■ Tuesday, 15th June, 2010 ■ Tel: 02871 272200 ■ Website: www.derryjournal.com ■ Est. 1772 ■ 64 PAGES ■ £1.00 (ROI €1.

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SPECIAL EDITION: THE SAVILLE REPORT

INNOCENT

“The victims of Bloody Sunday have been vindicated. The Parachute

Regiment has been disgraced. Widgery’s great lie has been laid bare.
The truth has been brought home at last.” - Bloody Sunday Families
 Tuesday, 15th June, 2010

TUESDAY, 15th JUNE, 2010

Truth and
justice at last
The 38 year family campaign to prove
the innocence of those killed and wound-
ed on Bloody Sunday has been well and
truly vindicated with the publication of
the report of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry.
Lord Saville reached the conclusion that
the people of Derry have known for
decades: that all those killed and wound-
ed were innocent and that all the shoot-
ings by the Parachute Regiment were
entirely unjustifiable.
As the families of the dead themselves
declared: “The victims of Bloody Sunday
have been vindicated. The Parachute
Regiment has been disgraced. Widgery’s
great lie has been laid bare. The truth has
been brought home at last. It can now be
proclaimed to the world that the dead
and the wounded of Bloody Sunday, civil
rights marchers, were innocent one and
all, gunned down in their own streets by
soldiers who had been given to believe
they could kill with perfect impunity."
The truth of Bloody Sunday has always
been known to the people of Derry. It is
something we have known for 38 years. It Mickey McKinney, brother of William McKinney, the Derry Journal employee shot dead on Bloody Sunday, salutes the crowd in Guildhall Square as the Bloody Sunday families gather

‘Widgery’s great
was a massacre carried out in broad day- on stage after the release of the Saville Report. (1506SL62) Photo: Stephen Latimer
light in full view of hundreds of eyewit-
nesses, including scores of independent
media witnesses. Irish people, North and
South, have known for years that
unarmed civil rights demonstrators were
murdered in cold blood by British para-
troopers.
If Bloody Sunday was a defining day in
the history of the Troubles, let us hope

lie is laid bare’

the publication of the Saville Report will
be a transformative and cathartic
moment for the people of Northern
Ireland.
Today, it is important that we pay trib-
ute to the families and relatives of the vic-
tims who waged a heroic campaign for
their loved ones. Their steadfast vision
and dignity in their quest for the truth
has been admirable.
Tragically, only one parent of the vic-
tims has survived to see this day and to
hear the British prime minister’s open
and full apology on the back of this
important report. Lawrence McElhinney
epitomises the dignity and determination
of all the families who have struggled and
strived to exonerate their loved ones and
have the truth proclaimed.
At times it may be hard and at times it
may be harsh, but the truth always pro-
vides the basis upon that which is bad
can be remedied and that which is good
can be made better.
It is said that "truth is the first casualty
of war". By the same token, as we emerge
from conflict, establishment of truth,
thereby ridding society of past-through-
to-present injustices, should become a
hallmark of a new society.
For almost forty years on, the relatives
of those innocent men gunned down on
Bloody Sunday, backed by the people of
Derry, remained steadfast in their
demands: we simply wanted truth, jus-
tice, and most important of all, closure.
At long last, Lord Saville has given us this.
Today we remember fourteen men who
lost their lives at the hands of Britain's
so-called military elite: Jackie Duddy,
Hugh Gilmour, Michael Kelly, Michael
McDaid, John Young, William Nash, Kevin
McElhinney, William McKinney, Jim Wray,
Gerald Donaghey, Gerald McKinney,
Barney McGuigan, Patrick Doherty and
John Johnston. We also remember the
Bloody Sunday wounded - those still alive
today and those who died before they
could see the truth set free.
We have overcome.
By Theresa Casey Derry. We may hope that from today we can begin
theresa.casey@derryjournal.com to bind up those wounds. But we recognise, too,
that the issues arising from the Report go wider
The families of victims of Bloody Sunday dra- and deeper than Derry’s concerns."
matically tore up the Widgery Tribunal Representatives from the Duddy, Gilmour,
report yesterday after they gave their reac- McDaid, Young, McElhinney, McGuigan, Johnston,
tion to the Saville report. Donaghey and Nash families quoted from the rele-
vant sections of the report which claimed the
A representative from each family spoke to the
innocence of their relatives.
thousands gathered in the city centre to declare
Liam Wray, brother of 22-year-old Jim, said the
the innocence of all those killed or wounded on
report had "vindicated the Wray family and the
January 30, 1972.
people of Derry
The first to take the stage was Mickey McKinney,
We always knew the truth, now the world knows
brother of 26-year-old Derry Journal employee
the truth."
William McKinney who was murdered in Glenfada
Park on Bloody Sunday. GRATITUDE
He said that it was an historic day for Derry and
paid tribute to the support shown to the families He said the gratitude the family owes to the peo-
ple of Derry “can never be expressed in words.”
over the last 38 years, telling the crowd that
"today we stand among friends." John Kelly, the brother of 17-year-old Michael
who was murdered at the rubble barricade on
The son of 31-year-old Patrick Doherty, John
took to the stage after a minute's silence was Rossville Street, thanked everyone who had
accompanied the families on "our march for jus-
observed by the crowd.
He said: “The victims of Bloody Sunday have tice."
He said the report was “very long and very
been vindicated. The Parachute Regiment has
been disgraced. Widgery’s great lie has been laid THE NEWS IS OUT!. . .A loud cheer goes up in Guildhall detailed” however what mattered for the families
above all else was the "innocence of our loved
bare. The truth has been brought home at last. Square as someone from inside the Guildhall gives a
“It can now be proclaimed to the world that the thumbs up. 1606JM10 (Photo: Jim McCafferty) ones."
dead and the wounded of Bloody Sunday, civil Mr Kelly said that "those gunned down on
had been given to believe they could kill with per-
rights marchers, were innocent one and all, Bloody Sunday were ordinary, decent Derry peo-
fect impunity."
gunned down in their own streets by soldiers who ple ... that was the verdict we wanted and that is
Mr Doherty added: “Bloody Sunday wounded the verdict we have got today."
This special edition was compiled by ‘Journal’ editorial staff - Martin McGinley, Bernie Mullen, Sean McLaughlin, Michael
McMonagle, Ian Cullen, David Wilson, Theresa Casey, Erin Hutcheon, Mary McLaughlin, Claire Allan, Tina Curran,
Catherine Doran, Sheena Jackson, Laurence McClenaghan, Julieann Campbell, Pat McArt, Donna Pryce, James Fulton,
Jim McCafferty, Stephen Latimer, Phil Gamble, Patricia McLaughlin and Deirdre Deeney. Thanks to everyone who
contributed including Lorcan Mullen, Hugh Gallagher and Glenn McIntyre.
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010

‘SUNDAY’VICTIMS KILLED
BY 'UNJUSTIFIABLE FIRING'
Fourteen civilians killed on
Bloody Sunday died as a result of
"unjustifiable firing" by British
soldiers, the long-awaited Saville
Inquiry has declared.
British Prime Minister David
Cameron told the House of
Common that the inquiry said
none of the casualties posed any
threat to British troops.
He said the inquiry found that
the first shots were fired by
British troops, no warnings were
given, and some of the soldiers
lost control.
Mr Cameron told MPs: "What
happened on Bloody Sunday was
both unjustified and unjustifiable.
It was wrong." He added that
""what happened should never
have happened".
"The Government is ultimately
responsible for the conduct of the
armed forces. And for that, on
behalf of the Government, indeed
on behalf of our country, I am
deeply sorry."
The inquiry found that the sol-
Jean Hegarty, sister of Kevin McElhinney, rips up the Widgery report outside the Guildhall yesterday.
diers of the Support Company
who went into the Bogside, where
the march was taking place, did
so "as a result of an order which
should not have been given" by
their commander.
It concluded that, "on balance",
the first shot in the vicinity of the
march was fired by British sol-
diers.
None of the casualties was car-
rying a firearm and, while there
was some shooting by republican
paramilitaries, "none of this firing
provided any justification for the
shooting of civilian casualties".
In no case was any warning
given by the soldiers before open-
ing fire and the Support Company
"reacted by losing their self-con-
trol ... forgetting or ignoring their
instructions and training".
The result was a "serious and
widespread loss of fire disci-
pline".
Afterwards, many of the soldiers
involved "knowingly put forward
false accounts in order to seek to
justify their firing".
The inquiry found that some of
those who were killed or injured
were clearly fleeing or going to
the assistance of others who
were dying.
The simple thumbs-up from rela-
tives inside the imposing
Guildhall in Derry heralded the
apology from the Prime Minister
and jubilation among thousands
gathered to hear the verdict of
the longest inquiry in UK legal
history.
John Kelly, whose brother
Michael was shot dead, symboli-
cally ripped up a copy of the
"whitewash" Widgery Report into
the killings as the families pro-
nounced their loved ones inno-
cent.
"Our struggle was for the truth
and for justice which only truth
can bring. Let the light of that be
your guide, the light of justice, let
justice be the light, let justice be
done to the heavens. Thank you,
we have overcome," he said.

Saville’s key findings:
The Saville report’s
detailed review of the
events of January 30, 1972
in Derry catalogued
scenes of horror that
included the image of
unarmed victims shot
dead as they tried to crawl
away.
The key findings are:
■ The firing by soldiers of
1 Para caused the deaths
of 13 people and injury to
a similar number, none of
whom was posing a threat
of causing death or seri-
ous injury. This also
applied to the 14th victim,
who died later from
injuries.
■ Despite the contrary evi-
dence given by soldiers, it
concluded that none of
them fired in response to
attacks or threatened
attacks by nail or petrol
bombers. The report
added that no one threw,
or threatened to throw,
nail or petrol bombs at sol-
diers.
■ The accounts of soldiers
were rejected, with a num-
ber said to have "knowing-
ly put forward false
accounts”.
■ Members of the Official
IRA fired a number of
shots, though it was con-
cluded it was the para-
troopers who shot first on
Bloody Sunday.
■ Northern Ireland Deputy
First Minister Martin
McGuinness, second in
command of the
Provisional IRA in Derry in
1972, was "probably armed
with a Thompson subma-
chine gun", and though it
is possible he fired the
weapon, this cannot be
proved. The report con-
cluded: "He did not engage
in any activity that provid-
ed any of the soldiers with
any justification for open-
ing fire."
■ Lord Saville concluded
the commander of land
forces in Northern Ireland,
Major General Robert
Ford, would have been
aware that the Parachute
Regiment had a reputation
for using excessive force.
But he would not have
believed there was a risk
of paratroopers firing
unjustifiably.
■ The commanding officer
of the paratroopers,
Lieutenant Colonel Derek
Wilford, disobeyed an
order from a superior offi-
cer not to enter troops
into the Bogside.
■ Lord Saville found his
superior officer, Brigadier
Patrick MacLellan, held no
blame for the shootings as,
if he had known what Col
Wilford was intending, he
might well have called it
off.
■ No blame was placed on
the organisers of the
march, the Northern
Ireland Civil Rights
Association.
■ Neither the British nor
Northern Ireland govern-
ments planned or foresaw
the use of unnecessary
lethal force.
Deputy First Minister and Sinn Fein's Martin
McGuinness pictured talking to the media outside the
Guildhall yesterday.
McGuinnesses
denies gun claims
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has
firmly denied having a sub-machine gun in the
Bogside on Bloody Sunday.
When asked about the Saville finding that it
was probable that he had the weapon, he said:
"No".
He said the report had cleared everybody in
the city.
"He (Lord Saville) fully pointed the finger of
blame for what happened directly at the
British Parachute Regiment," he added.
Donaghey ‘probably’
had nail bombs
There had been speculation over how the report would
account for the death of 17-year-old Gerald Donaghey.
Nail bombs had been found in the pockets of the dead
teenager, but after people tending to his wounds said they
had not seen any devices, there were claims the bombs
had later been planted on the youth by security forces.
The report concludes the nail bombs were "probably" in
his possession when he was shot, but adds: "However, we
are sure that Gerald Donaghey was not preparing or
attempting to throw a nail bomb when he was shot; and
we are equally sure that he was not shot because of his
possession of nail bombs. He was shot while trying to
escape from soldiers."
The report found that the teenager was a member of the
IRA's youth wing, but said he was killed by a bullet that
had passed through victim Gerard McKinney.
The soldier, known only as Private G, had "falsely denied"
firing the shot and "must have fired knowing that Gerard
McKinney was not posing a threat".
The report also recounts how some soldiers had their
weapons cocked in contravention of guidelines, that no
warnings were issued by Paras who opened fire, and,
while some may have been in fear of attack, the report
concludes: "We found no instances where it appeared to
us that soldiers either were or might have been justified in
firing."
The report added: "Despite the contrary evidence given
by soldiers, we have concluded that none of them fired in
response to attacks or threatened attacks by nail or petrol
bombers.
"No one threw or threatened to throw a nail or petrol
bomb at the soldiers on Bloody Sunday."

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 Tuesday, 15th June, 2010

An epic moment in the history of Derry

‘We have overcome’

By Erin Hutcheon
erin.hutcheon@derryjournal.com
Thousands of people gathered in
Guildhall Square yesterday afternoon
witnessing the epic moment when Jean
Hegarty ripped up the Widgery Report.
It was the end of an emotional day for
both the families and the people of Derry -
as the truth of what happened on Bloody
Sunday was finally revealed to the world.
The day began with lawyers for the family
entering the Guildhall to get their glimpse
of the Saville Report. Shortly afterwards
members of the Bloody Sunday families
walked from the Bogside to the Guildhall
accompanied by hundreds of well wishers
where Lord Saville’s report was finally
made available to them.
The next group of people to see the report
was a selected batch of local and interna-
tional journalists who read the 60 page
summary document secured in a room in
the City Hotel.
In the meantime thousands of local peo-
ple who lined Guildhall Square and the sur-
rounding streets watched on as members
of the Bloody Sunday families waved from
inside the Guildhall. Several members of
the families were seen to give the thumbs
up.
At 3.30pm. as David Cameron’s speech
was shown on a wide screen television, the
people of Derry roared and cheered throw-
ing their arms in the air as he apologised
for what happened in January 1972.
Many local people were moved to tears
clutching each other and celebrating a day
this city has waited almost four decades
for.
As the families made their way to a podi-
um at the front of the Guildhall they
received rapturous applause from the
thousands of people who came to support
them.
Kay Duddy, sister of Jackie Duddy then
asked the crowd to observe a minute’s
silence for all those killed in the last forty
years.
Families representing the dead and
injured then made their own statements to
the crowd, each of them quoting from the
Saville Report and shouting the word
“innocent.”
The day’s events were aptly brought to an
end with John Kelly triumphantly declaring
to the crowd - “We have overcome.”

Relatives of the Bloody Sunday families, arrive in Guildhall Square for the announcement by British Prime Minister, David Cameron.
(1506SL104)

Marchers finish walk to Guildhall

By Sheena Jackson
sheena.jackson@derryjournal.com
As thousands gathered at Free
Derry corner to finish the original
ill-fated march to Guildhall Square
the victims of Bloody Sunday were
denied, the only sound audible
above the low murmur of the anx-
ious crowd was that of a lone heli-
copter in the sun soaked skies.
SDLP Nobel Laureate John Hume
and Sinn Fein President Gerry
Adams were among those who
joined the march towards the
Guildhall ahead of the publication
of the Saville Report.
“This is a massive day for Ireland
and for Derry and particularly for
the people who were murdered
here,” the Sinn Fein President told
the ‘Journal’, surrounded by press.
“People have set out quite clearly
what they want is the truth. Sin é.
Pure and simple as that. We want
the truth.”
It was an emotional moment for
Long Tower man, Michael
Gallagher, who had marched with
civil rights campaigners on
January 30, 1972.
“This day means a lot to me, but
it’s so much more for the families,”
said the 58-year-old. “I have mixed
memories from the day of the
march. I remember the shootings,
but I don’t remember where I was.
It was 30-odd years ago and you
forget a lot of things, but this is for
the families. It’ll be nice to finally
get to finish this.”
Bridget Harkin - niece of John
Johnston who was the 14th person
shot on Bloody Sunday and who
died four months later - was anx-
ious to get to the Guildhall.
“I was 22 at the time and we were
reared with Johnny down in the
Bog. It’s just so sad, it’s so emo-
tional and I can remember that day
so well,” she recalled, in the bask-
ing heat. “I was at home and I
watched the men walking over to
Shantallow as they were going on a
men’s retreat. It was so eerie and
then hearing people crying and the
commotion when people were told
they had brothers shot. It was just
awful.”
As the marchers walked down
Rossville Street, with relatives
clutching placards bearing the
photographs of the dead, bearing
the motto "Set the Truth Free",
they continued in silence onto
William Street where they tore
through a massive banner refer-
ring to the Widgery Inquiry.
Hordes of media watched the
marchers who, amid emotional
scenes, arrived at Guildhall Square
to thunderous applause and
cheers.
Among those waiting was
Creggan man, William Doherty
who was on the original march.
“We were down for the weekend
from Antrim where I was working
at the time and I had missed all the
other marches and I just happened
to be off that weekend,” he
recalled, choked with emotion.
“The last person I was talking to
was Barney McGuigan and Gerry
McKinney. I was asking Gerry if he
was off for the weekend and he
said, ‘aye every weekend’. I was
talking to him and Barney before
we came to the barricades and we
were all at Glenfada Park behind a
wall. The next thing I knew Barney
was dead and Gerry and I went
home because I knew my mother
and my wife would be worrying.
The last person I saw was young
(Michael) McDaid lying. It was ter-
rible. It all happened that quick
and was total chaos as far as I was
concerned.”
He added: “It’ll always stick in my
mind but I live in Derry now and I
can see a great change in it. I never
went to the Inquiry because all I
saw was dead people, but I knew
there was never any gunmen that
day. Then the news started to com-
ing through and we couldn’t
believe it. The last words my
mother had said was ‘come back’
and I did, but 13 didn’t.”

