(If you are unfamiliar with some of the organizations and terms discussed in this reading, refer to Cain Web Service: A Glossary of Terms Related to the Conflict.)

Background
Sunday, January 30, 1972, known as "Bloody Sunday," is a date that will not be forgotten in Northern Ireland. That day, in Derry, the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association had organized what was supposed to be a peaceful protest against internment. Trying to avoid violence, they had brokered an agreement with the IRA prior to the march that the IRA would stay clear of the demonstration area and would avoid confrontation with the British Army. But the march turned tragic. In total, fourteen men from Derry between the ages of 17 and 59 would die that day. 

There are two perspectives to what happened that day.  The civil rights protestors claimed that unarmed citizens were shot by British paratroopers. They claim that young boys, sons, and fathers marching for peace in Derry were struck down by the indiscriminate violence of the state seeking to contain and control them.

The British government and the Unionists saw the story differently. They argued that the paratroopers came under fire by sniper attack, and that three of the men who were shot were on the British Army's "most wanted list." One paratrooper recalled that he had never seen such fighting as he had on that day. None of the paratroopers were killed or even superficially wounded.

Most people in Northern Ireland did not participate in the protest march, but they will never forget the images that they saw on television that day or in the newspaper the next: 17-year-old Jackie Duddy being carried by a group of men while Father Daly waves a cloth before them, seeking a reprieve from the bullets as they move Jackie's body through the crowd; black and white photographs of people throwing rocks and shouting in anger; policemen dressed in riot gear, holding up shields to block the stones. The Derry Journal put a series of coffins on its front page. The headline read, "The skies wept."

Bloody Sunday became one of the key events that boosted recruitment for the IRA.


A Personal Testimony
Don Mullan, a young resident of Derry remembers that day.

Largely because of that agreement [between the IRA and the Civil Rights Association], as a fifteen-year-old school boy I was permitted by my parents to participate in my first civil rights march. There was a great air of excitement that day as I joined an immense throng of neighbors, friends, and fellow nationalists in asserting our right to civil disobedience.

....Our intended destination, Guildhall Square, just outside the "No-Go" area of the Bogside, was blocked by barricades erected and manned by heavily armed British soldiers. We were unaware then that a massive and unprecedented British military operation in and around Derry's Bogside had been put in place: a total of eight regiments and some two thousand heavily armed troops, amongst whom were members of the First Battalian of the Parachute Regiment (known as the Paras), had been specially drafted into Derry for the day.

The organizers of the march had been careful to ensure they had adequate numbers of stewards on duty to minimize the risk of violence. The stewards directed the main body of the march towards a famous landmark in the Bogside known as Free Derry Corner, where the intended rally, involving civil rights leaders and members of Parliament, would be held. Some low-level rioting occurred, but by Bogside standards it was a minor skirmish primarily involving stone-throwing.

....Events took a sudden and unexpected turn when, at 3:55 p.m., a British Army sniper fired without warning at the demonstration, wounding a fifteen-year-old boy and a senior citizen named John Johnston. There is unanimous agreement by civilians and media eyewitnesses that the shooting was unprovoked and that the two wounded were clearly unarmed when shot.

....At approximately 4:10 p.m., I was heading towards the rally when I heard a developing commotion behind me. Looking around I could see hundreds of people retreating in front of several armored vehicles, trucks, a Ferret scout car with a Browning machine gun, and scores of paratroopers on foot. ...Suddenly, the unmistakable crack of high-velocity SLR rifles filled the air. Two-and-a-half feet from where I stood, a seventeen-year-old youth clutched his stomach, his cry filling the air with despair and disbelief. For a moment the world stood still. There was incredulity for a few seconds as demonstrators wondered what was happening. There had been no firing by the civilians: the attack was unprovoked and out of all proportion to the stone-throwing that had preceded the advance of the troops.¹

Responding to Bloody Sunday:

3 Months After: The Widgery Tribunal
The day after Bloody Sunday, leaders of the British government including the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Widgery, announced that a "tribunal of inquiry" would be established. The Widgery Tribunal, as it came to be known, began immediately. On April 18, 1972, Lord Widgery issued the report, which "exonerated the paratroopers and cast serious aspersions over the innocence of the deceased and wounded." ²

Don Mullan writes:

The impact of the Widgery was profound. A very dangerous alienation between the Irish population in Northern Ireland and British law and order occurred, and many young men and women took the law into their own hands. 1972 was to be the most violent year in modern Irish history since the Irish Civil War....The Paras had murdered unarmed Irish civilians. Lord Widgery murdered the truth.³

Alan McBride, a Protestant and a proud Unionist at the time, remembers feeling that the report was true. He could not imagine that his army would carry out such acts as the Nationalists claimed it had committed. To him, the accusations of the Irish were unthinkable.

To many Nationalists, the report confirmed a long-held belief that the British government could not be trusted and that freedom and equality would be impossible under British rule. Following the Widgery Inquiry Report's publication, civilian and media eyewitnesses came forward to challenge the report's conclusions. Based on the response to the report and the materials that continued to emerge which challenged it, a new tribunal would later be established by British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Decades Later: The Saville Inquiry
"Bloody Sunday" came to symbolize British government collaboration in the Northern Irish conflict. Immediately following the violence of that day, a "cover up" began. The decision to create a tribunal and to re-investigate what happened on Bloody Sunday was a sign of good will on the part of the British government-to demonstrate transparency and accountability.

On January 29, 1998, nearly 26 years to the day after Bloody Sunday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair called for the establishment of this new tribunal to once again investigate the events of that infamous day. (Click here for the full text of the Prime Minister's Statement.)

For many, the Inquiry is dredging up a painful past. Others see it as a necessary medium for bringing the truth of the day to light. Alan McBride, who grew up as a strong Unionist supporter, could never believe that the stories the Irish told of Bloody Sunday were true. The testimony he has heard and read from the new inquiry, however, challenges his long held belief that his country's army would not kill unarmed civilians. "I know it's true," McBride says, "but I still can't believe it."

According to the official website of the Inquiry, "The Inquiry interviewed and received statements from around 2,500 people and 922 of these were called to give oral evidence."⁴ Although the official website stated that a final report would be available in 2007, as of fall, 2008, no final report had yet been released.

The investigation continues to this day, as families of the victims still hope for justice.

Connections for the Classroom...

• The tragic events of Bloody Sunday occurred in a city with two names: Derry or Londonderry. The name you choose will say something about the side you are on: Derry is the Nationalist name and Londonderry the Unionist. In an act of symbolic reconciliation, some of the residents of this Northern Irish city and citizens of the country have taken to calling it Derry/Londonderry (with the / pronounced "stroke"). But what should a city like this do when its name contains so much history and the identities of so many people and the strife attached to those identities is still so alive?
  
  
• How can victims (or those related to the victims) move on with their lives when justice has not been served?

¹ Hidden Truths: Bloody Sunday 1972, edited by Trisha Ziff (Smart Art Pr), 1998, pp. 35-37.
² Ibid., p. 42.
³ Ibid. p. 42.
⁴ The Bloody Sunday Inquiry. Source.