Republican News · Thursday 7 February 2002

40,000 mark 30th anniversary of Bloody Sunday

BY FERN LANE

Ignoring the freezing rain and bitter wind on Sunday, some 40,000 people, from all over Ireland and the rest of the world, retraced the steps of the thousands who marched against internment and for civil rights in January 1972, winding their way down from Creggan to Free Derry Corner.

Like that day 30 years ago, the mood up at the Creggan shops, despite the atrocious weather, was one of good-natured optimism. Unlike that day, it did not end in slaughter; instead, it was the greatest public affirmation yet of what the people of the city have always known; that those shot down by the Parachute Regiment on Bloody Sunday were innocent.

At Free Derry Corner the huge rally was addressed by Geraldine Doherty, niece of Gerald Donaghy, who was just 17 years old when he was killed; Sinn Fein's Gerry Kelly; Alex Attwood of the SDLP; and veteran civil rights campaigner Eamon McCann.

Gerry Kelly told the rally that Bloody Sunday was the "line in the sand" which was drawn after a series of other incidents when nationalists were savagely attacked and murdered by the forces of the British state.

"My generation was probably really the first television generation," he said. "I witnessed the events in Derry in October 1968 on television; I witnessed the attacks at Burntollet Bridge. In August 1969 I came through Derry just after the onslaught on the Bogside by loyalists, the RUC and B-Specials. It then spread to Belfast. State forces fired indiscriminately into Catholic areas from armoured cars. I remember the Falls curfew in 1970 and the internment raids and deaths of August 1971. Like Bishop Daly, another brave priest, Father Mullan, went to the aid of a wounded man on the edge of Ballymurphy where I was brought up. Father Mullan was shot dead - as were many others in the area."

He continued: "The reason I recount this is because I think it is important to realise that Bloody Sunday was not an isolated incident or action. But it was a line in the sand, not just for me but arguably for a whole generation of youth. I have heard innumerable commentators over the years saying that Bloody Sunday was a recruiting sergeant for the IRA as if that was the only problem with it - not the fact that 13 innocent unarmed civilians were massacred that day. I joined the IRA within days, as did many others.

"I was a proud IRA man, but to simply describe those events as a recruiting sergeant for the IRA is to grossly underestimate the psychological effect of Bloody Sunday. It was, in fact, a massacre waiting to happen. During the early '70s, the Paras were the British government's military cutting edge. Between internment in August 1971 and the following August, the British army killed 89 people; the Paras were responsible for killing 40 of these people. Since 1969, the British Army has killed 339 people, the overwhelming majority of them nationalists."

The British government not only permitted their troops to kill innocent civilians, he said, they actively encouraged them to do so. "And these troops did so in the clear knowledge that they had immunity. They had a licence to kill.

"Let us be clear about this; the violence visited on you 30 years ago was not mindless, was not irrational, was not spontaneous, nor the actions of an individual commander in the British Army. The killing of civilians was well thought out. The violence was methodical and was politically approved at the highest level."

Its purpose, he went on, was to terrorise the nationalist and republican population. "It was designed to intimidate us, not only off the streets, but to abandon our quest for civil rights and for national rights. It was aimed at forcing us to stay indoors, to peek from behind curtains, to run for cover in the face of injustice. That was what the British government did all over its empire and that is what they tried to do here."

Geraldine Doherty told the rally that to the families of those who were killed and wounded, Bloody Sunday is not history. "It is real every day of our lives.

"For us it is the remembrance of a loved one, or the regret of a life forever changed, in the streets we walk down, in the murals we see, in the faces of our friends and neighbours and in the Guildhall, where we seek truth and justice. We live with what we have lost."

Doherty spoke in turn about each of the fourteen victims and paid tribute to those who were injured; Alana Burke, Michael Quinn, Joe Friel, Damien Donaghy, Daniel Gillespie, Michael Bridge, Patrick O'Donnell, Michael Bradley, Joe Mahon, Patsy McDaid and Danny McGowan.

"Their courage and determination to continue to strive for the truth and justice are a source of strength to us all" she said. "We celebrate the memory of Alexander Nash, Patrick Campbell and Peggy Deery who were wounded on Bloody Sunday and have since died. It is our deepest regret that they did not live to see this campaign through to its conclusion".

She spoke about the families' hopes for the Saville inquiry, but added that it was difficult to maintain that hope when the inquiry is continually undermined, citing in particular the granting of anonymity to former members of the Parachute Regiment and the decision of the High Court that they can give their evidence in London rather than in Derry.

"It appears that efforts are being made to have the families withdraw their support for the inquiry and cause it to collapse," she said. "The Ministry of Defence supplies the security assessments on which decisions on venues are taken, but they cannot provide this in an impartial manner when they are responsible for the soldiers whose actions caused the deaths of so many. They continually refuse to acknowledge their role in Bloody Sunday."

d referring to those amongst Unionists and within the British conservative party and media who have continually criticised the cost of the inquiry, she said:

"To those who so strenuously oppose the inquiry we say; what happened here was different. Innocent people were murdered by the state - the state to which our critics swear allegiance - and yet no criminal investigation ever took place. Yes, we acknowledge the loss and pain felt by the families of all victims of the conflict. We ask that you acknowledge ours and recognise the face that this inquiry would not be necessary had the British government at the highest level told the truth 30 years ago and acknowledged the innocence of our loved ones.

"Secretary of State John Reid says we have to draw a line under the past. We have campaigned for many years for a new inquiry that will help us to do that. But the responsibility also lies with the British government to ensure that we can achieve truth, justice and healing."