THE
REACTION:
The abiding image for many of that
dreadful January day in 1972 was of a
then young priest waving a white
handkerchief covered in blood while
behind him a group of men carried a
fatally wounded Jackie Duddy. In sub-
sequent interviews with the interna-
tional media that priest, Fr. Edward
Daly, decribed the shootings as mur-
der, a statement he said yesterday had
caused him ‘a lot of suffering over the
years’.
Now retired a clearly emotional Bishop
Daly told the ‘Journal’ yesterday: “I’m
relieved and delighted for the
families.They have waited a long time for
this, and I’m glad they’ve lived long
enough to see it.
“It is good that the truth has finally
emerged. They (the victims) have all been
cleared and vindicated. It’s wonderful to
see it. I have always known that they were
innocent, now the world has seen it.”
Dr Ken Good, the Bishop of Derry and
Raphoe, who has been widely praised for
his even-handedness in recent times,
acknowledged that the ways in which peo-
ple on different sides of the community
had viewed the events of Bloody Sunday
“had been a source of pain and tension
over the past three decades”.
However, he added: “As a consequence of
this Report and of what will flow from it,
we all now have the possibility of moving
forward together with a more accurate
and shared appreciation of one of the key
moments of our turbulent and troubled
shared history. Let us reach out to one
another across our community and build
upon this understanding.”
The reaction from the DUP’s Gregory
Campbell was not so conciliatory.
Speaking in Westminister after British
Prime Minister David Cameron statement,
the East Derry MP commented: "There
have been 10,000 other bloody days in
Northern Ireland's recent history. There
was murder and mayhem caused by the
Bishop Edward Daly pictured among the Bloody Sunday Relatives after the Reading of the Saville Report.
(1506SL115) Photo: Stephen Latimer
DERRY TAXIS
“The People’s Taxis”
Derry has ‘overcome this day’
Mona Duddy, shows her emotions as the findings
of of the Saville report are relayed to the crowd.
(1506SL37) Photo: Stephen Latimer
Provisional IRA in the days, weeks and
months before Bloody Sunday."
He added: "We did not need a £200 million
inquiry to establish that there was no pre-
meditated plan to shoot civilians on that
day."
The former long serving MP for Foyle,
John Hume, was clearly in a very different
frame of mind: “The people of Derry have
always known that everyone shot on
Bloody Sunday was entirely innocent. With
the publication of the Saville Report, the
British state has acknowledged their inno-
cence and that its army murdered on that
day. Now the world knows the truth that
Derry has always known.”
‘Stain lifted’
Speaking about the wider implications of
the Saville Report for the city, Derry's first
citizen, Colum Eastwood told this paper: "I
think this is a black stain lifted off the city.
We've lived under the shadow of Bloody
Sunday for too long now. I think the city
can move forward in peace and confidence
into a better future. We are dealing with
the past and are doing so in a proper and
mature fashion. Saville allows people the
opportunity to move forward and I think
that is what they'll do."
Deputy First Minister, Martin
5
McGuinness, who was singled out for men-
tion by Lord Saville, was of the opinion
that the real message of the report was
that the Widgery Report had been con-
signed to the waste bin.
“This is a momentous day for Derry. It is
a day of extreme historical significance, a
day where the families have been vindicat-
ed.
“Every single person in this city has been
found not to have been contravening any-
thing or doing anything that would have
justified what happened.
“It is an absolutely momentous day for
Derry and one of the better days in the
long history of this city,” he said.
Denis Bradley, who was a priest in Long
Tower Church at the time, admitted he
was very nervous before seeing the report
and very emotional reading it.
Mr Bradley said he hoped the city, while
never forgetting the events of Bloody Gerry Adams and John Hume in conversation as they wait for the news from the
Sunday, would now be able to move on Saville inquiry into Bloody Sunday at the Guild Hall in Derry yesterday afternoon.
and 'not be embittered by it any more.'
And Donegal politician, Cecilia Keaveney,
who was born in Derry, said the Saville
D. COOLEY
Report once and for all cleared up the his-
torical facts: “The declaration of the inno-
cence of those murdered and injured,
alongside the unconditional apology by
the British Government, is vitally impor-
tant. The first shot was fired by the British
JEWELLERS
army. Those shot were not armed and did
not pose a threat. There was no conspira-
cy. These are all equally important phras-
es contained in the Saville Report.
Bishop Seamus Hegarty, Bishop of Derry,
said Lord Saville’s ‘strong words’ had left
no in doubt about his findings.
We Buy your
He added: “It was immensely moving to
watch the relatives of the Bloody Sunday
victims respond to the report today. I was
Old or New
struck by their sheer dignity and their pal-
pable relief that the long wait was now
over. Two key words came across again
and again: ‘innocence and justice.’ May
God bless the relatives and friends of the
UNWANTED
victims. Today is their day and it is a very
significant day for the people of Derry.”
Promises kept
And close to tears Derry’s MP Mark
GOLD
Durkan summed up the feelings of many
when he told a hushed House of Commons
yesterday:"Relatives will stand at the
graves of victims and their parents to tell
of a travesty finally arrested, of evidence
vindicated and of promises kept.
"And when they do so, they can invoke
the civil rights anthem ‘We Have
Overcome’. We have overcome this day." Any Condition
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‘What happened on Bloody
Sunday was both unjustified and
unjustifiable... It was wrong.’
With permission Mr Speaker, I would
like to make a statement.
Today my Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary
of State for Northern Ireland is publish-
ing the report of the Saville Inquiry... the
Tribunal set up by the previous govern-
ment to investigate the tragic events of
30th January 1972 - a day more com-
monly known as Bloody Sunday.
We have acted in good faith by pub-
lishing the Tribunal’s findings as quickly
as possible after the General Election.
Mr Speaker, I am deeply patriotic.
I never want to believe anything bad
about our country. I never want to call
into question the behaviour of our sol-
diers and our Army, who I believe to be
the finest in the world.
And I have seen for myself the very dif-
ficult and dangerous circumstances in
which we ask our soldiers to serve.
But the conclusions of this report are
absolutely clear. There is no doubt.
There is nothing unequivocal. There are
no ambiguities. What happened on
Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and
unjustifiable.
It was wrong.
Lord Saville concludes that the sol-
diers of Support Company who went
into the Bogside “did so as a result of an
order... which should not have been
given” by their Commander.
On balance the first shot in the vicinity
of the march was fired by the British
Army.
That “none of the casualties shot by
soldiers of Support Company was
armed with a firearm”.
That “there was some firing by republi-
can paramilitaries .. but... none of this
firing provided any justification for the
shooting of civilian casualties”
And that “in no case was any warning
given before soldiers opened fire”.
He also finds that Support Company
“reacted by losing their self-control...
forgetting or ignoring their instructions
and training” with “a serious and wide-
spread loss of fire discipline”.
He finds that “despite the contrary evi-
dence given by the soldiers... none of
them fired in response to attacks or
threatened attacks by nail or petrol
bombers”...
And that many of the soldiers “know-
ingly put forward false accounts in
order to seek to justify their firing”.
Clearly fleeing
What’s more - Lord Saville says that
some of those killed or injured were
clearly fleeing or going to the assistance
of others who were dying. The report
refers to one person who was shot
“crawling...away from the soldiers”...
Another was shot, in all probability,
“when he was lying mortally wounded
on the ground”...
And a father was “hit and injured by
Army gunfire after he had gone to...tend
to his son”.
For those looking for statements on
innocence, Saville says: “The immediate
responsibility for the deaths and
injuries on Bloody Sunday lies with
those members of Support Company
whose unjustifiable firing was the cause
British Prime Minister David Cameron
of those deaths and injuries.”
And - crucially - that “none of the casu-
alties was posing a threat of causing
death or serious injury, or indeed was
doing anything else that could on any
view justify their shooting.”
For those people who were looking for
the Report to use terms like murder and
unlawful killing, I remind the House that
these judgements are not matters for a
Tribunal - or for us as politicians - to
determine.
Mr Speaker, these are shocking conclu-
sions to read and shocking words to
have to say.
But Mr Speaker, you do not defend the
British Army by defending the indefen-
sible. We do not honour all those who
have served with distinction in keeping
the peace and upholding the rule of law
in Northern Ireland by hiding from the
truth.
So there is no point in trying to soften
or equivocate what is in this Report.
It is clear from the Tribunal’s authori-
tative conclusions that the events of
Bloody Sunday were in no way justified.
I know some people wonder whether
nearly forty years on from an event, a
Prime Minister needs to issue an apolo-
gy.
For someone of my generation, this is a
period we feel we have learned about
rather than lived through. But what hap-
pened should never, ever have hap-
pened.
The families of those who died
should not have had to live with the
pain and the hurt of that day - and a
lifetime of loss.
Some members of our Armed Forces
acted wrongly.
‘I am deeply sorry’
The Government is ultimately respon-
sible for the conduct of the Armed
Forces.
And for that, on behalf of the
Government - and indeed our country - I
am deeply sorry.
Mr Speaker, just as this report is clear
that the actions of that day were unjus-
tifiable... so too is it clear in some of its
other findings.
Those looking for premeditation,
those looking for a plan, those looking
for a conspiracy involving senior politi-
cians or senior members of the Armed
Forces – they will not find it in this
report.
Indeed, Lord Saville finds no evidence
that the events of Bloody Sunday were
premeditated … he concludes that the
United Kingdom and Northern Ireland
Governments, and the Army, neither tol-
erated nor encouraged “the use of
unjustified lethal force”.
No cover-up
He makes no suggestion of a
Government cover-up.
And Lord Saville credits the UK
Government with working towards a
peaceful political settlement in
Northern Ireland.
Mr Speaker, the Report also specifical-
ly deals with the actions of key individu-
als in the army, in politics and beyond …
including Major General Ford, Brigadier
MacLellan and Lieutenant Colonel
Wilford.
In each case, the Tribunal’s findings
are clear.
It also does the same for Martin
McGuinness, It specifically finds he was
present and probably armed with a
“sub-machine gun” but concludes “we
are sure that he did not engage in any
activity that provided any of the sol-
diers with justification for opening fire”.
Mr Speaker, while in no way justifying
the events of January 30th 1972, we
should acknowledge the background to
the events of Bloody Sunday. Since 1969
the security situation in Northern
Ireland had been declining significantly.
Three days before ‘Bloody Sunday’, two
RUC officers – one a Catholic – were shot
by the IRA in Londonderry, the first
police officers killed in the city during
the Troubles.
A third of the city of Derry had become
a no-go area for the RUC and the Army.
And in the end 1972 was to prove
Northern Ireland’s bloodiest year by far
with nearly 500 people killed. And let us
also remember, Bloody Sunday is not
the defining story of the service the
British Army gave in Northern Ireland
from 1969-2007.
This was known as Operation Banner,
the longest, continuous operation in
British military history, spanning thirty-
eight years and in which over 250,000
people served.
Our Armed Forces displayed enor-
mous courage and professionalism in
upholding democracy and the rule of
“
In the words of
Lord Saville -
“What happened
on Bloody
Sunday
strengthened the
Provisional IRA,
increased
nationalist
resentment and
hostility towards
the Army and
exacerbated the
violent conflict of
the years that
followed. Bloody
Sunday was a
tragedy for the
bereaved and the
wounded, and a
catastrophe for
the people of
Northern Ireland.
”
law in Northern Ireland.
Acting in support of the police, they
played a major part in setting the condi-
tions that have made peaceful politics
possible … and over 1,000 members of
the security forces lost their lives to that
cause.
Without their work the peace process
would not have happened. Of course
some mistakes were undoubtedly
made. But lessons were also learned.
Once again, I put on record the
immense debt of gratitude we all owe
those who served in Northern Ireland.
Mr Speaker, may I also thank the
Tribunal for its work – and all those who
displayed great courage in giving evi-
dence.
I would also like to acknowledge the
grief of the families of those killed. They
have pursued their long campaign over
thirty-eight years with great patience.
Nothing can bring back those that were
killed but I hope, as one relative put it,
the truth coming out can set people free.
John Major said he was open to a new
inquiry. Tony Blair then set it up. This
was accepted by the Leader of the
Opposition. Of course, none of us antic-
ipated that the Saville Inquiry would last
12 years or cost £200 million. Our views
on that are well documented.
It is right to pursue the truth with
vigour and thoroughness … but let me
reassure the House that there will be no
more open-ended and costly inquiries
into the past.
But today is not about controversies
surrounding the process. It’s about the
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010
substance, about what this report tells
us. Everyone should have the chance to
examine the complete findings and
that’s why the report is being published
in full. Running to more than 5,000
pages, it’s being published in 10 vol-
umes.
Naturally, it will take all of us some time
to digest the report’s full findings and
understand all the implications.
The House will have the opportunity
for a full day’s debate this autumn – and
in the meantime I have asked my Rt Hon
Friends the Secretaries of State for
Northern Ireland and Defence to report
back to me on all the issues that arise
from it.
Mr Speaker, this report and the Inquiry
itself demonstrate how a State should
hold itself to account … and how we are
determined at all times – no matter how
difficult – to judge ourselves against the
highest standards.
Openness and frankness about the
past – however painful – do not make us
weaker, they make us stronger.
That’s one of the things that differenti-
ates us from terrorists.
We should never forget that over 3,500
people – people from every community
– lost their lives in Northern Ireland, the
overwhelming majority killed by terror-
ists.
There were many terrible atrocities.
Politically-motivated violence was
never justified, whichever side it came
from. And it can never be justified by
those criminal gangs that today want to
drag Northern Ireland back to its bitter
and bloody past.
No Government I lead will ever put
those who fight to defend democracy on
an equal footing with those who contin-
ue to seek to destroy it. But neither will
we hide from the truth that confronts us
today.
In the words of Lord Saville - “What
happened on Bloody Sunday strength-
ened the Provisional IRA, increased
nationalist resentment and hostility
towards the Army and exacerbated the
violent conflict of the years that fol-
lowed. Bloody Sunday was a tragedy for
the bereaved and the wounded, and a
catastrophe for the people of Northern
Ireland.”
These are words we cannot and must
not ignore. But what I hope this report
can also do is to mark the moment when
we come together, in this House and in
the communities we represent. Come
together to acknowledge our shared
history, even where it divides us. And
come together to close this painful
chapter on Northern Ireland’s troubled
past.
That is not to say that we must ever for-
get or dismiss that past. But we must
also move on. Northern Ireland has
been transformed over the past twenty
years … and all of us in Westminster and
Stormont must continue that work of
change, coming together with all the
people of Northern Ireland to build a
stable, peaceful, prosperous and shared
future.
It is with that determination that I com-
mend this statement to the House.
 7

‘I want to enjoy this day’ By Laurence McClenaghan

laurence.mcclenaghan@derryjournal.com

For John Kelly, who has were very anxious, very

been to the forefront of the
campaign, yesterday was a
day for jubilation.
He has campaigned for 38
years to clear the name of
his brother Michael, just 17
years old when he died.
He told the ‘Journal’: "We
done a great job and we put
them in their place. We fin-
ished them off.”
But there was sadness, too:
"Justice hasn't been done in
that you can't bring my
brother back. My children
grew up never knowing my
brother. Never knowing the
beautiful, warm character
he was. But justice has been
done in that it has been
recognised that he was inno-
cent. Today the lie of
Widgery has been put to
rest."
Mr. Kelly emerged from the
Guildhall with his fist
clenched and punching the
air with joy.
Asked to compare how he
felt walking into the
Guildhall as compared to
John Kelly salutes the thousands of Derry people packed into Guildhall Square to hear the findings of the Saville Report. (1506SL100) Photo: Stephen Latimer walking out, he replied: "We
uptight naturally, after 38
years that is to be expected.
Once we got through the
doors, sat down and our
solicitor read us a few sen-
tences, the smile came to
our faces. We knew that they
had been declared innocent
and justice was seen to be
done."
This campaign has con-
cluded what has been a life
long fight for justice for his
murdered brother - so what
next for John and the Kelly
family?
"If it had taken another 38
years, we would have contin-
ued the fight for the truth.
"This is something that we
have campaigned hard for. I
don't know what is next. I
want to enjoy this day first. I
want to get over this day
first. The families have
worked very, very hard for
this for all these years
"We're here and we'll deal
with the future after we talk
to the solicitors.
"This was the answer I was
looking for."

McKinney family: ‘The whole LIG AN

world knows we were lied about’
Regina McLaughlin, daughter of
murdered Gerard McKinney, said
she was "elated" with the findings of
The Saville Inquiry.
Father of eight Mr. McKinney was
murdered aged just 35 years old.
Saville's report states: "There is no
doubt that Private G was the soldier
who at a range of only a few yards
fired at and mortally wounded
Gerard McKinney in Abbey Park. His
shot passed through Gerard
McKinney’s body and also mortally
wounded Gerald Donaghey."
"Neither William McKinney nor
Gerard McKinney was posing a
threat of causing death or serious
injury."
Mrs. McLaughlin told The Journal:
"In our view, and in the words of
Saville, Private G shot my father
with no justification. My father was
providing no threat when he was
murdered with his hands in the air.
"All day I have been thinking about
my mammy, Ita O'Kane. I was think-
ing about the family when I stood
looking out on Guildhall Square.
"I'm over the moon I can't say any-
thing else. I'm over the moon that
my father has been cleared. He was
innocent and I'm delighted for my
mammy, for all my brothers and sis-
ters, for my father's brothers and
sisters who have lived with the stig-
ma down all these years.
"Saville said he was 'deliberately
targeted' which speaks for itself."
1st £1,000 Seana Molloy
2nd £300
3rd £200
4th £100
FHÍRINNE
Asked how she had felt throughout
the ordeal of yesterday morning,
Regina replied: "I was very calm
going into the Guildhall. I had put
SAOR
my faith in God and thank God I did
because he came through for me.
"Saville told me nothing I didn't
Solidarity wishes to the
already believe but now the world
knows my father was an innocent
man. The closure for us as a family Bloody Sunday families.
is now the whole world knows he
was innocent. The whole world
knows that we were lied about, the
government lied, the soldiers lied,
Your steadfastness,
determination and dignity
Saville even said Soldier G lied and
that he shot my father when he had
his hands in the air despite soldier
G’s denials that he had not even
fired his gun."
has inspired other victims of
FOYLE
HOSPICE state murder and given them
DRAW
WEEK 31
Thursday 10th June 2010
hope that they will see
6868 Anne Aquino
justice for their loved ones.
Dara Canning
6705 Card 480
Sinn Féin pledges its continued
Angela Comey support in the quest for justice.
9580 John McKinney
Evelyn Gilchrist
7988 Doyle O'Neill

Regina McLaughlin, Kevin McKinney and Sadie O'Kane with their copies of the
5th £50 Martha Millar
Saville Report. (1806PG33) Photo Phil Gamble 9322 John McKinney
 Tuesday, 15th June, 2010

Saville Report: Reactions from Guildhall Square, Bond St. and Inishowen
In the early afternoon sunshine, Guildhall Buncrana has its say...
Square, the original intended destination
of the anti-internment marchers on
Bloody Sunday, played host to scenes of
cathartic joy involving a cheering crowd
of thousands. Around 7pm last night, a
smaller, more diffuse gathering wandered
the Square, apparently soaking up the
enduring atmosphere of the occasion. The
‘Journal’ asked some of them for their
views on the day’s events and also sought
the reaction of people in Inishowen.
Dervla McLaughlin: "I
Gerard Doherty: “It’s lovely to see would hope that it would
Angela McGowan: “We’re
it sorted out. A lot of people had bring it to a conclusion for Ciaran MacLochlainn:
delighted with the outcome after
different opinions, but hopefully people in Derry and I think "It is a long time wait
all these years, we knew a lot of
this is it done.” (1806PG45) it is a good thing for the for justice but it has
the people affected. It’s just great,
people of Derry." finally arrived".
after so many years.” (1806PG42)
(1606JM34) (1606JM35)

Seamus O’Donnell: “It’s a
tremendous day, I’m
overjoyed. Being on the
march, knowing a lot of the
facts myself, I knew the
Widgery Report was total
lies. I’m sitting here, just
taking it all in.” (1806PG40)
Caoimhe Forbes: “It’s a
victorious day for the people of
Derry.” (1806PG41)
LEFT:
Catherine O’Doherty: "I haven't Ray Lannon: "I just
read the report yet but I would like hope the families
to think that this report will give can get peace now
closure to both sides of it. I think it with the result of
will put it to rest after this. I this, it should bring
remember being a student at the them closure.
time and it certainly shocked Hopefully after 38
everybody in the whole country years there will be
peace with the
and Inishowen people very much.
There would have been a lot of families and all the
people in the area
people who had families or
relatives who died there. And that have suffered
Mary McCloskey: “It’s just a great as a result of
Sean Gibbons: “It’s a cracking people would have known the
decision for the families; a long time Bloody Sunday."
result for the families.” families that were involved.
waiting, but it’s great, a great (1606JM33)
(1806PG44) (1606JM36)
feeling.” (1806PG43)

Cautious welcome for Saville

in loyalist community
Nigel Gardiner, of loyalist ex-prisoners group Epic,
said Bloody Sunday was " wrong and should never
have happened."
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Saville's findings were last
night given a cautious wel-
come in Derry's loyalist Bonds
Street community last night -
but many told the 'Journal'
they were reluctant to express
a view in public.
Local resident Andrew Little
says no one can deny that yes-
terday's report " put the truth
out there" but he says it also
raises a number of areas of
concern for loyalists.
"There are questions over the
role of Martin McGuinness.
The report says he was active
on that day and that puts a
question mark over his role as
Deputy First Minster."
He says many loyalists would
also have problems over the
cost of Saville and called for
similar inquiries into other
Troubles related deaths.
"People find it hard to under-
stand the cost involved, too
many people think it’s a total
waste of money. I think even
nationalists would say that.
Now there should be inquiries
into other things that hap-
pened, Bloody Friday, Omagh,
even the killing of Billy
Wright."
Nigel Gardiner, of loyalist ex-
prisoners group Epic, told the
'Journal', Bloody Sunday was
"wrong and should not have
happened."
He said he had heard very
few views expressed locally
but said the report may allow
Derry's nationalist and loyalist
communities to move closer
together.
" I haven't heard too much
reaction from people but in my
own opinion Bloody Sunday
was wrong and it should not
have happened. That has been
vindicated today.
" I now think reciprocation is
required. We need a hand
extended to the Protestant
community who for a large
part have become alienated by
Bloody Sunday."
He says he had initial fears
over the cost of Saville.
" At the beginning I had prob-
lems with the cost because I
didn't see it going anywhere,
but the victims and relatives,
who fought a long and arduous
campaign, have been totally
vindicated.
" I am also mindful of what
David Cameron said about
there being no further
inquiries. Now you have to
ask, does this cause problems
within the protestant commu-
nity in regard to the hurt they
have suffered in atrocities on
the Shankill Road, or
Enniskillen to name but a cou-
ple.
" But we must also now ask, is
it time to move on, not to ever
forget, but to move on."
Mr Gardiner says it is impor-
tant to look forward in the
wake of Saville.
"We are now vying for the
City of Culture, that is some-
thing we all must work for. But
Londonderry can no longer be
a cold house for the Protestant
community."
The 'Journal' canvassed the
opinions of other residents’ -
many said the report was a
"good thing" - but they
declined to speak publicly.
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010

‘Jim will be doing a jig in heaven’

By Sheena Jackson
sheena.jackson@derryjournal.com
When Liam Wray took to the
stage in a sun drenched
Guildhall Square yesterday
afternoon, in front of thou-
sands of supporters, he knew
his big brother, Jim, who was
gunned down on Bloody
Sunday was with him in spirit.
“Jim was “specifically target-
ed while posing no threat, and
shot in the back,” said Liam.
"As he lay there, defenceless
and dying, he was deliberately
shot again. The Saville Report
stated clearly that there was
no justification for either of
these two shots. Now the
world knows the truth," he
said.
"Send the costs to
Speaking after the world
heard his 22-year-old brother
was innocent, an emotional Mr.
Wray explained what Lord
Saville’s report meant not just
for his brother or their family,
but for the whole of Derry.
“It might only have been a
couple of hours that we were
in there, in the Guildhall, but it
seemed like 48 years. It was
just so long, but it’s the end of
that process and all I can say is
that it has been worth it. If it
had of taken another 38, it
would have been worth it.”
Having fought for justice to
clear his brother’s name along
with the families of the 13
other Bloody Sunday victims,
Mr. Wray told the ‘Journal’:
“We always knew the truth, but
now the whole world
knows the truth. This
means the vindication of
what the people in Derry
and the families have been
saying for 38 years - that
our relatives, and they may
call it unjustifiable in legal
terms, but it means they
were murdered. It means
the truth has been exposed
and now the opportunity
for justice can take place.
There is an opportunity for
the people who say they
are in government, for the
people who say that things
are wrong and have to be
pursued, that opportunity
is now here and the world
knows through this Inquiry
and what the Prime
Minister of Great Britain
said, our relatives were
innocent and they were
murdered.
there and his presence is
here today. It’s a great day
and there are celebrations
in Derry and there are cele-
brations in heaven. He’s up
there in heaven doing a jig.
What better day could you
have?”
Mr. Wray said his family
expects the PSNI and the
Public Prosecution Service
to look at the findings in
Lord Saville’s report.
“Clearly, and I am speak-
ing in relation to my own
brother, Jim was fleeing
Glenfada Park and was
brought down by one shot
that was targeted at him
deliberately, while he lay
on the ground and the
probability that he was
shot again and that was
shot was also unjustified. In
the terminology of legal jar-
gon, unjustified means it

