Remembering Bloody Sunday

By: J. Michael Finn

On Sunday, January 30, 1972, soldiers from the British Army's 1st Parachute Regiment opened fire on unarmed
civilian demonstrators in the streets of Derry, Ireland. Thirteen demonstrators were killed and fourteen others were wounded. One of those wounded later died from trauma attributed to that shooting. This year we commemorate the 34th Anniversary of that tragic event.
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The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) had organized a peaceful march in Derry. The march was to protest internment without trial that was introduced by Unionist government of Northern Ireland, with the support of
the British government, on August 9, 1971. This internment act allowed the government to arrest and hold indefinitely
and without trial anyone whom they suspected was involved in illegal activities. By the end of 1971 approximately 900
people, virtually all of them nationalists, had been imprisoned. At the same time internment was introduced a six-month ban on public demonstrations was also imposed. Because a previous demonstration had been violently suppressed by the police, the organizers of the Derry demonstration went to great lengths to insure there would be no violent acts on the part of the demonstrators. The Unionist government, on the other hand, planned for the worst.
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The government launched a massive military operation against the demonstrators, involving at least eight regiments of the British Army (the 1st Parachute Regiment, the Coldstream Guards, the Royal Anglians, the Royal Fusiliers, the Royal Green Jackets, the Kings Own Borders, the Ulster Defense Regiment and the 22nd Light Air Defense Regiment). The 1st Parachute Regiment (the Paras), reputed to be the toughest and most disciplined regiment in the army, was
deployed in order to mount an arrest operation within the Bogside area of Derry.

The streets leading into and out of the Bogside area were blocked off as approximately 15,000 demonstrators marched peacefully up William Street. When they reached Rossville Street the demonstration turned right, leading the marchers away from any confrontation with soldiers who had blocked off the far end of William Street. About 200 marchers, most of them young men, broke away from the march and began throwing rocks at the soldiers behind the William Street barricade. The soldiers responded by firing rubber bullets and water cannon and successfully repelled the young men. The demonstration proceeded up Rossville Street to Free Derry Corner where speakers, including Bernadette Devlin, MP, were scheduled to address the demonstrators.
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At this point the 1st Paras requested permission to begin its arrest or "scoop-up" operation. A unit was granted permission to begin the operation. A support unit of the 1st Paras, without any warning, opened fire on the crowd of demonstrators. According to the soldiers they opened fire because the demonstrators had fired first. They also indicated that many of the demonstrators had thrown nail bombs. These allegations have since been proven false. No less authority that Prime Minster John Major in a 1992 letter to John Hume said, "The government made clear in 1974 that those who were killed on 'Bloody Sunday' should be regarded as innocent of any allegations that they were shot whilst handling firearms or explosives. I hope that the families of those who died will accept that assurance." No firearms were ever found on any of those killed or wounded and none of the victims were found to have handled any weapons or explosives. Also, there were no bomb explosions that day and no British soldier reported any injuries.

The first person to be shot was 15-year-old Damien Donaghy. When 59-year-old John Johnston came to his aid, he was shot twice. Johnston, the 14th victim, would die in June 1972 as a result of his wounds. Seven of the victims killed were under 19 years old. Several of the victims were shot in the back, several were shot in the head and several were shot twice after falling from the first shot. Father Edward Daly, later to become Bishop of Derry, was almost shot, as well, when he came to the aid of a young man who had been shot in the back. The latest forensic evidence indicates that the first victims were specifically targeted by British Army snipers shooting from the walls of Derry.

A British investigation led by Lord Widgery found that the paratroopers had acted in self-defense, however, the study failed to produce any physical evidence to prove this claim. In addition, hundreds of eyewitness accounts were arbitrarily excluded from evidence. The coroner in the case, however, issued a very different opinion than Lord Widgery. Major Hubert O'Neill concluded: "… the Army ran amok that day … I would say without hesitation that it was sheer, unadulterated murder. It was murder."

A second inquiry, the Lord Saville Inquiry, into the events of January 30th was established in 1998. The inquiry has ended, but no formal opinion has yet been issued. To quote the tribunal inquiry web-site: "The report is currently in preparation. It has been necessary for the Tribunal to look at a very large quantity of material so that it is not possible at this stage to give any firm estimate of when the report is likely to be finished.