that what she wants most is a conversation, a chance to look someone in the eye and get honest answers about what happened to Mary.
Whether the President can or will intervene in a meaningful way remains to be seen. But Ann says she hopes the appeal will at least put pressure on McArdle to do the right thing and agree to meet her.
The request puts a spotlight once again on the ongoing struggle many Troubles victims and their families face when it comes to truth and accountability. While political processes have moved on and peace has held for decades, for families like the Travers, the personal reckoning is still very much unfinished business.