Widgery" - Young family “I remember my brother

By Laurence McClenaghan
laurence.mcclenaghan@derryjournal.com
Speaking on the steps of the
Guildhall, Leo Young, said he
believed the Saville findings
would bring his family a sense
of closure - a sense which has
been missing for the last 38
years.
Mr. Young has long been
campaigning to clear the
name of his brother, John,
who died at the Rossville
Street barricade. John was 17
years old.
Asked if there was a sense of
closure for the Young family,
Leo replied: "I would say there
is because I don't think there
will be prosecutions. To be
honest I don't care if there are
prosecutions or not. I would-
n't care one way or another.
My brother was declared inno-
cent and that is what we set
An emotional Leo Young, whose
brother John died on Bloody
Sunday, after the findings of the
Saville Report were published.
as a loving human being.
He was six foot one and
wasn’t warranted and
means it was illegal which
means it was murder. I will
every inch of that was a be looking for prosecutions
lovely human being,” he in the sense that these
said, choked with emotion, services now need to do
out to do." wiping tears away. “I their job. Jim was a big
A delighted Leo, who was remember a brother that I warm loving human being. I
speaking with his wife by his have lost and I’ll never get knew, Derry knew and now
side, said: "I can't express back but, as I have said, I the world knows he was Liam Wray, brother of Jim Wray, celebrates as he leaves the Guildhall yesterday.
what I feel now. It has been a always felt Jim’s presence innocent."
big weight on us and our fami-
ly for 38 years. They have now
said they were innocent which
we knew from the start. John
has been completely vindicat-
ed. The soldiers were com-
pletely damned for their lies
and their deceit. It was them
and their lies that kept the tri-
bunal going.
"People have argued about
the cost but the costs should
be sent to Widgery as he
caused all that. If he had done
his job right in the first place,
we wouldn't be here today."
"I never saw any nail
bombs on Gerard"
Speaking about a portion of
Saville's report which stated
that: "Gerald Donaghey proba-
bly had nail bombs in his
pocket, but he was not prepar-
ing to throw them when he
was shot," Mr. Young, who was
in a car with Gerard en route
to hospital said: "As far as I'm
concerned, until the day I die,
I never saw anything in Gerard
Donaghey's pockets.
"In the car, as he was lying
across my chest I never saw
any nail bombs. If I had saw
them I would have stopped
the car - why would you take
bombs to Altnagelvin
Hospital."

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 Tuesday, 15th June, 2010

10

Paul Doherty - holding an image of his late father Patrick

Doherty - takes part in yesterday’s march from the Bogside to Families of those killed on Bloody Sunday arrive at the Guildhall yesterday for their first
the Guildhall. glimpse of the Saville Report.

Loved ones of those murdered and wounded on Bloody Sunday arrive at the Guildhall.

Tuesday morning - A man walks past a mural in the Bogside commemorating the Bloody Sunday shootings.

The £195m Saville Report on the events of Bloody Sunday is finally Security guards lock the gates of the Guildhall in the early hours of Tuesday morning
delivered to the Guildhall in the early hours of Tuesday morning. as the £195m Saville Report on the events of Bloody Sunday is finally delivered 12
A man walks past Free Derry Wall in the Bogside area of the city yesterday. years after the inquiry started.
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010

11

Army chief backs It is with Regret

After 15 years of Trading Mighty Price

apology is Closing Down

The apology by British Prime Minister David

Cameron over the Bloody Sunday killings has
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been endorsed by the British Army’s Chief of
the General Staff.
General Sir David Richards said the innocent civil-
ians who died on Derry’s darkest day did nothing
which could justify their shooting. He added that

All stock must go

“lessons” had been learned from the atrocity.
The British Army chief said he fully supported the
report's description of the day as "a tragedy for the
bereaved and the wounded, and a catastrophe for
the people of Northern Ireland".
Gen Richards added: "The report leaves me in no
doubt that serious mistakes and failings by officers
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and soldiers on that terrible day led to the deaths of
13 civilians who did nothing that could have justi- (shelving fittings and fixtures also for sale)
fied their shooting.
"The Prime Minister has apologised on behalf of
the Government of the United Kingdom, the Army
and those involved on the day, and I fully support
that statement.” Management & staff wish to thank all their
He added that the “tragic events of Bloody
Sunday” should never be forgotten. customers for their loyalty over the last
"In the 38 years since that tragic day's events, les-
sons have been learned. The way the Army is
trained, the way it works and the way it operates
15 years
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have all changed significantly.”
However, the army boss maintained that “the
overwhelming majority” of the military personnel
deployed in North over the 38 years of Operation
Banner conducted themselves with “utter profes-
sionalism, restraint and humanity”. LESSONS LEARNED...General Sir David Richards.

Saville and govt ‘one eyed’ - Maginnis

In exchanges in the House of Lords yes- from a peaceful parade to con- of such costly inquiries.
terday, Ulster Unionist Lord Maginnis front soldiers who themselves Lords Leader Lord
of Drumglass accused the Saville had never been trained for that Strathclyde, who had repeated
inquiry and the Government of being sort of confrontation in an the Prime Minister's statement
"one-eyed" in its emphasis on just 13 of urban guerrilla warfare situa- to peers, acknowledged that
tion." the circumstances had been
the 180 violent deaths in the North in
Lord Maginnis said that was "tense and bordering on criti-
the year preceding Bloody Sunday. the background against which cal".
Lord Maginnis, an Ulster Defence the Saville Report should be He said Bloody Sunday
Regiment major from 1970 to 1981, said: seen, and he urged people not should not be allowed to define
"As someone who was on duty on January to "dismiss" the many deaths the 38 years of UK military
30 1972, I deeply regret the death of 13 peo- that had not been the subject operations in Northern Ireland.
ple in Derry on that day.
"But I cannot be as magnanimous or as
one-eyed as I feel Saville and indeed, I am
sorry to say, this government has been in
the way it has received Saville.
"Before Bloody Sunday, 180 people died in
Northern Ireland, victims of terrorism. The
13 deaths are regrettable, but no more
regrettable than the other 167, the other
94% of the people who died that year."
Lord Maginnis, who was his party's secu-
rity spokesman in the Commons, went on:
"The deaths in Derry have been investigat-
ed at a cost of almost £200 million when in
fact we all knew the answer and we all
knew that a huge
error had been
FOR SALE
2a ABBOTS WALK made."
DERRY, BT48 9HA He told peers
This ground floor that, as a TA sol-
one bedroom dier, he had "run
apartment is the gauntlet of
conveniently planned IRA
located within assassination and
walking distance of personal
the city. Offers attack".
excellent
rental potential. "But one has got
Reduced to to remember the
£35,950.00 many, many peo-
Alexander Gourley ple who were not
98 Spencer Road rioting, who had
028 71 346612 not broken away
 Tuesday, 15th June, 2010

12

The Mayor of Derry Councillor Colum Eastwood marching with the Bloody Sunday families to Guildhall Square.
(1806PG05) Photo Phil Gamble

Patrick Young, brother of Bloody Sunday victim John Young, greets Eamonn McCann at the Bloody Sunday monument.
Included is John Kelly whose younger brother, Michael, was also murdered on Bloody Sunday. (1806PG01) Photo Phil
Gamble

Families gather at the Bloody Sunday monument yesterday morning. (1806PG03) Photo Phil Gamble

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness speaking to the press at Guildhall Square. (1806PG11) Photo Phil Gamble

Families begin the march from the Bloody Sunday monument to Guildhall Square. (1806PG04) Photo Phil Gamble

Joe Mahon and Mickey Bridge - both wounded on Bloody Sunday - pictured in the Bogside yesterday.(1506SL10) Photo: Liam Wray and Kay Duddy - who both lost brothers on Bloody Sunday - pictured arriving at the Guildhall. (1806PG13) Photo
Stephen Latimer Phil Gamble
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010

13

“I don’t want to see my father’s killer behind bars”

By Erin Hutcheon
erin.hutcheon@derryjournal.com
Tony Doherty, whose father Paddy
was murdered as he tried to crawl to
safety in the shadow of Rossville Flats
on Bloody Sunday, says the person
who killed his father should not spend
one day in jail.
Speaking to the ‘Derry Journal’ on the
steps of the Guildhall yesterday after-
noon, an emotional Mr Doherty said
that, even if prosecutions were to fol-
low the publication of the Saville
report, he does not want to see his
father’s killer behind bars.
“That’s something I believe,” he
said.”I’ll not be chasing British soldiers
up and down the island of Britain or
anywhere else, but I do expect to be
treated with equality before the law.
“Today David Cameron gave us the
words ‘unjustified’ and ‘unjustifiable’ -
those are the words we have been
waiting to hear since January 30, 1972.
“The people of Derry have been
absolutely brilliant. The victims of
Bloody Sunday have been vindicated
and the Parachute Regiment have
been disgraced. Their medals of hon-
our have to be removed.
“The truth has been brought home at
last. It can now be proclaimed to the
world that the dead and wounded of
Bloody Sunday, civil rights marchers
one and all were innocent, gunned
down in their own streets by soldiers
who had been given to believe that
they could kill with perfect impunity.
“The Parachute Regiment are the
front line assassins of Britain’s political
and military elite.
“The report of the Saville Tribunal
confirms this, it was the Paras’ mission
in Derry to massacre people, they
would have known that murder was
what expected.
“Bloody Sunday wounded Derry very,
very badly, we may hope that from
today we can bind up those wounds.
“When the state kills its citizens, it is
in the interests of all that those respon-
sible be held to account. It is not just
Derry, or one section of the people, but
democracy itself which needs to look
out.
"The British people need to know, the
Irish people need to know, the world
now knows."
Mr Doherty said British Prime
Minister David Cameron had “taken
responsibility” for the issue.
“The apology was vital,” he said. “I
did not expect him to use the words
that he did.
“After 38 years, I feel a great sense of
pride and a sense of vindication.
There’s a probable sense that we have
experienced humanity at its worst and
today we have seen humanity at its
best.”
Asked if he felt the families could now
move on, Mr Doherty said: “I think for
many people in Derry the issue of mov-
ing on was always stuck on the accu-
sations that were made against the
dead and wounded of the day. What
has happened today will give the peo-
ple the opportunity to reflect.
Tony Doherty and Minty Thompson on the steps of the Guildhall. (1806PG32)
“We have to digest what Saville has
said; clearly in the body of the report said that all of the killings were unjus- soldier involved.
there are findings that I think any pros- tified, he said all of the people were “This is a key statement and may
ecution service would be uncomfort- killed in circumstances where there have great value in how this is used in
able with, because Lord Saville has was no fear or panic on behalf of the the future.”

‘Kevin is innocent’ ‘Derry’s been vindicated

By Sheena Jackson ents. He was the middle child and to rest of the world’ -
sheena.jackson@derryjournal.com

“Kevin is innocent”.
These are the three words that the
family of 17-year-old Kevin
McElhinney who was killed on
Bloody Sunday have been waiting
almost four decades for the world to
hear.
“It’s like a huge weight has been
lifted off your shoulders, amazing,”
said Kevin’s big sister, Jean Hegarty,
of the findings of Lord Saville’s
report.
Kevin McElhinney was shot from
behind as he tried to crawl to safety
in the Rossville Flats. He was shot
close to the flats' front entrance,
near to the rubble barricade, and
was dragged inside by some people
sheltering there. He was unarmed.
Only 23 at the time and in Canada
with a young family of her own, Jean
heard the news just hours after the
shootings that a handful of people
had been killed during rioting in
Derry, but she thought little of it
after it was reported the dead were
“gunmen and nail bombers”.
It was only early the next morning
that she was woken to the news that
her teenage brother had been
involved.
“Kevin was shy and quiet and a bit
of a pest as all wee brothers are,” she
said.
“Everybody in the family misses
him, no one more so than my par-
the heart was taken out of the family
when Kevin was killed. All of us miss
him in our separate ways and collec-
tively. There is always somebody
missing.“
“It’s a great day for our family
because Kevin’s name has been
completely cleared and the rest of
the people have been completely
cleared. It’s a great day for Derry to
have this shadow lifted from us.”
As the hordes of media filed away
from the Guildhall, Mrs Hegarty said
she and her siblings would be going
to Kevin’s grave to lay flowers. She
said her father, Lawrence, the only
surviving parent of the victims,
would be “elated” with the news. As
for her “quiet and shy” brother, she
said: ”Oh, I think Kevin would be
delighted, absolutely.”
As the family take time to digest the
hefty 5,000 page report, Mrs.
Hegarty said: “That’ll take a long
time.
“If prosecutions are indicated, if
there is evidence in there that needs
to be followed, then that is up to the
authorities to be doing that. It’ll take
us time to digest it and all of that is
for another day.
“This is just a great day and I want
to thank everyone for their support.
“We know that all the way the city
has been behind us and we couldn’t
have done this without them.”
She added: “The world knows the
truth now.”
Bloody Sunday survivor, Alana Burke, salutes the thousand of people gathered
in Derry's Guildhall, as she reads out the names of the wounded. (1506SL60)
Photo: Stephen Latimer
‘I’m ecstatic’: Alana Burke
One of only two women
injured on Bloody Sunday has
said that she is 'ecstatic' about
the findings of the Saville
Inquiry.
Alana Burke was just 18-years-
old when she was crushed by
an armoured personnel carrier
in the courtyard of the
Rossville Flats.
Yesterday, Alana said that,
while it had been a very long
journey for her and the families
of other victims, the publica-
tion of the report was an 'unfor-
gettable day.'
'While we were in the
Guildhall, it was very, very
tense to start with. But once we
got the gist of the report and
knew everything was going to
be OK, that the vindications
were going to be across the
board, it was such a relief."
She admitted that it was a day
of 'mixed emotion' for her.
"After what happened to me
on Bloody Sunday, I had to go
through a lot medically. My
injury was complicated and I
was told I would never have
children.
"However, I have a son Gareth
who was in an accident three
weeks ago. At the the minute he
is in intensive care. I got up on
the podium and spoke for him
today."
Alana paid tribute to the peo-
ple of Derry and 'the support
they have given us which has
just been brilliant. They have
got behind the Bloody Sunday
families for so long."
Damien Donaghey
Speaking outside the Guildhall amid beaming smiles
and tears of relief, Damien Donaghey, the first man
shot on Bloody Sunday, said the city and those that
were killed or injured, were finally vindicated.
He said: “It is unbelievable. I went in there this morn-
ing and we heard many people saying this and that. We
all knew, the whole of Derry knew that everybody was
shot deliberately. Derry was vindicated today to the
rest of the world.”
The 5,000 page report was summarised to 60 for the
families who were given hours to digest the summary
before it was made public at 3.30pm. Mr Donaghey
said the full report was huge. “By the time we got in,
the solicitors had everything marked out for us. We
knew in the first half hour but had to sit for the rest of
the two hours. We were stuck in the Guildhall watching
the march. Everybody was hugging each other.
“It is just unbelievable here today. It just shows the
support the Bloody Sunday people have.”
Mr Donaghey said he was surprised by the words
from Prime Minister, David Cameron. “He gave it to
them. And it was a Conservative government that did
it in 1972.
“No one wounded was posing a threat of death of seri-
ous injury or intended wounding or anything else that
would justify their shootings. We are all innocent.”
Mr Donaghey said the Paratroopers were still a reck-
less force today. He said: “They killed 11 people in
Ballymurphy, they killed two on the Shankilll Road.
Where else have they gone to in the world and killed
people? Wherever they go they kill people steady.
“When you look at soldier ‘F’ he shot four people and
wounded three other people. There will be justice for
the families, hopefully. I don’t think we will ever get a
soldier in court, but get something done to them.”

‘Bring murder charges against Paras’: ‘Sunday’ wounded

By Laurence McClenaghan
laurence.mcclenaghan@derryjournal.com
Mickey Bridge, who was wou nded on
Bloody Sunday, has called on the
Director of Public Prosecutions to have
"a serious look at the report" and bring
murder charges against the
Paratroopers.
He also said that the report didn't fol-
low the chain of command to the top.
"There is evidence to suggest that what
happened reached higher than the sol-
diers on the ground. The evidence of
complicity higher up in the British
establishment is their attempted cover
up of what happened here 38 years
ago.
"You don't brand the victims - blatant-
ly label them guilty to the world - to
cover for wayward soldiers."
Calling for prosecutions to follow the
conclusions of the Saville Report, Mr.
Bridge, who was wounded by para-
troopers in the car park of the Rossville
Flats, said: "You do wrong and you
expect to get punished for it by the law.
"The director of public prosecutions
will have to look very, very seriously at
this now.
"There is at least one soldier guilty of
multiple murder. It is quite plain that
numerous soldiers are also guilty of
perjury - Saville makes that quite clear."
Stating that the report brings some
closure to him: "After a long battle, we
did get vindication. We did get it con-
firmed that we were innocent and we
did get it confirmed that we were shot
unlawfully.
"This is vindication of what we have
been trying to do for 38 years. It has
been a long and difficult journey.
"Even this morning it was a difficult
journey to the Guildhall. We had put
our trust in the Law Lords before and
we know what happened then. I don't
think this report went where it should
have went. If what happened here was
soldiers running amok then they would
have been taken to task, even privately.
What the British establishment did to
us in their attempts to cover up Bloody
Sunday stuck with us for 38 years."
Mr. Bridge claimed: "There is a paper
trail which leads to the then Prime
Minister, - at least there was."
"All the people in the government had
to have known what was going to hap-
pen on that day all those years ago.
They were discussing shooting 'lead
rioters,' as they referred to them, only
days before Bloody Sunday. You just
can't ignore the evidence."
While admitting that the apology by
British Prime Minister David Cameron
“meant a lot, “they have now accepted
that what happened was totally wrong
and out of order. But, he suggests; "The
Prime Minister of Britain could have
apologised in 1972 because the evi-
dence was there in 1972.
"What I am going to do now is read
the report and find out how Saville has
come to his conclusions."
 Tuesday, 15th June, 2010

14

HAMILL’S
BEAT
Norman Hamill Bloody Sunday
poured petrol on
Justice is
truth in the flames of war
action
“Let justice be done, though the world per-
ish,” said Roman Emperor Ferdinand. It’s a
good principle yet in practical terms any deci-
sion to prosecute soldiers will be a difficult
one for the Public Prosecution Service. On bal-
ance, I believe where there is sufficient evi-
dence; prosecutions should happen even
though no soldier is likely to serve a single day
in prison as a result. This is because all other
prisoners were released following the Good
Friday Agreement.
The criminal law applies to soldiers as it does
to everyone else. Obviously it will take time for
lawyers to digest the detail of Lord Saville’s
Report. A sufficient degree of recklessness can
amount to a crime. I am relieved, however, that
blame was not exclusively fixed on low-ranking
young soldiers while their military lords and
masters walked away blame free. The ‘elite’
Parachute Regiment was drafted into Derry
against advice from the city’s wise and experi-
enced police commander. The report estab-
lishes that the soldiers actually moved into the
Bogside on the orders of Colonel Derek Wilford
contrary to the instructions he had been given
from his superiors. He should not escape the
consequences of his fateful decision.
Marchers burst through a banner depicting the discredited Widgery Tribunal. (1806PG24) Photo Phil Gamble

The tragedy of Bloody Sunday troubles were already well under- police officers to be killed in Derry for personal protection.

Truth at last
Yesterday the sun shone on Derry. It was in
stark contrast to that winter day in 1972. It was
a privilege to be in Guildhall Square on an
emotional day to witness history in the mak-
ing.
Not since the early days of the Troubles had
we seen a turnout of the world’s media any-
thing like it. The march led by relatives of
those killed and injured on that fateful day
broke through the symbolic barricade at the
bottom of William Street and turned the corner
into Waterloo Place before sweeping on to the
Guildhall. They turned a corner metaphorically
as well as literally. In a sense the 1972 march
has finally reached its destination. Truth so
long denied has now been officially uncovered.
The first indication that all the dead and
injured were to be exonerated came when rela-
tives gave the ‘thumbs-up’ from the Guildhall
windows.
Then David Cameron spoke to the British
House of Commons as frankly as anyone had
dared to hope. Relatives of the dead and
injured then emerged from the Guildhall and
spoke with great dignity. The reaction of
Catholic and Protestant clergymen and most
politicians was generous and gracious. It will
take some time to absorb the detail of the
report but yesterday was a good day. It is a
time for healing.
has been an open wound for too
long. Now at last the healing
process can start.
When it comes to suffering there’s
no such thing as a hierarchy of vic-
tims no matter how much some
might wish it to be otherwise. Pain
and grief are the same for everyone.
And to a greater or lesser degree,
by attitude, act or omission, we all
(everyone over a certain age and
generations past) helped to create
the conditions for conflict.
But Bloody Sunday was different
from other violence. It has to be dif-
ferent when state forces, charged
with preserving law and order,
themselves break the law even
though the resulting human suffer-
ing is always the same.
Some have sought to limit the ram-
ifications of Bloody Sunday by
describing it as just another
tragedy in a long litany of tragedy.
To do so is wrong. But without
detracting from the significance of
the day it is fair to point out that it
happened in terribly troubled
times. Many people on all ‘sides’
had already suffered a great deal.
Bloody Sunday didn’t start our
troubles. It did, however, mark the
start of my time in the police.
Three days before Bloody Sunday
70 ‘rookie’ police officers ‘passed
out’ of the RUC Training Centre in
Enniskillen. I was one of them. The
way. Internment without trial had
been introduced the previous
August and that was another disas-
ter. Eleven police officers and many
others had been killed in the previ-
ous five months.
On the morning of our passing out
ceremony we heard that two more
officers had been killed and a third
injured. There had been a shooting
in Derry. My younger brother,
Desmond, was to attend the
Enniskillen ceremony along with
my parents. He was already a serv-
ing officer here. Shortly before he
finished duty earlier that morning
he was directed to go to Altnagelvin
Hospital.
There in the mortuary were the
bodies of Sergeant Peter Gilgunn,
27, and Constable David
Montgomery, 20. They had been
shot and fatally injured as they
drove up the steep hill to
Rosemount RUC Station in an
unmarked Ford Cortina. Constable
Charlie Maloney was wounded.
Two other officers were extremely
fortunate to escape injury. Two IRA
men had stepped out from side
streets and opened fire as the
Cortina passed, hitting it 17 times.
When I had a chance to chat to my
guests, after the ceremony, my
brother told me how sad he had felt
to see two colleagues lying lifeless
in the mortuary. They were the first
for over 50 years. (Incidentally, just
over two months later my brother
was himself killed in a road acci-
dent. He too, died aged 20.)
My squad left Enniskillen on
Thursday 27th January 1972. Two
days later, Requiem Mass for Peter
Gilgunn was held in St Patrick’s
Church at Pennyburn. Incidentally,
he was a Cavan man and a fluent
Gaelic speaker. Most of the congre-
gation were police officers.
‘City convulsed’
The following day was Bloody
Sunday. The city was convulsed.
Yesterday we finally had the truth
about what happened after the
largest and most expensive judicial
inquiry in the history of these
islands. Most people here already
knew that army discipline seriously
broke down that day.
Bloody Sunday made an already
grim situation much worse. It
poured petrol on the flames of war.
I arrived in the city, along with four
or five other raw recruits, a couple
of weeks after the event. After leav-
ing Enniskillen we’d been in Belfast
learning life-saving skills in the
swimming baths at Templemore
Avenue. We were all unarmed and
had received no firearms training,
although it did follow a few weeks
later. The force was still officially
unarmed but by that stage firearms
had already been widely re-issued
Not for the first time in its history
the ‘Maiden City’ was a war zone.
The army had bases all over the
place. They had permanent check-
points on every street corner and
on Craigavon Bridge. They had
built countless sangars with sand-
bags, concrete blocks and sheets of
corrugated iron. They were effec-
tively in charge of what passed for
law and order. More often than not,
it was grave disorder. Even the mili-
tary didn’t venture into ‘Free
Derry’. (Except on Bloody Sunday.)
Behind makeshift barricades and
white lines, they were no-go for the
army or police. It wasn’t until the
following summer that the army
moved in with overwhelming
strength in Operation Motorman.
For any young officer moving from
training to the street is a big chal-
lenge. To make the transition into a
war-zone, dominated by the army
(and in ‘Free Derry’ by the IRA) was
almost overwhelming. Derry was
like Bagdad at its worst.
Most of the city was seething with
anger. It was all a bit surreal. A few
long-serving officers still lived on
the cityside. In conversations over
the years some these ‘old hands’
told me they recognised how seri-
ously things had changed for the
worse on Bloody Sunday. Sadly
very many more killings were to fol-
low over the next 30 years or so.
 15

‘Relieved and ‘Truth has won out’ – Hume

Nobel Laureate John Hume
has welcomed the British
‘Journal’: “Today is a day
when the truth has won out.
“proud” to stand side by
side with the Bloody

delighted for the

Government’s acknowledg- “The people of Derry have Sunday families in Guildhall
ment that “its army mur- always known that every- Square as the findings of
dered” on Bloody Sunday. one shot on Bloody Sunday Lord Justice Saville were
The former SDLP leader was entirely innocent. With announced yesterday after-
and Foyle MP made the the publication of the noon.
comments following the Saville Report, the British He described Lord Saville’s

families’– Bishop
publication of the Saville state has acknowledged report - which followed the
Report into Bloody Sunday their innocence and that its inquiry announced when he
and the subsequent army murdered on that day. was still an MP in 1998, as a
Westminster addresses by Now the world knows the “tremendous outcome for
British Prime Minister truth that Derry has always the long campaign which
David Cameron. known.” the families have carried
Mr. Hume told the He added that he was through”.

The man associated with the

most iconic image of Bloody
Sunday, the priest waving the
Bloody Handkerchief, yester-
day described his emotions as
one of immense relief - for the
families and for himself
Bishop Edward Daly who was
with the Bloody Sunday families
after they received Lord Saville’s
report, said he had been carrying
the load of what happened that
fateful day for the last 38 years.
“I’m relieved and delighted for
the families,” Bishop Daly told the
‘Journal.’ “The families have wait-
ed a long time for this, and I’m glad
they’ve lived long enough to see it.
“It is good that the truth has final-
ly emerged. They have all been
cleared and vindicated. It’s won-
derful to see it. I have always get closure,” he said. “People learn ed report.
known that they were innocent, to deal and cope with things but And he said the statement by
now the world has seen it.” they still remember their loved British Prime Minister David
Bishop Daly, who now dedicates ones.” Cameron had given the family’s
his life to working with the termi- He explained how yesterday’s comfort.
nally ill, said he didn’t believe in events began with tension and “It was a very powerful state-
the term “closure.” apprehension as the families wait- ment,” he said. “I’m grateful to
“When someone dies, you never ed to see Lord Saville’s long await- Lord Saville and to the others.”

‘Momentous
day for Derry’
– McGuinness
Sinn Féin leader Martin McGuinness has
said yesterday was “an absolutely
momentous day” in the long history of
Derry.
Speaking after the findings of Lord
Saville’s report, which described the mur-
ders of 14 people on Bloody Sunday as
“unjustifiable,” Mr McGuinness said it was
one of the “better days” ever seen in the
city.
The Deputy First Minister spoke at a
press conference alongside Sinn Féin
president Gerry Adams where the pair
said the Saville report confirmed what the
people of Derry have known for 38 years.
Mr McGuinness said: “This is a momen-
tous day for Derry, a day where the fami-
lies have been vindicated.
“Every single person in this city has
been found not to have been contraven-
ing anything or doing anything that would
have justified what happened,” he said.
Mr Adams commended the families for
their long campaign.
“It is a wonderful day for Ireland and for
anyone in the world who is interested in
justice,” he said.
Lord Saville’s report suggested that Mr
McGuinness may have been armed with a
Thompson sub machine gun on Bloody
Sunday but also found that he did nothing
that could have provided any justification
for the paratroopers opening fire.
Mr McGuinness denied that he had been
armed on the day.

16
A.F.N. CLARKE wrote a book, ‘Contact’, later made into a film, about his
experiences serving as an officer of the Parachute Regiment in the North in the
1970s. Here he gives his reaction to the Saville Report.
REFLECTIONS
ONATRAGEDY
If on 23rd February 1972, any-
one had said to me that I would
be writing an article in the
‘Derry Journal’ thirty-eight
years in the future, I would have
sought to have that person com-
mitted. Because on that day
seven innocent civilians died in
the Parachute Regiment Brigade
Officer’s Mess, five women and
two men. It was a retaliatory
attack against the Regiment
whose 1st Battalion had killed
thirteen innocent civilians in the
Bogside in Derry just three
weeks earlier, and wounded
many more. The eternal tit-for-
tat in a struggle for civil rights
and freedom, about which few
of us in England had any under-
standing.
My name is Anthony Clarke and on
that day in February 1972, I was a
Lance Corporal serving in the
Depot The Parachute Regiment
prior to going to Mons Officer Cadet
School. I heard and felt the blast
and saw the horrendous result.
Subsequently I served two tours in
Northern Ireland as a Platoon
Commander - 1973 in the Shankill
Road area of Belfast and 1976 in
Crossmaglen.
Those are the bare facts that hide
the legacy that has stayed with me
ever since. On 11th August 1976 I
was evacuated from Crossmaglen
to Musgrave Park Hospital Belfast
in the last week of my Battalion’s
tour of duty with severe internal
bleeding. Many months in and out
of various hospitals resulted in the
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010
complete removal of my large
bowel and subsequently sixteen
surgeries over the last 33 years. I
am simply one of the statistics that
in the intervening years has grown
into a very long list affecting fami-
lies in Northern Ireland, Eire, Wales,
Scotland and England. A statistic
that luckily survived when many
did not, including one of my sol-
diers who was killed by a bicycle
bomb in Crossmaglen Square,
another senseless statistic in a war
that should never have happened.
In the book ‘The Art of War’ Sun
Tzu wrote ‘There is no instance of a
country having benefitted from pro-
longed warfare’. What he wrote
2,500 years ago stands true today.
Eventually all the warring factions,
by the laws of attrition, have to
agree to cease fighting and to talk
peacefully in order to attain a meas-
ure of compromise, so that the citi-
zens of that war-torn country may
return to their lives and raise their
families without the threat of death
and destruction. Not an easy task
when the legitimate grievances of
the oppressed are not addressed by
the occupying force. The Paras in William Street in Derry’s Bogside in 1972.
On Tuesday, 15th June 2010 the
Saville Inquiry Report into the
Bloody Sunday killings was pub- cials in the Government and the pain and suffering of the families of of the victims of Bloody Sunday. A
lished for all to read, statements Army; indeed those that should the victims both in Derry and in former Para in Derry, in the
were made by politicians, and the admit responsibility will continue Aldershot. What occurred on 30th Bogside, if not entirely accepted,
media eagerly searched for some to either remain silent or to vehe- January 1972, ordered by Army was greeted with a graciousness
controversy to sell mently deny the facts. Commanders and their superiors in that was truly humbling. That some
more newspapers, Much has been writ- the British Government, affected would have wished to do me harm
attract more viewers
to their websites or
“That the ten, and much will be
written, about Bloody
the lives of many thousands of peo-
ple for decades.
there is no doubt, but a majority
were open to listen to what I had to
gain greater radio
and television rat-
deaths of Sunday and about the
Parachute Regiment, ‘Move forward’ say, and to see that not all
Parachute Regiment soldiers are
ings. For the people
directly affected by
those of which there will be
speculation, invention
While we cannot change the past,
it is essential that we move forward
the monsters of 30th January 1972.
Most of us found the events of that
the tragedy of
Bloody Sunday it will
innocent and perhaps some-
where the truth peek-
and create a different future; a
future of peace and reconciliation
day horrifying and lived to reap the
whirlwind the perpetrators created.
make little difference
to their lives, except
civilians is an ing through
agendas of whomever
the where people can live, work and
play together, demonstrating how
There were no winners from that
day, just a great many damaged
to rightly proclaim
the innocence of
abhorrence, is writing about that
day.
previously warring factions can
agree to disagree, and come togeth-
people and we must all do every-
thing in our power to now repair
those killed in the
Bogside on 30th
an act of That the deaths of
those innocent civil-
er to work towards a common goal
- the peace and prosperity of their
that damage and create an example
of Peace and Reconciliation in
January 1972. Those
words typed on
deliberate ians is an abhorrence,
an act of deliberate
neighbourhood, city, county and
country.
Derry, as embodied in the Peace
Bridge. But simple words of peace
sheets of paper will
be consigned to a
insanity, is insanity, is not in
doubt. That the
At the end of April 2010, I had the
privilege of being invited to partici-
and reconciliation are meaningless
unless backed by positive action.
dusty archive, and
those who remain
not in doubt. Parachute Regiment
should never have
pate in an exhibition at the Tower
Museum in Derry, an exhibition cre-
That is the challenge we all now
face.
responsible will been used in what was ated by East London schoolchild- “Any man's death diminishes me,
heave a sigh of relief and go about a policing situation is also not in ren with the help of the Eastside because I am involved in mankind”.
their lives as if nothing had hap- doubt. But the official acceptance Community Heritage and The Tim John Donne 1572-1631
pened. Responsibility will probably of those facts does not bring back Parry Jonathan Ball Foundation for AFN Clarke
never be apportioned to senior offi- the dead. It does little to ease the Peace. I met some family members www.voyagesforpeace.com
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010
‘Our brother
William
McKinney
is innocent’
By Tina Curran
tina.curran@derryjournal.com
The brothers of William McKinney gave a
passionate speech on the steps of the
Guildhall yesterday as the 27-year-old,
killed at Abbey Park as he tried to help the
wounded, was vindicated.
Speaking from outside the Guildhall,
William’s brother, Mickey McKinney, said:
“My 27-year-old brother was murdered by
British Paratroopers on Bloody Sunday.
This is an historic day for Derry. I would
like to thank you all for your patience as we
have all had patience over these past 38
years, but today the waiting has come to
an end. This is a very challenging and trau-
matic time for the families and we couldn’t
have done it without your encouragement
and support. We now stand here today
among friends.”
Joe McKinney added: “I am the brother of
William McKinney who was murdered. He
was shot in the back and fatally wounded.
There is no evidence to suggest that he
was in possession of any form of weapon.
Our brother William McKinney is inno-
cent.”
Another brother, John McKinney, said the
mood inside the Guildhall had been one of
disbelief and the families were ecstatic.
“I can’t believe it,” he said. “It is shocking
Cameron apologising to the families. We
actually had a hint early on with officials
who were saying that we would get an apol-
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A jubilant Mickey McKinney after the findings of the
Saville Report were published.
ogy. It is a great day for the people of Derry.
“William was shot in the back as he tried
to help someone. He posed no threat and
they deliberately killed him.
“We always knew what the truth was. It is
hard to take in when you have a Law Lord
telling you what happened, what we will
never forget. You always remember a
brother. Our lives will change now and we
can get on with rest of our lives. It is hard
to believe we can stop campaigning.
“It is brilliant here today. It needed all this.
It had to involve the people of Derry and
they came out and backed us. We were
watching the march on TV and we were
able to hear all the roaring outside.
Everybody was itching to get out. It was a
great feeling to come out and tell every-
body.
“We have to digest the report now and see
what else he has written. The families will
meet later and try to take in what has hap-
pened.”
Est 2005
19
“We took on British establishment
and we won” - Kay Duddy
By Tina Curran
tina.curran@derryjournal.com
Kay Duddy’s brother, 17-year-old Jackie
Duddy, was shot dead at the Rossville Flats.
He had been running alongside the then
Father Edward Daly when he was gunned
down.
Speaking yesterday outside the Guildhall,
the tears of relief and joy were hard to fight
back as Ms Duddy asked the thousands of
people, joined together to witness history in
the making, to spend a minute in silence.
“I am so happy and relieved and overjoyed
with that report today,” she told the Journal,
“and to hear David Cameron standing up and
declaring them innocent and making no
excuses for the army.
“It is out there now. He said it and I am so
happy that they finally accept the truth.”
Ms Duddy, along with other members of the
Duddy family, and the families of others killed
on Bloody Sunday, were given copies of the
report before it was made public to the rest of
the world. “There was a sombre mood today
when we went into the Guildhall,” Ms Duddy
said. “It was surreal. It was hard to take in.
“We took on the British establishment and
got the truth for our loved ones. The people
of Derry have been tremendous. Their sup-
port has been overwhelming.”
Ms Duddy paid tribute to the people of
Derry saying the atmosphere at the Guildhall
Square yesterday was “unbelievable.” She
Kay Duddy, Jackie Duddy's sister, who was killed on Bloody Sunday,
said: “This is just for the people of Derry, for
cheering as she leaves the Guildhall yesterday afternoon.
the people that suffered, the ripple effect,
people that
lived with sur-
vival guilt.
“Thank you to
the people of
Derry.”
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Tuesday, 15th June, 2010

21

Emotional Durkan tells Commons:

‘We have overcome this day’

Derry’s MP yesterday fought back tears in
the Commons as he read out the names of 14
men who were killed on Bloody Sunday
Mark Durkan said the publication of the long-
awaited Saville Report came on a "day of deep
emotion" for the city.
Mr Durkan told the Commons: “The people of
my city didn’t just live through Bloody Sunday,
they lived with it since.
“Each and every one of the victims are all
absolutely and totally exonerated by today’s
report, as were all of the wounded.
“These men were cut down when they marched
for justice in their own streets. On that civil
rights march they were protesting against intern-
ment without trial. But not only were their rights
taken. Their innocent memory was then interned
without truth by the travesty of the Widgery tri-
bunal.
The Foyle MP then quoted from poet Seamus
Heaney's ‘The Road To Derry’, telling a hushed
Commons chamber: "My heart besieged by
anger, my mind a gap of danger;
"I walked among their old haunts, the home
ground where they bled;
"And in the dirt lay justice like an acorn in the
winter;
"Till its oak would sprout in Derry where the
thirteen men lay dead."
Choking back tears, he concluded: "Perhaps the
most important and poignant words from today
will not be heard here or on the airwaves.
"Relatives will stand at the graves of victims and
their parents to tell of a travesty finally arrested,
of evidence vindicated and of promises kept.
"And when they do so, they can invoke the civil
rights anthem ‘We Have Overcome’. We have
overcome this day."
Prime Minister David Cameron paid tribute to
Mr Durkan and said he had always fought for vic-
tims' families "in a way that is honourable and
right".
He said: "You're right that the Widgery Report is
now fully superseded by the Saville Report.
"This is the report with the facts, with the
details, with the full explanation of what hap-
pened and it should be accepted as such."

McAliskey: Why did Maudling lie?
By Lorcan Mullen
lorcan.mullen@derryjournal.com
Bernadette McAliskey, nee Devlin, the
prominent civil rights activist famous for
her post-Bloody Sunday assault on the
British Home Secretary Reginald
Maudling, has welcomed the report’s vin-
dication of the victims and the bereaved,
praising “the tenacity and bravery of the
families in hanging in there.”
However, McAliskey questioned the
report’s treatment of the events of Bloody
Sunday as an isolated incident.
And, when speaking to the Journal, won-
dered why “if there’s no-one to blame but
a handful of soldiers, why did Reginald
Maudling lie?”
The former MP, attending a parliamen-
tary debate on 1st February 1972, was
enraged by Maudling’s assertion that
troops had fired on “those who were
attacking them with firearms and bombs.”
The Saville report now officially discred-
its Maudling’s account. McAliskey “The British government should have been
responded at the time by crossing the held to account at The Hague, but Saville
floor of the House, pulling the Home had no remit to hold his government to
Secretary’s hair with one hand and strik- account. The government and military lead-
ing him with the other as he stood at the ership have got off scot free...I wonder how I
despatch box. would feel as one of those soldiers carrying
McAliskey maintains that the subse- all that weight.”
quent ‘Widgery whitewash’, and the long
drawn-out efforts of the British establish-
ment in covering up what Saville has now
accepted, played a significant role in
exacerbating the already inflammatory
impact of Bloody Sunday on the North’s
security situation. She asserted that Friendly Seafront Sea views available;
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BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND

Borderland Reunion Night

Relatives of the those killed on Bloody Sunday, hold up the Saville Report to Friday 2nd July
those waiting in Guildhall Square. (1506SL107) Photo: Stephen Latimer
Following the huge success of the Borderland Reunion

Bishop Good to meet

night on Saturday 27th March at the City Hotel - its back
by popular demand!!
The phenomenon of the showbands that swept across the country through-

families in Bogside
The Bishop of Derry and
Raphoe, Right Reverend Dr
Ken Good, is to make a special
presentation to the Bloody
Sunday families in the Bogside
this morning.
Speaking following the publi-
cation of Lord Saville’s report,
the findings of which he hailed
as an opportunity for “further
healing” of community rela-
tionships in Derry, the Bishop
said it was important that soci-
ety “listened carefully” to the
despair of the Bloody Sunday
families.
Dr Good acknowledged that
the ways in which people on
different sides of the commu-
nity had viewed the events of
Bloody Sunday had “been a
source of pain and tension
over the past three decades”.
However, he added: “As a
consequence of this Report
and of what will flow from it,
we all now have the possibility
of moving forward together
out the 1950’s and 1960’s created Ireland’s first superstars. Who can forget
the likes of Dickie Rock, Joe Dolan, Brendan Boyer and the Royal
Showband?! Now we are bringing the memories back and reliving the
Hucklebuck, Walking from the Candy Store to the Chapel on the Hill and of
with a more accurate and course “Oh me, Oh my, You make me sigh you’re such a Good Looking
shared appreciation of one of Woman”.
the key moments of our turbu-
lent and troubled shared his- Commenting on the forthcoming event Rachel Bruce, Community
tory. Let us reach out to one Fundraiser in the Hospice said “We were aware of the huge popularity of
another across our communi- the showbands and the buzz that surrounded the showband scene so
ty and build upon this under- decided to recreate the magic (and mayhem) of Borderland here in the city.
standing.” The mere mention of “Borderland” evokes flashbacks to good times for so
However, Dr Good did make many. The entertainment on the night will be provided by the Midnight
reference to the £191m cost of Showband including the likes of Trevor Burnside, Les Thompson, Robert
the tribunal - the most expen- Goodman, Gary McKeever, Eddie Doherty and the Mallet Sisters on backing
sive in British legal history. vocals. With tickets priced at £8 we are hoping to attract a huge crowd of
“We are aware that the cost “punters” to the event at the City Hotel and have a packed out house. All
and length of this Inquiry has the monies raised from this event will enable the Hospice to continue pro-
been an issue. I am also deeply viding specialised palliative care services to those terminally ill with cancer
conscious of the desire of fam- or other life limiting illnesses as well as support and guidance to their fam-
ilies of all who have lost loved ily and loved ones. Events such as Borderland Reunion form an extremely
ones in our Troubles to have a important part of the fundraising calendar for the hospice and we are
meaningful review of the tragic
appealing for a big turnout on the night.”
circumstances in which the
lives of their loved ones were Tickets for the event can be purchased
lost.” from Foyle Hospice Fundraising Centre,
Bishop Good will make a
presentation to representa- 61 Culmore Road (028) 71359888 or
tives of the Bloody Sunday The City Hotel, Queens Quay (028) 71365800
families at the Bloody Sunday
Memorial in Rossville Street PLEASE NOTE THIS EVENT IS STRICTLY
today at 10.30am. LIMITED TO 300 TICKETS
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010

23

The families of the Bloody Sunday

dead arrive for the reading of the
Saville Report at Derry's Guildhall on
Tuesday morning. (1506SL01)
Photo: Stephen Latimer

Legal representatives including Lord Gifford QC, Greg McCartney, Paddy MacDermott and Ciaran Mallon, QC, arrive early on
Tension builds as Bloody Sunday relatives gather at the Guildhall on Tuesday morning in anticipation of
Tuesday morning for the reading of the Saville Report. (1506SL04) Photo: Stephen Latimer
learning the findings of the Saville Report. (1806PG12) Photo: Phil Gamble

Joe McKinney holds up a "Set The Truth Free" poster

bearing a photo of his brother William who was
Kay Duddy arrives at the Guildhall for the reading of murdered on Bloody Sunday, as the families made
the Saville Report on Tuesday morning. (1506SL07) their way to the Guildhall. (1806PG06) Relatives of those killed on Bloody Sunday make their way along William Street on Tuesday morning. (1506SL06)
Photo: Stephen Latimer Photo: Phil Gamble Photo: Stephen Latimer
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010 25
26
Bloody Sunday - how the
awful nightmare happened
The afternoon of Sunday January
30, 1972, is one which will live in
the memory of the people of Derry
for generations.
It began with an anti-internment
march organised by the Northern
Ireland Civil Rights Association and
ended with the murder of innocent
civilians by the British Army’s
Parachute Regiment.
The ill-fated march set off from
the Bishop’s Field in Creggan
before making its way along
Central Drive, Linsfort Drive,
Iniscarn Road, Southway, along the
Lone Moor Road, down Creggan
Street, and into William Street.
The organisers of the march had
originally planned for it to proceed
through Waterloo Place and on to
Guildhall Square where Bernadette
Devlin and Labour peer Fenner
Brockway and others were due to
address the crowd.
However, after being told that the
march would be stopped at
William Street, it was decided the
speeches should take place at Free
Derry Corner in the Bogside.
As the march made its way down
William Street, a section of the
crowd broke off from the main
body of marchers and ran towards
RUC and British Army lines and
began throwing stones.
The soldiers responded with rub-
ber bullets and water cannon.
Shortly before 4 pm, 15 year-old
Damien Donaghy was shot and
wounded on William Street. He was
the first person to be shot on the
day.
The paratoopers who shot him
fired from the rear of a
Presbyterian Church on Great
James’ Street. They had been man-
ning an observation point when
they were spotted by a group of
young people throwing stones.
59 year-old John Johnston was
■ Paratroopers run for cover under a hail of stones at William Street.
■ The body of one those gunned
down in the Bogside lies on the
pavement covered with a blanket.
walking past at the time and was
not involved in the stonethrowing
but he, too, was shot twice. He
died four months later.
A single rifle shot was fired at the
paratroopers’ position after Mr
Donaghey and Mr Johnston had
been shot.
At 3.55 pm, Colonel Derek
Wilford, the Commander of 1 Para,
requested permission to send his
troops into the Bogside and the
order was given at 4.07 pm to send
the soldiers in through Barrier 14
at William Street but with the
express order “not to conduct a
running battle down Rossvile
Street.”
Most of the marchers had left the
area but many remained on
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010
Rossville Street and on waste
ground to the north of the
Rossville Flats.
At 4.10 pm, members of C
Company of 1 Para ran into
William Street on foot while ten
army vehicles carrying the battal-
ion’s Support Company moved into
Little James’ Street. These were led
by two Armoured Personell
Carriers (APC) carrying the 18 man
Mortar Platoon.
The first APC stopped at waste
ground near Eden Place while the
second moved on to the courtyard
of Rossville Flats.
Panic
The presence of the troops so
deep inside the Bogside caused
panic and the remaining marchers
ran towards Free Derry Corner.
Some paratroopers arrested the
fleeing marchers at this stage while
others started shooting, firing 42
rounds in ten minutes.
17 year-old Jackie Duddy was
shot in the back as he ran along
Chamberlain Street to escape from
the soldiers.
Members of the paratroopers’
Anti-Tank Platoon moved to Kells
Walk while other troops supported
the Mortar Platoon. The soldiers at
Kells walk opened fire on a num-
ber of people standing behind a
rubble barricade, shooting a num-
ber of men dead.
17 year-old John Young, 18 year-
old Michael McDaid, 19 year-old
William Nash and Michael Kelly
(17) were shot at the barricade,
within seconds of each other.
Hugh Gilmour (17) was shot as he ■ Damien ‘Bubbles’ Donaghy receives emergency treatment after being
ran towards the barricade but ran shot while trying to pick up a rubber bullet at William Street.
on and died a short distance away.
Two men were then shot dead as
they tried to crawl away from the
scene, 17 year-old Kevin McKinney,
who died between the barricade
and the Rossville Flats, and 31
year-old Patrick Doherty, who was
shot as he crawled between the
flats and Joseph Place.
William Nash’s father, Alex, was
shot and wounded at the rubble
barricade as he tried to go to his
son’s aid.
Terrified civilians who had been
sheltering behind a gable wall at
Glenfada Park close to the rubble
barricade tried to move between
the blocks of the flats towards
Abbey Park.
A number of paratroopers moved
into the courtyard at Glenfada Park ■ British Army pigs storm into the Bogside as scores of people congregate
and opened fire, killing 22 year-old at a makeshift barricade built across Rossville Street.
James Wray, 35 year-old Gerard
McKinney, 17 year-old Gerard
Donaghey, and 26 year-old William that the firing in Glenfada Park walked out into the courtyard
McKinney. James Wray was shot “bordered on the reckless.” holding a white hankerchief to
twice, including one when he was At the Rossville flats, civilians find the injured man but was
laying wounded, face down on the sheltering from the gunfire shot dead.
ground. heard an injured man calling In all, 13 people had been
Even the Widgery Tribunal into from help and one of them, 41 killed and a 14th died four
the events of Bloody Sunday found year-old Bernard McGuigan, months later from his injuries.
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010
REAL
PEOPLE
REAL
LIVES
It is important to remember the
real stories behind the victims of
Bloody Sunday. Each of those who
died on January 30, 1972, had busy
lives, girlfriends, hobbies and fam-
ilies whose lives were torn apart
forever by Bloody Sunday. In this
feature - a touching portrait of the
victims' lives before that tragic
day - we are introduced to a pho-
tographer, a golfer, a student, a
prankster, and ten other boys and
men who we learn are very much
like our own fathers, sons, broth-
ers and friends.
Kevin McElhinney was seventeen years old
and the middle child in a family of five. He had
a keen interest in athletics and soccer and
worked at Lipton's supermarket from the time
he left school, never missing a day. Kevin helped
look after his home for six months as his mother
recovered from a heart attack. He regularly
attended dances but didn't smoke or drink and
was learning to drive in the hope of getting a
car. Kevin's real passion was music, especially
T-Rex. Kevin was murdered as he sought shelter
at the rubble barricade in Rossville Street.
John Johnston was fifty nine years old and
had worked as a draper all his life. He was well
dressed and quiet by nature and had been a
keen supporter of the civil rights movement,
attending as many marches as he could. His
other passion was golf; he was a member of
Lisfannon Golf Club and once won the captain's
prize, which was a prized possession. John
Johnston was hit by the first shots fired in
William Street on Bloody Sunday and died five
months later from his injuries.
William McKinney was twenty six years old
and the oldest in a family of ten. Willie worked
as a compositor with the Derry Journal. Quiet by
nature, he was nicknamed 'the professor' by his
family. He was interested in music, particularly
Irish music and Jim Reeves, and he also played
the accordion. However, his true passion was
photography and, having got a film camera one
Christmas, he often screened cartoons for his
younger brothers and sisters. At the time of his
death Willie was going steady and had just
passed his driving test. He supported the civil
rights campaign and had been at Magilligan the
week before Bloody Sunday. He was murdered
in Glenfada Park.
Hugh Gilmour was just seventeen years old
when he was killed on Bloody Sunday. Hugh
lived in the Rossville Flats and was the youngest
of a family of eight and son of a former Derry
City player. He had worked as a trainee tyre fitter
in Northern Ireland Tyres in William Street. Living
in Rossville Flats Hugh found himself at the
forefront of the civil unrest that swept the north
in 1969, and he contributed to the defence of
the Bogside in August 1969. He was also an
avid Liverpool supporter, went to the pictures
every Friday night with his friends and had just
bought a car and was learning to drive. Hugh
Gilmour was murdered just yards from the
safety of Rossville Flats.
Jim Wray was twenty two years old when he
was killed on Bloody Sunday. He was the
second oldest in a family of nine and had
worked in England for some time, becoming
engaged to an English girl. Outgoing by nature,
Jim went to the castle Bar on a Friday night and
the Embassy dance hall on a Saturday. Jim
attended the civil rights marches in Derry and
the entire family had gone to the march on 30
January after attending mass together. Jim was
shot and wounded in Glenfada Park, before
being executed as he lay on the ground unable
to move.
Michael McDaid was twenty years old and
lived in Tyrconnell Street, the second youngest of
a family of twelve. He worked as a bar man in
the Celtic Bar and was an affectionate young
man, very close to his parents and especially
close to his young nephews, regularly taking his
family on runs to Donegal on Sundays. Michael
was murdered at the rubble barricade on
Rossville Street.
Gerald Donaghey was just seventeen years
old and the youngest of three children when he
was killed on Bloody Sunday. Gerald was
orphaned at the age of ten when his mother
and father died within the space of four weeks.
Gerald witnessed first-hand the creation of the
civil rights movement in Derry and was involved
in the civil unrest that was so common at the
time. He was sentenced to six months for rioting
in the Bogside and was released on Christmas
Eve, 1971. Gerald Donaghey was murdered as
he tried to escape the paratroopers in Glenfada
Park. After his death, he was acknowledged as
a member of Na Fianna Éireann.
Gerald McKinney was thirty five years old,
a devoted husband to his wife Ita and father of
eight children, the youngest of which, also called
Gerald, was born eight days after his father's
murder. Other than his family, Gerry's main
interests were soccer and roller skating. He
managed a junior soccer team and ran the Ritz
roller skating rink on the Strand Road. Gerald
worked in John McLaughlin's on the Strand
Road and had no particular interest in politics.
He was murdered in Glenfada Park.
John Young was seventeen years old at the
time of Bloody Sunday. He was born at
Springtown Camp, the youngest of a family of
six, and worked in John Temple's menswear
shop. John had a passion for showbands and
roadied for The Scene showband. In 1971 he
witnessed the murder of Annette McGavigan by
the British Army in Derry. He was murdered as
he sought safety at the rubble barricade on
Rossville Street.
Jackie Duddy was seventeen years old when
he was killed on Bloody Sunday. He was born at
Springtown camp into a family of fifteen and the
family later moved to Creggan. Jackie worked as
a weaver at French's factory but his real passion
was boxing. He was a member of Long Tower
Boxing Club who had fought throughout Ireland
and represented the club in Liverpool. Jackie
had no interest in politics and attended the
march against his father's advice, for the craic.
He was the first person murdered on Bloody
Sunday as he ran through Rossville car park,
with Fr Daly running at his side.
Barney McGuigan was a married family
man and the father of six children. He was forty
one years old when he was killed on Bloody
Sunday. Barney worked in the BSR factory and
as a general handyman at Cedric's factory on
Carlisle Road. He had no real interest in politics
but attended many of the early civil rights
marches in the city. Barney was murdered as he
went to aid the fatally injured Paddy Doherty.
27
Patrick Doherty was thirty one years old,
married to Eileen and father of six children
between eleven years and seven months old. He
worked in Du Pont. A strong supporter of the
civil rights movement, Paddy was an active
member of the association and attended all the
protests in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He
had also been at Magilligan the week before
Bloody Sunday and witnessed the brutality of
the Paratroop Regiment. He was murdered as
he tried to crawl to safety in the shadow of
Rossville Flats.
William Nash was nineteen years old and
the seventh child in a family of thirteen. He
worked with his father on Derry docks and
loved country and western music. William
had just celebrated his brother Charlie's
success at the National Boxing
Championships in Dublin and the marriage
of his brother James. He was murdered at the
rubble barricade in Rossville Street.
Michael Kelly was seventeen years old and
the seventh child in a family of thirteen. He had
been training to be an electrical engineer and
spent his weeks in Belfast, returning to Derry at
the weekends. Michael had a very sweet tooth
and was a keen pigeon fancier. At the age of
three he had been in a coma for weeks and his
family was told not to expect him to recover.
Michael had no interest in politics and the
Bloody Sunday march was the first he had ever
attended. He was murdered at the rubble
barricade in Rossville Street.
28
On Bloody Sunday,
thirteen marchers
were shot dead in
broad daylight in the
Bogside, and a fur-
ther fifteen wounded,
one of whom later
died of his injuries.
Those shot were brand-
ed gunmen and nail-
bombers by the British
government. In this fea-
ture, the ‘Journal’
remembers all those
who were injured, many
of whom did not live to
hear Saville’s findings or
see the truth set free.
Alana Burke was just 18 years-old
when she was badly injured on
Bloody Sunday. Crushed by an
armoured Saracen as she and
hundreds of others fled the
advancing British paratroopers,
Alana sustained serious, life-
changing injuries and the
trauma of her ordeal has yet to
fade.
Daniel Gillespie (deceased) was
32 years-old and married with a
young family. He was wounded
in Glenfada Park and lay
unconscious as the shooting
continued.
Patsy McDaid was 25 years-old
when he was wounded on
Bloody Sunday. Moments after
helping carry the injured Peggy
Deery to safety, Patsy was shot in
the back as he sought refuge
from the incoming fire. His
experiences on January 30, 1972,
have remained with him.
Patrick O’Donnell (deceased) was
a 41 year-old family man at the
time of Bloody Sunday and was
shot and wounded in Glenfada
Park. Despite his injuries, he was
arrested and ill-treated before
being released to seek medical
attention.
Michael Bradley (deceased) was
22 years-old when he was shot in
the courtyard of the Rossville
Flats after witnessing the
murder of Jackie Duddy.
Mickey Bridge was 25 years-old
and a march steward on Bloody
Sunday. The Bogside had just
descended into pandemonium -
marchers fleeing advancing
troops and running for shelter
towards the Rossville Flats and
Free Derry Corner - when he was
shot by a paratrooper.
26 year-old Joseph Friel was at
Free Derry Corner when the
shooting began on Bloody
Sunday. He was trying to make
his way home to the Rossville
Flats when he was shot in
Glenfada Park.
Peggy Deery (deceased) was the
only woman shot on Bloody
Sunday. She was 33 years-old
and the mother of 14 children
and her husband had died just
four months before Bloody
Sunday.
Joe Mahon had just turned 16
years-old when he was shot and
wounded on January 30, 1972.
When the shooting began, Joe
found himself trapped in
Glenfada Park. He was shot and
feigned death after witnessing
the execution of Jim Wray just a
few feet away from where he
lay.
Patrick Campbell (deceased) was
51 years-old and married with a
family. He was shot as he sought
shelter at Joseph Place.
Daniel McGowan (deceased) was
38 years-old and married with six
children. He had not attended
the civil rights march on January
30, 1972, and was shot while
carrying the wounded Patrick
Campbell to safety.
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010
Damien ‘Bubbles’ Donaghey was
the first person shot on Bloody
Sunday and, almost forty years
later, the physical and
psychological effects of January
30, 1972, continue to plague
him.
Michael Quinn was 17 years-old
and still at school when he was
shot on Bloody Sunday. He had
become trapped in Glenfada
Park and was shot as he tried
to escape the paratroopers'
advance.
Alexander Nash (deceased) was
51 years-old when he was shot
on Rossville Street as he
attempted to go to the aid of his
son William who was murdered
that day.
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010
Anightmare never
to be forgotten
Derry journalist Charles Haslett (right) - who passed away just last year - was one of the large press corps which covered the
Bloody Sunday march. In this article, first published in 1992, he recalls the events of that day when thirteen men were shot
dead and another fifteen people wounded as BritishArmy paratroopers opened fire on civil rights demonstrators in the Bogside.
Time, it’s said, inevitably takes the fine edge
off recollection. That, in the main, is true.
But most people will at some time in their
lives experience an event which sears the
mind so deeply as to defy the passing years.
Such an event for many Derry people was
Bloody Sunday, 30th January, 1972, when
British soldiers opened fire on civil rights
demonstrators in the Bogside.
Assigned to cover the march on that day, I
watched it assemble at Bishop’s Field in
Creggan. The parade, the organisers
announced, would end with a rally at Free
Derry Corner and not the city centre as orig-
inally planned. It was a route which did not
find favour with a section of the crowd which
shouted its insistence that it should proceed
to the Guildhall.
A ban on parades throughout Northern
Ireland imposed the previous August, was
still in operation and Army barriers were
already in position at William Street, Little
James street and Sackville Street to contain
the marchers in the Bogside and prevent
them reaching the City Centre.
Set against that background it appeared
that a clash was more than likely although
the consensus of opinion among local
Pressmen on the ground was that at worst,
there would be another bout of rioting, a not
unusual occurrence in the Bogside at the
time.
I accompanied the march towards the
William Street area and at one stage noted
that a sizeable crowd of young people had
positioned itself ahead of the lorry carrying
the Civil Rights Association officials.
Stewards appealed on a number of occasions
to them to join the march by getting behind
the lorry, but the appeals were ignored.
At the junction of William street and
Rossville Street this group continued
straight ahead in the direction of the Army
barrier as the lorry turned towards Free
Derry Corner. With the late Tom Cassidy, edi-
tor of the “Journal”, I followed the group as
far as Chamberlain Street corner. The street
ahead was packed with people right up to
the barrier and stones were thrown at the
soldiers who replied with rubber bullets dur-
ing the ensuing fifteen minute confrontation.
The crowd began to break up when a water
cannon was brought into use.
In a statement to a member of the Treasury
solicitor staff, acting for the Widgery
Tribunal some days after the event, I said: “I
felt the crowd were dispersing and I saw no
reason to suppose there would be any undue
trouble.”
Four dead, three wounded
Within half an hour I was to find myself in
Glenfada Park where Lord Widgery was later
■ The scenes of utter panic and confusion witnessed by Charlie Haslett at Abbey Park.
to hold that Army firing “bordered on the
reckless.” Four men were shot dead and
three more wounded in that area as the
Paras swept into the Bogside.
As the crowd began to disperse from the
William Street barrier we went via
Chamberlain Street and Eden Place to
Rossvile Street. Stones were being thrown at
the Little Diamond Street barrier and the air
was thick with CS gas.
Efforts to verify reports in the area that two
men had been shot in William Street led me
to Glenfada Park and as I walked through the
Square there, I heard a volley of shots.
Immediately I looked to the left through an
alleyway and saw a number of soldiers run-
ning along Rossville Street in the direction of
Free Derry Corner. I had no idea where the
shots were being fired from but they caused
panic among a crowd of about thirty people
in the Park. They scattered in all directions
and I joined about fifteen of them sheltering
in a nearby house.
Five minutes later I left by the rear door and
as I did so I was confronted by a youth in a
distraught condition calling for an ambu-
lance. He directed me towards the front of
the house and from there I saw two men
lying motionless in the Square. I was joined
by several others and as we approached the
men more shots rang out. Again I could not
see who was firing and did not know if the
shots were aimed at us - we just threw our-
selves flat on the ground.
More shots followed as two Knights of
Malta first aid attendants approached and
29
death toll.
Shots were still being fired as I attempted to
leave the Bogside area via Fahan Street.
Again I was forced to throw myself to the
ground, encouraged to keep low by a small
group of men sheltering at the gable end of
the house, It took several minutes to crawl in
their direction before I felt safe to get up and
walk round the corner.
Back to the old City Hotel I discovered col-
leagues there had anything but the full pic-
ture of what happened. One of them greeted
me with: “Two dead. The Paras must have
gone berserk.” Information from official
sources was slow in coming through appar-
ently.
‘Sunday, Bloody Sunday’
There was a rush for phones when I told
him I saw at least three times that number
dead an unofficial reports in the Bogside
were putting the death toll as high as twelve.
Driving home in the small hours of the fol-
lowing morning, I spotted a bill advertising
the film showing that week at a local cinema:
“Sunday, Bloody Sunday.” It described the
events of the previous day perfectly.
During the time I was in the Bogside that
they too ended up lying on the ground
afternoon I did not see any civilians armed
beside the injured. The younger of the men I with guns or bombs of any sort, nor had I
later learned he was Gerard Donaghy - was heard shooting before the Army moved into
pulled clear of the area by people crawling
Rossville Street.
on their hands and knees and carried into a
house in the Park. He had been shot in the
abdomen and Dr. Kevin Swords who exam-
ined him determined that he was still alive
and advised he was be taken to the hospital
as soon as possible. I helped carry him out
to a car for the journey.
The second man Gerald McKinney was
taken from the scene by ambulance.
Identify another victim
I was then asked to go to a house on the
area where I was told I could help to identify
another victim. What I found there brought
the full horror of it all home to me in a very
personal way.
The body I was shown was that of a former
workmate “Journal” compositor William
McKinney. I had spoken to him in Rossville
Street just before the shooting started.
The fourth victim in Glenfada was James
Joseph Wray (22).
Those of us who were in Glenfada Park
were, of course, unaware of exactly what was
happening in Rossville Street - it was not a
day for moving freely. But we could have
hazarded a guess, judging by the sound of
heavy gunfire coming from that direction.
It was the evening before the full picture ■ The body of the fatally wounded Gerry
emerged adding another nine victims to the McKinney at Abbey Park.
30 Tuesday, 15th June, 2010

■The march sets off from Central Drive in the Creggan Estate. ■ Marchers carry the fatally wounded body of Patrick Doherty at the Rossville Flats.

WHAT HAPPENED THAT TERRIBLE DAY

■ Soldiers are pelted with stones at Barrier 14 at William Street. ■ A Knight of Malta tries desperately to help one of those shot at Abbey Park.

■ The scene at William Street not long before the Parachute Regiment stormed into the Bogside where they killed 13 people and wounded another 15.

■ A man is assaulted by a paratrooper at waste ground near ■ A wounded Michael Bradley is stretchered to an ambulance at ■ One of the dead is covered with a
Pilots Row. Rossville Street. blanket close to the rubble barricade at
Rossville Street.
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010
Bloody Sunday - The
Supreme Atrocity
In this article, first published to coincide with the 20th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in 1992, former ‘Journal’editor Frank Curran
(right) argues that there would have been no deaths on Bloody Sunday if the British had accepted the advice of the then local RUC
commander that the march be permitted to reach the Guildhall without army intervention.
The supreme atrocity visited on Irish people
during the Troubles happened in the dark
month of January 1972. It was committed by
the British Crown Forces. It was a day of
infamy and shame for the British Army and
nation.
It is also a matter of record that the event
which shocked the civilised world - and which
continues to haunt British people of goodwill -
was not only condemned but actually wel-
comed by some people in the Unionist com-
munity.
The memories and savagery of Bloody
Sunday sear the Derry people. Many in official
circles do not like Bloody Sunday mentioned.
“Oh, surely it is time to forget that matter, so
many years have gone by”, they plead. It is a
vain hope. Bloody Sunday was murder of such
magnitude that it will never be forgotten and
never forgiven until the British admit that the
action of the thugs of the First Parachute
Regiment constituted mass, cold-blooded and
pre-meditated murder. Nationalist leader
Eddie McAteer said at the time “there is a river
of blood between England and us”.
He was right because from Bloody Sunday
stemmed so many other atrocities in the years
ahead. There are people in their graves who
would probably be alive today if Bloody
Sunday had never happened. Let anyone who
doubts the validity of that judgement just
reflect on this fact - in 1969 there were 15
deaths from violence; in 1970 the total was 25;
in 1971 the figure had risen to a frightening
173; but, in 1972, the death toll reached a sick-
ening 474. The paras killed far more than 13
people when they mowed down unarmed civil-
ians in the Bogside.
The British compounded their massacre (the
blueprint for their Chinese military counter-
parts in Tianamen Square many years later) by
distributing world-wide a shocking posthu-
mous calumny on the Derry victims. The
Ministry of Defence issued a claim that four of
the dead were on an IRA wanted list. That
canard was launched throughout the USA by
the British Embassy.
On 4th February, four days after the mas-
sacre, I wrote an article in the “Journal” stating
flatly that the “four wanted men” propaganda
was a lie. I called it a “posthumous calumny on
the dead”. My sources were impeccable, show-
ing that at least some people in official circles
were ashamed and angered by the actions of
the paras.
But it was not until 13th March, at the begin-
ning of one of the days of the Widgery
Whitewash (it was called an Inquiry officially
of course), that Mr. E. Gibben QC, Chief
Counsel for the Army, rose to admit the mali-
cious conspiracy to besmirch the dead. Mr.
Gibben said that the allegations against four of
the dead were “totally untrue” and added: “I
am authorised on behalf of the Ministry of
Defence and General Ford to express regret”.
They were the only words of regret uttered by
either the Army Legal Team or by General Ford
throughout the Inquiry.
Major General Ford was commander-in-chief
of land forces and he was in William Street
when the paras were unleashed to make their
murdering sweep into the Bogside. Why a man
in so eminent a position was on the streets at
■ The body of one of those murdered on
Bloody Sunday is covered with a sheet.
■ Major General Robert Ford, the British
army's Commander of Land Forces in the
North in 1972.
■ Colonel Wilford, who commanded 1 Para in
Derry on Bloody Sunday.
all is a question that will doubtless provoke
historical probes when the definitive analysis
of all that happened both before Bloody
Sunday and during it comes to be written.
And, of course, who made the decision to
deploy the paras in Derry that day will also
give the historical detectives much food for
investigation. The official story that they were
the only experienced regiment available would
be laughable if the context was not so tragic.
Wilford’s Myopia
Lieutenant-Colonel Derek Wilford, officer in
command of the paras, claimed to Widgery
that 200 shots were fired at his troops. Yet he
saw only one shot fired by a solder. He must
have been suffering from a massive attack of
myopia.
Colonel Wilford also shared with General
Ford a lapse of memory. Neither in evidence
was he able to say whether the infamous
canard about the “wanted” men was true or
false. They apparently had so little regard for
accuracy that they never bothered to check
the truth or otherwise of a claim that, if true,
could have bolstered their stories of troops
coming under considerable fire.
Another major actor in the drama was the
inquiry Chairman, the Right Honourable Lord
Widgery OBE, TD, the Lord Chief Justice of
England. A squat-figure, he sat impassively
most of the time, but never excited any confi-
dence in the Derry witnesses that he would
produce a report that was impartial, or that
would apportion blame for the massacre
where it rightly reposed. My observations
about his first appearance were that “his
arrival in a British Army helicopter looked
rather like a visiting team bringing their own
referee with them”. I had no reason to review
that initial feeling later.
The man who was a British Army
Commander in Derry on Bloody Sunday,
Brigadier Andrew Patrick McLellan, MBE, illus-
trated his comprehensive knowledge of the
city whose peace he was supposed to uphold
by describing the centre of Derry as “a
Protestant commercial area”.
Were the IRA involved?
One of the controversies both then and after
was whether, as the British Army brass
claimed, the IRA were active in the Bogside to
the extent that 200 shots were fired at soldiers.
I believe that two or three gunmen with
revolvers were in the Bogside and they fired a
few shots. But the claim about the IRA was a
figment of the imagination, and apart from the
fact that careful investigation by journalists
from many parts of the world did not corrobo-
rate the Army allegations, I have one chilling
comment. It is that, if the IRA had been present
in force, there would have been army casual-
ties. As it was, not a single soldier could claim
to have experienced even a close escape from
any of the mythical 200 shots.
Another significant fact bearing on Army
claims of subversive action against them was
that, of the scores of people arrested in the
paras’ arrest operation, not one carried any
weapon or even anything that could have been
identified as being capable of being used as a
weapon. On the law of averages, if people with
guns had been roaming the Bogside, some-
body with a gun would have been caught in
the net.
A telling point is that not a single one of the
wounded was carrying a gun or a bomb, and
the army never at any time tried to insinuate
they were. You see, calumny against dead peo-
31
ple is always easier than lies about live people
who can defend themselves.
The general tenor of Widgery’s verdict is well
known in Derry and it is not necessary for me
to detail it. I would like to refer to one section
in his report which strangely did not get the
attention it deserved. It contained a nasty
implication not at all in keeping with what is
supposed to be the duty of a judge i.e. to deal
with established facts, and not indulge in per-
sonal fantasy to bolster what he wants to be
the truth.
Lord Widgery stated that “another difficulty
is that there is no certainty that the known
casualty list is exhaustive”. Later, he contin-
ued, “there is a widely held belief that, on
some previous occasions when shots have
been exchanged in Londonderry, casualties
among the IRA or their supporters have been
spirited away over the border to the Republic.
Even a remote possibility that this occurred
on 30th January increases the difficulty of try-
ing to match a soldier’s account of why he
fired”.
The facts are that the Army picked up all the
casualties and for anyone to have tried to
“spirit away” a body in the general panic
would have been madness. Lord Widgery in
that passage was ensuring explanations for
some of the soldiers shooting accounts which
could not be matched with truth.
Summary of conclusions
1. There would have been no deaths on
Bloody Sunday if the British had accepted
the advice of Chief Superintendent Frank
Lagan, Commander of the RUC, that the
march be permitted to reach the Guildhall
without army intervention.
2. No evidence was produced to support
the Army contention that 200 shots were
fired at soldiers.
3. All the deceased were innocent civilians.
4. The verdict expressed by seven Derry
priests that the shootings were “wilful mur-
der” was borne out by the evidence.
5. The verdict delivered by the Derry
Coroner, former British Army Major Hubert
O’Neill at the subsequent Inquest that the
shootings were “pure unadulterated mur-
der” was a correct assessment of the day’s
events.
6. Lord Widgery prostituted his elevated
position to uphold the political imperatives
of the British establishment and to ensure
that none of the murderers would ever be
prosecuted.
7. The paras that day became the third ele-
ment in a trinity of villainy, earning a place
in Irish history equal to Cromwell’s men at
Drogheda and the Black and Tans during the
Anglo-Irish war.
8. The Bloody Sunday killers, it might be
thought, got away with their murders. But, per-
haps, the words of England’s greatest scribe
might let us hope that they did not escape
unscathed. Shakespeare reminded us all that
“conscience doth make cowards of us all”.
32
Bloody Sunday: what they had to
say about it 38 years ago
“Sunday is a make or break day
for the cause of Civil Rights
and the release of the internees.
Any rioting, any trouble or any
incident must be confined to
members of the British Army.
They disgraced themselves at
Magilligan last Saturday with
their unprovoked savagery. DO
not let them disgrace you, the
City of Derry and the whole
democratic cause.”
Northern Ireland Civil Rights
Association Organiser Kevin
McCorry appealing for calm in
the days before the march.
“If this march is allowed to
continue we are resolved to
hold a similar march and rally
at the earliest possible opportu-
nity. The Queen’s writ must run
in every part of City, and the
law must be administered fairly
to all sections of the communi-
ty.
The Foyle Democratic Unionist
Association, who said they
would hold a counter rally if
the anti-internment march was
allowed to go ahead. They
called off their rally after dis-
cussions with Police and Army
Chiefs.
“We accuse the Colonel of the
Parachute Regiment of wilful
murder. We accuse the
Commander of Land Forces of
being an accessory before the
fact. We accuse the soldiers of
shooting indiscriminately into a
fleeing crowd, of gloating over
casualties, of preventing medical
and spiritual aid reaching some
of the dying.
Part of the statement made by
seven Derry priests following
the killings.
We deplore the action of the
Army and the government in
employing a Unit such as para-
troopers who were in Derry
yesterday. These men are
trained criminals. They differ
from terrorists only in the
veneer of respectability that a
uniform gives them”.
A further extract from the
priests’ statement.
“Soon after they were deployed
at 4.10 p.m. they came under
nail bomb attack and a fusillade
of fire, 50 to 80 rounds from
the area of Rossville Flats and
Glenfada Flats. Fire was
returned at gunmen and nail
bombers. Subsequently as the
troops deployed to get at the
gunmen, the latter continued to
fire. In all a total of over 200
rounds was fired indiscriminate-
ly in the general direction of
the soldiers. Fire continued only
to be returned at identified tar-
gets.”
■ British soldiers come under attack from stone throwers at William Street.
■ A paratrooper arrests a man in the city’s Bogside.
■ The march makes its way along Westland Street.
A statement issued from
British Army Headquarters in
Lisburn after the killings. Not
one soldier was wounded in
the incident.
“It was simple massacre. There
were no petrol bombs, no guns,
no snipers, no justification for
this well organised slaughter.
Derry’s Blood Sunday will be
remembered as the British
Army’s greatest day of shame.
Mr. Eddie McAteer, leader of
the Nationalist Party.
“A 16 year-old boy was shot
beside me and others were
badly injured by the firing. I
crawled and gave him the Last
Right for there was no hope of
saving his life. The quicker the
‘‘
Firing
bordered
on the
reckless
British Army get out of
Northern Ireland after today’s
violence, the better for every-
one concerned. It is the only
way to achieve peace.”
Fr Edward Daly on the
Bogside murders.
After Sunday’s massacre, the
sooner the British Government,
if it has not sold out to
Stormont completely, takes such
as its paratroopers out of the
sight of the minority in this
area, the less prolonged will
such an outrange on that peo-
ple’s feelings be. And so far as
its attitude to Stormont is con-
cerned, after this no amount of
political manoeuvring on the
British Government’s part need
hope to redeem such an odious
and disreputable regime in the
Six county minority’s eyes.”
Derry Journal editorial after
the killings.
A man walked out into the road
in front of the flats in the
Bogside. There were a number
of people lying injured in the
road and he was obviously
going to help them. He had
both his hands in the air and
was waving a handkerchief.
Suddenly there was a burst of
fire and the man fell shot
through the head. He was obvi-
ously dead.
Journalist Simon Winchester
on the shootings at Glenfada
Park.
This ghastly and deliberate
holocaust of innocent civilians
by armed criminals, the dregs
of the British Army, sets a river
of blood between his country
and England.
Statement by Nationalist Party
MPs, Eddie McAteer and
Roderick O’Connor.
“I was one of the original 1st
Battalion of the Paras. They
were tough men but they would
never have done what the pres-
ent 1st Battalion did in Derry.
We were never taught to fire at
random as they did.”
Derry man Francis McCloskey,
a former member of the paras
who returned his British Army,
medals after Bloody Sunday.
“Mr. McGuigan eventually said “I
can’t stand this anymore I am
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010
going out. They would not
shoot me with a handkerchief
in my hands.” He went out and
was shot in the head.”
Geraldine Richmond, giving
evidence to the Widgery
Tribunal, describing the last
minutes of the life of Barney
McGuigan.
“There would have been no
deaths if those who organised
the illegal march had not there-
by created a highly dangerous
situation in which a clash
between demonstrators and the
security forces was almost
inevitable.”
Britain’s Lord Chief Justice,
Lord Widgery, in his findings
on the Bloody Sunday killings.
“Firing bordered on the reck-
less.”
Lord Widgery’s famous descrip-
tion of the shooting at
Glenfada Park which left four
men dead.
“Widgery didgery”
A local description of the
Widgery Tribunal.
“It’s like blaming a man shot
walking down the street for
walking down the street.”
Foyle MP John Hume’s
response to Lord Widgery’s
assertion that the march organ-
isers were to blame for the
deaths.
“It strikes me that the Army
ran amok that day and they
shot without thinking what they
were doing. They were shooting
innocent people. These people
may have been taking part in a
parade that was banned but I
don’t think that justifies the fir-
ing of live rounds indiscrimi-
nately. I saw without
reservation: it was sheer
unadulterated murder.”
Derry’s Coroner Hugert
O’Neill.
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010 33

MURDERED ‘JOURNAL’ MAN REMEMBERED:

Willie was a true friend

and a good workmate
Former Derry Journal employee John McManus recalls his workmate Willie McKinney who was among those murdered on Bloody Sunday.
It wasn’t planned or arranged but, on the
afternoon of Sunday, 30th January, 1972, I met
up with workmates Willie McKinney, Joe
Martin and Noel McBride at Bishop’s Field,
Creggan, to participate in the Civil Rights
march on Anti-Internment.
I remember it as a dry, cold but bright day
and we enjoyed the long walk from Creggan
down through the Bogside area and, as we
went, we exchanged stories and listened to
“Big Noel” with his endless catalogue of jokes.
What lay in store approximately one hour
after the march left Creggan was never on our
minds or, I suppose, on the minds of any of
the other marchers.
The first real sign of impending danger came
as the march went down Creggan Street and
turned into William Street. On the flat roofs of
the GPO Sorting Office, British Army marks-
men lay at the ready with rifles trained on the
marchers. ■The nightmare of Glenfada Park with an injured Joe Mahon lying on the footpath. William
As we approached the junction of William McKinney lies directly in front and Jim Wray [feet only visible] to the right hand side. Photo: ■ Willie McKinney enjoying a family day out.
Street/Rossville Street, we could see that fur- Trevor McBride.
ther down at the Chamberlain Street corner
youths were throwing stones and bottles at people murdered and injured began to circu- that Monday would be a gross over state-
late in the area. I heard that someone from ment; an evil deed had been visited on all the
soldiers manning the army barricade of mili-
the Journal had been shot. The word on the dead and injured on Bloody Sunday and, as
tary vehicles that was there to seal off our
ground was that he was a photographer. So I the local newspaper, we had a responsibility
passage to the city centre.
never suspected that Willie McKinney could to tell the truth of what really did happen on
I remember someone from the organising
be among the dead. that fateful day.
committee, with the aid of a hand-held mega-
I had overlooked the fact that Willie was a In a way, it was as if we were here to speak
phone, calling the marchers to assemble at
keen amateur photographer and was carry- for our friend and workmate and, indeed, for
Free Derry Corner for a meeting.
ing nothing more sinister that day than a all the other sad and sorrowful homes in our
small camera slung around his neck. city that had been bereaved as a result of the
CS gas At work on Monday morning, ‘the boss’, the murderous actions of the British Army.
A short time after that, the air was filled with late Frank McCarroll, broke the sad news to Willie McKinney was a young man of excel-
CS gas and rubber bullets as the Army tried the assembled members of staff, confirming lent character and integrity, a compositor
to keep the youths at bay. our worst nightmare - our colleague Willie and an excellent practitioner of his trade. He
In the utter confusion of the situation, I got was among the dead. was a good and honest friend to those of us
separated from my three colleagues. Just I remember the news was received in who knew him in his short life and will be for-
minutes after that, all hell seemed to break silence, stunned disbelief and in tears of sor- ever remembered by the staff members of
loose as the Brits opened up on the row - we had lost a member of our working 1972. ■ Willie McKinney (on left) at work in the
marchers. family. This article appeared in the Derry Journal supplement Derry Journal with colleague Michael
Early that evening, reports and the names of To say that anyone had enthusiasm for work in 1997 to mark the 25th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Quigley.

The Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Seamus

The Road to Derry
by Seamus Heaney
(Air: 'The Boys of Mullaghbawn')
On a Wednesday morning early I took the road to Derry,
Along Glenshane and Foreglen and the cold woods of Hillhead.
A wet wind in the hedges and a dark cloud on the mountain,
And flags like black frost mourning that the thirteen men were dead.
The Roe wept at Dungiven and the Foyle cried out to heaven,
Burntollet's old wound opened and again the Bogside bled.
By Shipquay Gate I shivered and by Lone Moor I enquired,
Where I might find the coffins where the thirteen men lay dead.
My heart besieged by anger, my mind a gap of danger,
I walked among their old haunts, the home ground where they bled.
And in the dirt lay justice like an acorn in the winter,
Till its oak would sprout in Derry where the thirteen men lay dead.
Heaney, released this previously unpublished
song about Bloody Sunday to the Derry Journal.
'The Road To Derry' was originally written at the
request of Luke Kelly, the late vocalist with
Dubliners.
It was published for the first time in 1997.
In a footnote to his song, Heaney revealed that
he wrote four stanzas about his journey to Derry
on the day of the funerals, with the suggestion
that they might be put to the air of 'The Boys of
Mullaghbawn'
"But nothing ever came of it", he told the
‘Journal’ in 1997.
"I spoke to Luke about it on one occasion, and I
remember his saying that he thought the air I had
suggested was too slow.
"Anyway, I think it is in order to reprint this
abbreviated version now, twenty five years after
the drive from Belfast to Derry on the day of the
funerals."
Heaney previously publised a poem called
'Casualty' in 'Field Work' (1979) which deals with
the Derry massacre. ■ Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney.
34 Tuesday, 15th June, 2010

DERRY BURIES ITS DEAD

■ Mourners make their way to St Mary’s Church in Derry’s Creggan Estate.

■ Bishop of Derry Dr Neil Farren presides at the funeral Mass at St. Mary’s. ■ St. Mary’s Church, Creggan, is packed to capacity for the funerals of the Bloody Sunday
dead.

■ Grieving loved ones make their way to the Requiem Masses at St. Mary’s Church. ■ Just a section of the massive crowd which turned out for the funerals of those murdered
on Bloody Sunday.

■ Gerry Fitt, Paddy O’Hanlon and Austin Currie, of

■ Cardinal William Conway, Primate of All-Ireland, leads ■ Another grieving family making their way to the the SDLP, who were among thousands to attend the
mourners to St. Mary’s Church. Requiem Masses in Creggan. funerals.
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010
Saville: the 12
year quest for
truth and justice
In this article, Journal News
Editor Sean McLaughlin takes a
look back at the Saville Inquiry,
focusing on its key players and
some of the dramatic evidence
which emerged during the
marathon oral hearings in Derry
and London.
In January 1998, when Tony Blair
announced his intention to set up
an inquiry to investigate the
events of Bloody Sunday, it was
expected to last no longer than 18
months.
Fast forward to June 2010 – more
than 12 years later - and the long
quest to find out the truth of what
really happened in the Bogside on
January 30, 1972, is, at long last, to
be revealed with the publication of
Lord Saville's report.
The traumatic events of Bloody
Sunday cast a long shadow over
the people of Derry. The Inquiry
itself was to become a major part
of the lives of thousands of people
in the city and beyond.
The historic inquiry into the
Bloody Sunday killings, one of the
most violent, emotive and painful
episodes of recent Irish and British
history, began on March 27, 2000
with a promise that the truth
would be sought whatever the
political consequences.
Counsel for the Inquiry,
Christopher Clarke QC, insisted at
the opening session in Derry's
Guildhall: "What happened - what-
ever the truth of the matter - was a
tragedy, the pain for which many
have endured down the passage of
years. The tribunal's task is to dis-
cover as far as humanly possible in
the circumstances, the truth.
"It is the truth as people see it.
Not the truth as people would like
it to be, but the truth, pure and
simple, painful or unacceptable to
whoever that truth may be."
Lord Saville himself was adamant
that the new inquiry was a fresh
start: “We are not sitting as a court
of appeal from the Widgery
Inquiry," he said, adding: "It would
be foolish for us to ignore the fact
that there are allegations that
some of those concerned in the
events of Bloody Sunday were
guilty of very serious offences,
including murder."
Mountain of evidence
To sift through this mountain of
evidence, Derry’s historic Guildhall
was transformed into one of the
most high-tech courts in the world.
It was filled with television screens
and equipment for a state-of-the-
art sound system. Among the inno-
vations was a virtual reality model
of the Bogside the way it was on
that fateful day.
In the Guildhall’s main hall (pic-
tured), the tribunal, chaired by
Lord Saville, was perched on a dais
while in front of them sat some 70
lawyers, among them some of the
most eminent QCs in the land -
Lord Anthony Gifford, Michael
Mansfield, Edmund Lawson [now
deceased], Edwin Lawson and the
former Director of Public
Prosecutions, Sir Allan Green.
For the families of those who died
on Bloody Sunday, the announce-
ment of the new inquiry was the
culmination of years of tireless
campaigning in an effort to find out
the truth.
For many of the lawyers who
turned down other work to con-
centrate on the inquiry, it meant
putting their personal and profes-
sional lives on hold.
But it wasn't just those with a
vested interest in the Inquiry who
were affected by it. A mini industry
grew up around it with hotels,
bars, cafes and taxi firms enjoying
a commercial spin-off from one of
the most wide-ranging inquiries
ever set up.
Turning to the evidence itself,
while there were many stand-out
days, arguably the most dramatic
took place in London in October
2003 when a former paratrooper
was told he faced allegations of
murdering four people on Bloody
Sunday, and possibly of killing
more.
Soldier F, who retired with the
rank of sergeant-major in 1988, had
previously told the inquiry that he
had killed two nailbombers and a
man carrying a pistol. But in a dra-
matic cross-examination by
Michael Mansfield QC, the former
paratrooper also admitted shoot-
ing Bernard McGuigan (41) during
the civil rights march.
Members of his family wept at
Methodist Central Hall in
Westminster as Soldier F admitted
he had shot him dead.
Mr McGuigan, a father of six and
a resident of the Creggan estate in
Derry, was waving a white hand-
kerchief at the time he was shot in
the head as he took cover en-route
to help another victim of the
shooting, Patrick Doherty.
Victim’s wife helped away
Lord Saville ordered a brief halt
to proceedings as emotions ran
high among 20 members of the
McGuigan family in the public
gallery. Mr McGuigan's widow
Bridie had to be helped away, sob-
bing uncontrollably.
Soldier F was shown two photo-
graphs of Mr McGuigan's injuries.
Mr Mansfield said: "If you have no
recollection, there is no way that
you can stand here today and sug-
gest that you did not shoot this
man, is there?"
Soldier F: "No." Mr Mansfield:
"Would you, for the benefit of his
wife, who is here, and his six chil-
dren, finally accept and recognise -
we will come to whether you
meant to do it in a moment, but
that is what you did; are you
happy to, or are you prepared to,
at least accept that?"
There were gasps as Soldier F
replied: "Yes."
Another day of drama at the
inquiry – this time for entirely dif-
ferent reasons – took place at the
Guildhall in November 2003 when
a former Official IRA man col-
lapsed in the witness box.
Known to the inquiry only as
OIRA 4, the witness had been
describing how he fired at soldiers
from the end of Chamberlain
Street. He said he only fired after it
was clear that the Army was shoot-
ing into the car park of the
Rossville Flats and that at least
one person had been hit.
Thirty minutes into his evidence,
OIRA 4 slumped forward in the wit-
ness box.
Edwin Glasgow QC, who repre-
sents most of the Bloody Sunday
paratroopers, ran to the witness
box as another barrister remarked:
“I am not sure the witness is well.”
Glasgow lifted the IRA man and
laid him gently on the floor.
Removing his jacket, the barrister
placed it under his head, which he
cradled in his hands. He took the
witness’ pulse several times as
inquiry staff called an ambulance
from the nearby Altnagelvin
Hospital.
Gasped for breath
“Stay with me, stay with me,”
Glasgow urged, as the witness’s
eyes fluttered and he gasped for
breath.
OIRA 4 was subsequently taken to
hospital and did not return to give
the rest of his oral evidence.
However, at the inquiry the next
day, OIRA's barrister paid tribute
to Glasgow.
At the heart of the inquiry, day
after day, month after month, year
after year, sat the Bloody Sunday
families. When Saville concluded
his investigation only one parent
of the 13 shot on Bloody Sunday
remained alive. The remainder
died waiting on their relatives to
be cleared of wrong-doing.
Now, thirty-eight years on from
that most awful of days, those
searching for justice remain hope-
ful that, at long last, the truth will
be set free.
35
SAVILLE
TIMELINE
■ January 29,1998
New inquiry into the events of
Bloody Sunday announced by
British Prime Minister Tony Blair
■ April 3, 1998
Opening statement of the
inquiry read by Lord Saville in
the Guildhall, Derry
■ March 27, 1998
Oral hearings begins with the
opening speech by Christopher
Clarke QC, Counsel to the
Inquiry
■ November 28, 2000
First witness gives oral evidence
December 2001
Court of Appeal rules that evi-
dence of military witnesses can-
not be taken in Derry because
of a perceived threat
■ March 14, 2002
Announcement that hearings
will be held in Central Hall,
Westminster
■ September 24 2002 -
October 21, 2003
Inquiry sits in London
■ October 29, 2003
Inquiry returns to the Guildhall,
Derry
■ February 13, 2004
Main body of witness evidence
ends
■ June 2004
Two additional witnesses heard
■ November 22, 2004
Two day closing speech begins
■ January 2005
Oral evidence heard from one
further witness
IN NUMBERS: THE
SAVILLE INQUIRY
• The tribunal has been the longest and
costliest inquiry in British legal history,
with a total cost of almost £200m.
• The inquiry sat for 434 days between
2000 and 2004.
• 2,500 witness statements were collected,
with more than 900 people called to give
direct evidence. Those interviewed includ-
ed more than 600 soldiers and 700 civil-
ians.
• An estimated 16 million words were spo-
ken during the oral hearings.
36 Tuesday, 15th June, 2010

■ The first Bloody Sunday commemoration march in January 1973. ■ Mickey McKinney and John Kelly lead relatives on a commemoration march.

DERRY PAYS TRIBUTE TO THOSE MURDERED

■ Relatives carry crosses with the names of those who died on Bloody Sunday ■ Relatives of those murdered on Bloody Sunday pay a poignant tribute to them.

■ Relatives send out a clear message about what happened to their loved ones. ■ Thousands turn out for one of the annual commemoration marches.

■ Hand painted banners portraying those killed on Bloody Sunday are mounted on the embankment ■ A new generation commemorate those murdered on
overlooking the Bogside. January 30, 1972.
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010 37

EMOTIONS RUN HIGH AT GLENFADA PARK MUSEUM

Thousands visit Bloody Sunday archive

Each year, many thousands of
tourists learn the full extent of the
brutality and horror of Bloody
Sunday at the Museum of Free Derry,
writes Ian Cullen.
For the vast majority of visitors, the
harsh education about the facts of
the darkest day in the city’s history
is a deeply emotional experience.
Those emotions are no doubt fur-
ther fuelled by the location of the
museum at Glenfada Park, an area
where several of the innocent vic-
tims were indiscriminately shot dead
by British paratroopers on Bloody
Sunday.
More than 15,000 visitors have
passed through the museum, which
was formerly a single story block of
flats (numbers 55-61 Glenfada Park),
just off Rossville Street.
On Bloody Sunday, two people were
killed and five injured directly in
front of the building. Mr and Mrs
McCartney, the grandparents of Jim
Wray, who was executed directly in
front of this building, were living in
number 57 at the time. Their old
home now houses the Bloody
Sunday section of the exhibition.
The building also still holds the last
remaining physical evidence of
Bloody Sunday in the area - in the
form of two bullet strikes on its
facade. The building was the subject
of a preservation order laid down by
the Saville Inquiry to preserve lines
of sight as closely as possible to
what they were on Bloody Sunday.
■ The Museum of Free Derry at Glenfada Park in the heart of the Bogside.
■ One of the artefacts on display at
the Museum of Free Derry.
The museum is situated only yards
away from the Bloody Sunday
Monument, about 100 hundred
yards from Free Derry Corner and
provides a focal point for tourism in
the otherwise economically disad-
vantaged area.
Central focus
The Bloody Sunday exhibits - which
include the Civil Rights banner used
by marchers on the day and the han-
kerchief waved by Fr Edward Daly as
fatally wounded Jackie Duddy was
carried away from the killing zone -
form the central focus of the muse-
um - yet other aspects of the Free
Derry’s history are also extensively
covered.
Curator Adrian Kerr explains: “For
almost ten years, the Bloody Sunday
Trust worked towards the creation
of a museum and archive focussing
on one of the most important peri-
ods in the history of this city - the
civil rights era of the 1960s and the
Free Derry/early troubles era of the
1970s. The first phase of this muse-
um - the Museum of Free Derry - was
formally opened in January 2007.
“For the purposes of the museum a
loose definition of Free Derry has
been used, and the term is used to
describe the area covering the
Bogside, Brandywell, Creggan,
Bishop Street and Foyle Road, an
area roughly equivalent to the old,
gerrymandered South Ward.”
Phase One of the Museum of Free
Derry covers the formation of the
Free Derry area and the oppression
by the Unionist government after
partition; the Civil Rights period; the
revitalisation of local community
spirit in the mid-1960s and the
peaceful demands for equality and ■ The Derry Civil Rights Association banner carried on the Bloody Sunday
march - still covered with blood - is on display at the Bogside museum.
change; The Battle of the Bogside in
August 1969; the descent into armed
conflict; internment; Bloody Sunday 'official' version of events.” Without this support from the local
The museum currently has an community, this museum would not
and Operation Motorman.
The planning of phase two of the archive of over 25,000 individual have been possible.”
items relating to the turbulent Free The Museum of Free Derry is man-
museum is already at an advanced
stage. Derry period. aged as a social economy initiative
Mr Kerr paid tribute to the local and all income generated goes
Mr Kerr adds: “It will add additional
research, study and archive space to community for their help in making towards sustaining and developing
the museum a resounding success the museum and securing long term
the museum site, allowing us to
make our ever-growing archive avail- since its formation. jobs for its employees.
“Virtually all of the items have been The Heritage Lottery Fund awarded
able to researchers and students.”
donated to the museum by local res- a grant of £66,300 towards the final
idents, and include some items of phase development of the museum.
Unique immense historical importance.
Mr Kerr believes the museum is
somewhat unique in that it tells part
of the city's history “from the point
of view of the people who lived
through, and were most affected by,
these events”.
“It is the community's story told
from the community's perspective,
not the distorted version parroted
by the government and most of the
media over the years. We believe it is
vital that all those involved in the
events of the last forty plus years
take the opportunity to tell their own
stories in a subjective but honest
way as a first step towards a greater
understanding of all the elements
that led to the most recent phase of
the conflict in Ireland. This is not ■ A display exhibiting some of the artefacts associated with Bloody Sunday
something that can be achieved is among the items visitors can see at the Museum of Free Derry.
through attempting to give a single

Recreating a virtual Bogside on Bloody Sunday

The Bloody Sunday Inquiry
used state of the art interactive
technology to recreate how the
Bogside area looked in 1972.
An interactive virtual reality
package was specifically designed
for the Inquiry using photo-
graphs of the William Street and
Bogside areas both from 1972
and from the time the inquiry
was sitting.
The package allowed the wit-
ness or barrister to ‘take a walk’
through the Bogside. This
allowed witnesses giving their
evidence to pinpoint exactly
where they were at a given time
and allowed those cross-examin-
ing them to determine what
would have been in their field of
vision at that time.
The application used thousands
of photographs and computer
generated images of Derry and
touch screen technology allowed
users to change the viewpoint
on-screen almost instantly.
It was not the first virtual reali-
ty had been used in a public
inquiry. However, the package
used at the Saville Inquiry had
been specifically designed for the
probe and ulitised the most up-
tp-date technology available.
It was designed to be user-
friendly so that witnesses did not
need to have any previous expe-
rience of information technology.
80 different locations throughout
the Bogside and William Street
areas were available and each
offered a 360 degree panoramic
view of the scene and allowed
users to zoom in on particular
areas.
Big screen
Projections of the images were
available on a big screen so that
everyone watching proceedings
at the inquiry could follow what
was happening.
Due to the huge amount of doc-
uments involved in the inquiry, a
specially designed system called
TrialPro was developed to allow
each document to be found
quickly.
Every piece of documentary evi-
dence used by the inquiry was
given a unique number and
scanned to ensure that they
could be called up quickly and
easily on screens in the
Guildhall.
The thousands of documents
were held in a TrialPro database
which allowed quick retrieval
with seconds and also allowed
barristers to zoom in to specific
areas of the document using
touch-screen technology.
The use of this technology was
estimated to have reduced the
length of the proceedings by 20-
30 per cent.
LiveNote
A specialised transcription serv-
ice called LiveNote was also used
by the Inquiry to provide ‘live’
transcriptions of the proceedings
to the laptop computers used by
the various legal teams.
As well as displaying the infor-
mation, the application allowed
the legal teams to manipulate
and annotate the text, along with
providing sophisticated reporting
facilities.
38
KEY WITNESSES AT SAVILLE INQUIRY
February 2001:The retired Bishop of Derry,
Dr. Edward Daly, told the Bloody Sunday
Inquiry there was no threat posed to the
army when they opened fire.
March 2002: JohnTaylor, now Ulster
Unionist peer Lord Kilclooney, told the
Bloody Sunday Inquiry that "13 armed men"
were shot dead on Bloody Sunday.
January 2003: Sir Edward Heath, the
British Prime Minister on Bloody Sunday,
told the Inquiry hearings in London that he
did not believe that the way to restore law
and order in Derry was to shoot some of the
rioters after warnings had been issued.
May 2001:The former Mid-Ulster MP,
Bernadette McAliskey, testifying to the
Bloody Sunday Inquiry, recalled the "sheer
terror" she felt during the shooting.
May 2002: Ian Paisley attended the Bloody
Sunday Inquiry after he was warned he
would be reported for contempt of court if he
ignored an order to appear.
April 2003: General Sir Mike Jackson, then
Chief of the General Staff, broke off from his
duties commanding the British Army as war
raged in Iraq to give evidence to the Bloody
Sunday Inquiry. Jackson, a captain with 1 Para in
Derry on Bloody Sunday, told the inquiry there
was no plan to tempt the IRA into a gun battle.
September 2001: Former priest Denis
Bradley said he would not reveal the names
of people he knew were IRA members at the
time of the shootings.
November 2002: General Sir Robert Ford,
the British Army's most senior officer present
on Bloody Sunday said Prime MinisterTony
Blair "jumped the gun" when he said the
civilians shot were innocent.
April 2003: Colonel Derek Wilford, the
soldier in charge of the Parachute Regiment
on the day, told the tribunal that the Paras
did not disobey their orders and that his men
did not do anything improper.
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010
January 2002: Nobel peace laureate John
Hume told the inquiry Bloody Sunday was a
"dreadful" day and was "the worst day in the
history of this city in my lifetime".
December 2002: Lord Carrington, the
British Defence Secretary in January 1972 -
the political head of the armed services -
dismissed claims that there was a top-level
plot to shoot innocent people on Bloody
Sunday as "ridiculous”.
November 2003: Sinn Fein's Martin
McGuinness told Lord Saville that he had
been "second-in-command" of the IRA in
Derry on Bloody Sunday.
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010
Bloody Sunday: the tragedy
portrayed in popular culture
There have been many iconic events
that have shaped the social fabric of
the city of Derry but none on the scale
of Bloody Sunday, writes David Wilson.
In the four decades since the British
Army shot dead 13 men on the streets
of the city, writers and filmmakers,
poets and musicians have responded
to and explored the human tragedy
that befell Derry that day.
Few have brought the harrowing
events of January 30, 1972 into popu-
lar culture - and into the world's social
consciousness - in a way that a mass
audience has allowed U2 to.
"Sunday Bloody Sunday", the open-
ing track from their 1983 album, War,
was an attempt "to contrast Bloody
Sunday, where 13 peaceful Irish pro-
testers were killed by British para-
troopers, with an Easter Sunday,"
according to Bono.
Eleven years previous, in the still raw
aftermath of Bloody Sunday, former
Beatle John Lennon - who protested
against the events of Bloody Sunday
in his adopted home of New York -
wrote the words: "Is there any one
■ John Lennon protested about
Bloody Sunday in NewYork.
■ Christy Moore was shocked by attitudes of English people to Bloody Sunday.
■ James Nesbitt as Ivan Cooper in Paul Greengrass’ film adaptation of the 1972
tragedy.
amongst you, Dare to blame it on the
kids? Not a soldier boy was bleeding,
When they nailed the coffin lids!"
Irish folk icon Christy Moore, in his
1996 song Minds Locked Shut,
recounts the tragic events that would
soon unfold on a" lovely bright win-
ter's afternoon" in Derry.
The former Planxty singer recalls
each and every one of the men who
died in a poignant penultimate verse.
Touring England in the early 1970s,
Moore was shocked by the ignorance
surrounding Bloody Sunday.
Moore shocked
"I was shocked by the number of
English people who believed the 14
men shot dead on Bloody Sunday
were IRA men”, he wrote in his autobi-
ography.
On the stage, Bloody Sunday has
proved no less inspirational.
Buncrana born playwright Frank
McGuinness, in his 1988 play
Carthaginians, writes in a direct
response to the events of January 30.
He describes the play as "an elegy to
the dead and the living of Derry, the
living who kept going, in Dido's
words... surviving."
Dave Duggan's 'Scenes from an
Inquiry' marked the 30th anniversary
of Bloody Sunday and was spawned
by a desire to dispel the legal jargon of
the Saville Inquiry and bring it to a
mass audience.
Brian Friel, whose plays
Philadelphia, Here I Come, and
Dancing at Lughnasa, have seen his
work lauded internationally, moved to
Derry at the age of 10.
His play, The Freedom of the City,
while focusing on fictitious events -
the killing of three unarmed civil
rights protestors in Derry in 1970 - is
filled with uncanny echoes of Bloody
Sunday.
■ Editors of Harrowing of the Heart, Julieann Campbell and Tom Herron,
pictured at the official launch of a book of poetry chronicling the events of Bloody
Sunday.
39
Like Friel, Nobel Laureate Seamus
Heaney is no less internationally
acclaimed.
His poem, The Road to Derry, went
unpublished for many years, before
the writer sent it to the Derry Journal.
Luke Kelly
In a letter to the paper, Heaney
revealed that Luke Kelly, of the
Dubliners, had asked him to write a
song in the wake of the massacre.
"I did four stanzas and sent it to him,
with the suggestion that they might be
put to the air of the Boys of
Mullaghbawn, but nothing ever came
of it.... Anyway I think it is in order to
reprint this abbreviated version now,
twenty five years after the drive from
Belfast to Derry on the day of the
funerals," he wrote.
Big screen
In 2002, the events of Bloody Sunday
were brought to the big screen. The
Jimmy McGovern penned 'Sunday',
featuring a largely local cast and shot
■ U2 frontman Bono.
in Derry, won best drama at the Prix
Italia and later received an Emmy
nomination.
Bloody Sunday, starring James
Nesbitt, who portrayed civil rights
campaigner Ivan Cooper, was released
the same year. Cooper said of the film:
" I'm able to say with confidence that
it was made with great integrity."
But, perhaps, the most poignant
reflections on the day are captured in
'Harrowing of the Heart', edited by
Journal reporter Julieann Campbell
and Tom Herron, which is filled with
works by friends, family, loved ones
and people who witnessed first hand
the appalling events of the day.
Among those to contribute to the
collection of poems, published in
2008, are Campbell herself (a niece of
Jackie Duddy), Niall Kelly, (a nephew
of Michael Kelly) and Martin Wray (a
nephew of Jim Wray)
■ Brian Friel
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010

41

JANUARY 1972
Extracts from the Derry Journal archives
Paratroopers come under attack from stonethrowers at William Street on January The ill-fated Bloody Sunday march makes its way through the Creggan
30, 1972 - Bloody Sunday. Estate.

Hundreds gather at Central Drive in the Creggan Estate to take part in the ill-fated civil rights march. Young people gather at Lecky Road in the Bogside awaiting the arrival of the civil rights march.Little did they know that,
minutes later, 13 people would be shot dead and more than a dozen others wounded.

The massive crowd that attended the civil rights march on January 30, 1972, winds its way down William Street before
The body of one of those murdered on Bloody Sunday lies covered in a blanket on the pavement at Rossville Street.
turning into Rossville Street. Minutes later, members of the Parachute Regiment would storm into the Bogside and gun
down innocent civilians.

42
THE FINALCONCLUSION
“The firing by soldiers of 1 PARA on Bloody Sunday caused the deaths of 13 people and injury to a
similar number, none of whom was posing a threat of causing death or serious injury. What happened on
Bloody Sunday strengthened the Provisional IRA, increased nationalist resentment and hostility towards
the Army and exacerbated the violent conflict of the years that followed. Bloody Sunday was a tragedy
for the bereaved and the wounded, and a catastrophe for the people of Northern Ireland.”
The overall assessment
Chapter five - the overall assessment
5.1 The early firing in William Street resulted
in two wounded casualties, neither of whom
was doing anything that justified either of
them being shot. It is possible that the soldiers
concerned mistakenly believed that they had
identified someone posing a threat of causing
death or serious injury. Equally, each of those
soldiers may have fired, not believing that his
target was posing a threat of causing death or
serious injury, but only suspecting that this
might have been the case.
5.2 The soldiers of Support Company who
went into the Bogside did so as the result of an
order by Colonel Wilford, which should not
have been given and which was contrary to the
orders that he had received from Brigadier
MacLellan.
5.3 With the exception of Private T and with
the probable exception of shots Sergeant O
said that he fired at someone on a balcony of
Block 3 of the Rossville Flats and which,
(despite his assertion to the contrary) did not
hit anyone, none of the firing by the soldiers of
Support Company was aimed at people posing
a threat of causing death or serious injury.
5.4 We have concluded that the explanation
for such firing by Support Company soldiers
after they had gone into the Bogside was in
most cases probably the mistaken belief
among them that republican paramilitaries
were responding in force to their arrival in the
Bogside. This belief was initiated by the first
shots fired by Lieutenant N and reinforced by
the further shots that followed soon after. In
this belief soldiers reacted by losing their self-
control and firing themselves, forgetting or
ignoring their instructions and training and
failing to satisfy themselves that they had iden-
tified targets posing a threat of causing death
or serious injury. In the case of those soldiers
who fired in either the knowledge or belief that
no-one in the areas into which they fired was
posing a threat of causing death or serious
injury, or not caring whether or not anyone
there was posing such a threat, it is at least
possible that they did so in the indefensible
belief that all the civilians they fired at were
probably either members of the Provisional or
Official IRA or were supporters of one or other
of these paramilitary organisations; and so
deserved to be shot notwithstanding that they
were not armed or posing any threat of causing
death or serious injury. Our overall conclusion
is that there was a serious and widespread loss
of fire discipline among the soldiers of Support
Company.
5.5 The firing by soldiers of 1 PARA on Bloody
Sunday caused the deaths of 13 people and
injury to a similar number, none of whom was
posing a threat of causing death or serious
injury. What happened on Bloody Sunday
strengthened the Provisional IRA, increased
nationalist resentment and hostility towards
the Army and exacerbated the violent conflict
of the years that followed. Bloody Sunday was
a tragedy for the bereaved and the wounded,
and a catastrophe for the people of Northern
Ireland.
Report of the
The Bloody Sunday Inquiry
The first idea that Bloody Sunday families
and their lawyers had of the historic conclu-
sions of the Saville tribunal report came from
an executive summary of its 5,000 pages - a
summary that in itself was around 60 pages
long. Here is the summary, omitting chapter
one, which deals with an outline of events
before Bloody Sunday, and some references
to maps and diagrams.
Volume I - Chapter 2
Outline of events before the day
Chapter 2: Outline of events before the day
3.5 When the march reached the junction of William Street,
and Rossville Street, many people, including those who
were eager for a confrontation with the security forces,
instead of turning right into Rossville Street to go to Free
Derry Corner, continued along William Street to the Army
barrier there, Barrier 14.
3.6 Shortly after the arrival of people at Barrier 14, rioting
broke out there, in the form of members of the crowd throw-
ing stones and similar missiles at the soldiers. In addition,
further back, similar rioting broke out at the barriers closing
Little James Street and Sackville Street, Barriers 12 and 13.
As can be seen from the map shown at paragraph 3.2 above,
Little James Street led north from the junction of William
Street and Rossville Street, a junction known to soldiers and
some others at the time as “Aggro Corner”, because it had
frequently been an area for riots. Sackville Street led east
from Little James Street. There was also rioting of a similar
kind further west along William Street, in the area where
Machine Gun Platoon was located.
3.7 The soldiers at the barriers responded to the rioting by
firing baton rounds (often called rubber bullets) and at
Barrier 12 (and perhaps Barrier 13) by firing CS gas. At
Barrier 14, rioters themselves threw a canister of CS gas at
the soldiers, while the soldiers there, in addition to firing
baton rounds, deployed a water cannon and sprayed the
rioters (and others who were there) in an attempt to dis-
perse them. The soldiers at Barrier 14 (who were from 2nd
Battalion, The Royal Green Jackets) acted with restraint in
the face of the rioting at this barrier and deployed no more
than properly proportionate force in seeking to deal with it.
3.8 While this rioting was taking place and at just after 1555
hours, Colonel Wilford [Colonel Derek Wilford, the
Commanding Officer of 1 PARA], who had taken up a posi-
tion close to the Presbyterian church, sent a radio message
to Brigade Headquarters (stationed at Ebrington Barracks
on the other side of the River Foyle) in which he suggested
sending one of his companies through Barrier 14 (the barri-
er on William Street) into the area of William Street and Little
James Street (ie the area of and to the north of Aggro
Corner) on the grounds that by doing so he might be able to
arrest a number of rioters. We set out below a map on which
we show this area.
3.9 Brigadier MacLellan [Brigadier Patrick MacLellan, the
Commander of 8th Infantry Brigade, which was the Army
brigade in charge of the Derry area] , who was at Brigade
Headquarters, did not give an order for an arrest operation
until some minutes later.
3.10 At about the same time as Colonel Wilford sent this
message, two soldiers of Machine Gun Platoon fired
between them five shots from the derelict building on
William Street. Their target was Damien Donaghey (aged
15), who was on the other side of William Street and who
was wounded in the thigh. Unknown to the soldiers John
Johnston (aged 55), who was a little distance behind Damien
Donaghey, was also hit and injured by fragments from this
gunfire.
3.11 Shortly after this incident a member of the Official IRA
(given the cipher OIRA 1) fired a rifle at soldiers who were
on a wall on the side of the Presbyterian church. The shot
was fired from a position across William Street.
3.12 The shot fired by OIRA 1 missed soldiers and hit a
drainpipe running down the side of the Presbyterian
Colonel Derek Wilford, commander of I Para that day.
“Colonel Wilford either
deliberately disobeyed Brigadier
MacLellan’s order or failed for no
good reason to appreciate the
clear limits on what he had been
authorised to do.”
church. OIRA 1 and another Official IRA man with him (OIRA
2) insisted that this shot had been fired as a reprisal for the
shooting of Damien Donaghey and John Johnston. We were
not convinced of this, although we considered on balance
that the IRA shot was fired after the wounding of Damien
Donaghey and John Johnston. In our view these two Official
IRA members had gone to a pre-arranged sniping position in
order to fire at the soldiers; and probably did so when an
opportunity presented itself rather than because two civil-
ians had been injured.
3.13 At around the time of these incidents Colonel Wilford
abandoned his initial plan to send Support Company sol-
diers from Great James Street directly south into William
Street if he got the order to mount an arrest operation; and
instead told Support Company to be prepared to go in vehi-
cles through Barrier 12, the barrier in Little James Street.
The arrest operation
3.14 At 1607 hours Brigadier MacLellan gave 1 PARA orders
by radio to mount an arrest operation by sending one com-
pany of 1 PARA through Barrier 14 in William Street, but not
to conduct a running battle down Rossville Street. In its con-
text, the prohibition on conducting a running battle down
Rossville Street meant that the soldiers were not to chase
people down that street.
3.15 Brigadier MacLellan had delayed giving an order for
an arrest operation because he was correctly concerned
that there should be separation between rioters and peace-
ful marchers before launching an operation to arrest the for-
mer. He gave the order when he had reasonable grounds for
believing that there was such separation in the area for
arrests that Colonel Wilford had previously identified.
3.16 This order was responsive to the request made by
Colonel Wilford some 12 minutes earlier. In other words,
Brigadier MacLellan authorised the arrest operation sug-
gested by Colonel Wilford. The second part of this order
reflected Brigadier MacLellan’s anxiety that the soldiers
should not become mixed up with the peaceful marchers
further along Rossville Street.
3.17 The arrest operation ordered by the Brigadier was
accordingly limited to sending one company through
Barrier 14 in William Street, in an attempt to arrest rioters in
the area of and to the north of Aggro Corner.
3.18 Colonel Wilford did not comply with Brigadier
MacLellan’s order. He deployed one company through
Barrier 14 as he was authorised to do, but in addition and
without authority he deployed Support Company in vehi-
cles through Barrier 12 in Little James Street. As we describe
below, the vehicles travelled along Rossville Street and into
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010
the Bogside, where the soldiers disembarked. The effect
was that soldiers of Support Company did chase people
down Rossville Street. Some of those people had been riot-
ing but many were peaceful marchers. There was thus no
separation between peaceful marchers and those who had
been rioting and no means whereby soldiers could identify
and arrest only the latter.
3.19 Colonel Wilford either deliberately disobeyed
Brigadier MacLellan’s order or failed for no good reason to
appreciate the clear limits on what he had been authorised
to do. He was disturbed by the delay in responding to his
request to mount an arrest operation and had concluded
that, by reason of the delay, the only way to effect a signifi-
cant number of arrests was to deploy Support Company in
vehicles into the Bogside. He did not inform Brigade of this
conclusion. Had he done so, Brigadier MacLellan might well
have called off the arrest operation altogether, on the
grounds that this deployment would not have provided suf-
ficient separation between rioters and civil rights marchers.
3.20 Colonel Wilford did not pass on to Major Loden (the
Commander of Support Company) the Brigadier’s injunction
on chasing people down Rossville Street, nor did he impose
any limits on how far the soldiers of Support Company
should go. Colonel Wilford’s evidence was that it was not
necessary to do either of these things, as he understood the
injunction as prohibiting his soldiers from chasing rioters
down to Free Derry Corner or beyond and because his sol-
diers already knew that they should not go further than
about 200 or 250 yards from their starting point. Colonel
Wilford should have understood that he was being ordered
not to chase rioters any distance down Rossville Street.
3.21 The vehicles of Support Company went through
Barrier 12. The two leading vehicles, which were Armoured
Personnel Carriers (APCs), held soldiers of Mortar Platoon.
The first of these vehicles (which carried the Commander of
Mortar Platoon, Lieutenant N, and other soldiers) went
along Rossville Street and then turned left onto an area of
waste ground called the Eden Place waste ground, where
the soldiers disembarked. Beyond the waste ground were
three high blocks of flats known as the Rossville Flats. In the
area partly surrounded by these blocks there was a car
park. The second vehicle (under the command of Sergeant
O, the Platoon Sergeant of Mortar Platoon) went further
along Rossville Street than the first vehicle, stopped briefly
on that street where some of the soldiers disembarked, and
then turned left and stopped in the entrance to the car park
of the Rossville Flats, where the remaining soldiers disem-
barked. This was about 230 yards from Barrier 12. We set
out below a map showing the route these vehicles took and
photographs showing the positions they reached, which
were in that part of the “no go” area of the city called the
Bogside.
3.22 Many civilians were in the area of the Eden Place
waste ground and the car park of the Rossville Flats when
the vehicles of Support Company drove into the Bogside. On
seeing the Army vehicles these people started to run away.
Shortly before it stopped in the car park of the Rossville
Flats the vehicle under the command of Sergeant O struck
two people, Alana Burke and Thomas Harkin. This was not
done deliberately.
3.23 On disembarking soldiers fired baton rounds and
some sought to make arrests. Only six arrests were made in
this area as the people there when the vehicles arrived rap-
idly dispersed.
3.24 After disembarking Lieutenant N went towards an
alleyway that led from the Eden Place waste ground into
Chamberlain Street, which was a street to the east of the
Eden Place waste ground that ran parallel to Rossville
Street. The alleyway is shown in the following photograph.
3.25 Shortly after arriving at the entrance to the alleyway,
Lieutenant N fired two rounds from his rifle over the heads
of people who were in the alleyway or in Chamberlain Street
at the end of the alleyway and soon afterwards fired a third
round in the same direction. These people had come from
the area around Barrier 14 in William Street. Some of them
had been attempting to rescue a man who had been arrest-
ed by one of the soldiers with Lieutenant N and some were
throwing stones and similar missiles at the soldiers.
3.26 The shots fired by Lieutenant N hit buildings, but
injured no-one. These were the first rifle shots fired in the
area after soldiers had gone into the Bogside. Lieutenant N’s
evidence was that he believed that his shots were the only
way of preventing the crowd from attacking him and the sol-
diers with him. We do not accept that evidence. In our view
Lieutenant N probably fired these shots because he decided
that this would be an effective way of frightening the people
and moving them on, and not because he considered that
they posed such a threat to him or the other soldiers that
firing his rifle was the only option open to him. In our view
this use of his weapon cannot be justified.
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010
The casualties in the Bogside
3.27 Soon after Lieutenant N had fired his shots up the
alleyway, soldiers of Mortar Platoon opened fire with their
rifles in the area of the car park of the Rossville Flats. In that
car park Jackie Duddy (aged 17) was shot and mortally
wounded, while Margaret Deery (aged 38), Michael Bridge
(aged 25) and Michael Bradley (aged 22) were wounded, all
by Army rifle fire. In addition Pius McCarron (aged about 30)
and Patrick McDaid (aged 24) suffered injuries from flying
debris caused by Army rifle fire. Patrick Brolly (aged 40) was
in one of the Rossville Flats and was probably injured by or
as the result of Army rifle fire. [ . . ]
3.29 Vehicles carrying the Commander of Support
Company, Major Loden, and two platoons, Anti-Tank
Platoon and Composite Platoon, had followed Mortar
Platoon of Support Company into the Bogside. Anti-Tank
Platoon was one of the regular platoons of Support
Company and was commanded by Lieutenant 119.
Composite Platoon was a platoon that was on the day
attached to Support Company and was under the command
of Captain 200.
3.30 These soldiers disembarked in Rossville Street. Most
of the soldiers of Machine Gun Platoon remained at this
stage in the derelict building on William Street.
3.31 A short time after disembarking, and while events
were unfolding in the car park of the Rossville Flats, soldiers
of Anti-Tank Platoon reached the low walls of a ramp at the
southern end of a block of flats named Kells Walk, on the
western side of Rossville Street. Soldiers at that ramp then
opened fire with their rifles. One of these shots hit and mor-
tally wounded Michael Kelly (aged 17) who was some 80
yards further south behind a rubble barricade that had been
erected by civilians across Rossville Street before Bloody
Sunday.
3.32 Soon after civilians had carried Michael Kelly away
from the rubble barricade, soldiers in Rossville Street fired
at and mortally wounded five more people at or in the vicin-
ity of that barricade. They were Hugh Gilmour (aged 17),
William Nash (aged 19), John Young (aged 17), Michael
McDaid (aged 20) and Kevin McElhinney (aged 17). In addi-
tion Alexander Nash (aged 52) was hit and injured by Army
gunfire after he had gone to the rubble barricade to tend his
son William Nash.
3.33 After this firing had begun, soldiers of Anti-Tank
Platoon moved forward from the low walls of the Kells Walk
ramp and four of them went into Glenfada Park North, a res-
idential building complex that lay to the west of Rossville
Street, which is also shown on this map.
3.34 In Glenfada Park North were a number of civilians,
many fleeing and seeking refuge from the soldiers.
3.35 Within a few seconds after arriving, the four soldiers
who had gone into Glenfada Park North between them shot
and mortally wounded William McKinney (aged 26) and Jim
Wray (aged 22); and shot and injured Joe Friel (aged 20),
Michael Quinn (aged 17), Joe Mahon (aged 16) and Patrick
O’Donnell (aged 41). Jim Wray was shot twice, the second
time probably as he lay mortally wounded on the ground. A
civilian, Daniel Gillespie (aged 32), may also have been
slightly injured by or as the result of Army rifle fire in
Glenfada Park North, but this is far from certain.
3.36 One of these soldiers then went from Glenfada Park
North to Abbey Park, another residential area which lies to
the west of Glenfada Park North.
3.37 In Abbey Park this soldier shot and mortally wounded
Gerard McKinney (aged 35). His shot passed through this
casualty and also mortally wounded Gerald Donaghey (aged
17).
3.38 Soon after the shootings in Rossville Street, Glenfada
Park North and Abbey Park, some of the soldiers who had
been in Glenfada Park North went to its south-east corner,
where there was a road entrance to Rossville Street.
3.39 From this position and again over a very short period
of time there was Army gunfire across Rossville Street. This
gunfire hit Bernard McGuigan (aged 41) and Patrick Doherty
(aged 32), instantly killing the former and mortally wound-
ing the latter. In addition Patrick Campbell (aged 53) and
Daniel McGowan (aged 37) were wounded. All these casual-
ties occurred in a pedestrianised area between the Joseph
Place flats and the front (southern) side of Block 2 of the
Rossville Flats.
3.40 Although there was later firing by soldiers in Rossville
Street, the people shot on the front (southern) side of the
Rossville Flats were the last civilians to be shot by the sol-
diers who had gone into the Bogside.
3.41 Only some ten minutes elapsed between the time sol-
diers moved in vehicles into the Bogside and the time the
last of the civilians was shot.
3.42 There was other firing by the soldiers of Support
Company (including soldiers of Composite Platoon) after
they had gone into the Bogside, which did not result in
death or injury; but which formed an important part of the
events of the day and which we consider in this report. In all,
soldiers of Support Company fired over 100 rounds after
they had gone into the Bogside.
The soldiers who shot the casualties
3.43 We have no doubt that soldiers of Support Company
were responsible for all the gunfire casualties that we have
described above, using their high velocity self-loading
7.62mm Army rifles, known as SLRs. As will be seen, in some
cases we are sure of the identity of the soldier or soldiers
concerned, while in other cases our identifications are less
certain.
3.44 The first gunfire casualty of the day was Damien
Donaghey, who was on a patch of waste ground immediate-
ly south of William Street. He was hit in the thigh, either by
one of two shots fired by Corporal A or one of three shots
fired by Private B, both soldiers of Machine Gun Platoon.
The two soldiers fired their shots from the derelict building
more or less simultaneously in a single burst of fire. All these
shots were aimed and fired at Damien Donaghey.
3.45 Unknown to Corporal A or Private B, fragments from
one or more of these shots hit and injured John Johnston,
“Jim Wray was shot
twice, the second
time probably when
he was lying
mortally wounded
on the ground. It is
probable that either
Private G or Private
H fired this
second shot.”
who was on the same patch of waste ground.
3.46 The first casualty of gunfire after soldiers had gone
into the Bogside was Jackie Duddy, who was shot and mor-
tally wounded on the western side of the Rossville Flats car
park.
3.47 In our view Private R of Mortar Platoon was probably
the soldier who aimed at and shot Jackie Duddy. This soldier
had disembarked from Sergeant O’s APC in Rossville Street,
but then ran after this vehicle as it continued into the
entrance to the car park of the Rossville Flats, before he
fired at Jackie Duddy.
3.48 Soon after Jackie Duddy was shot Lance Corporal V of
Mortar Platoon, who had moved towards the car park of the
Rossville Flats after disembarking from Lieutenant N’s APC,
fired his rifle. This shot was probably the one that hit
Margaret Deery in the thigh. At the time this casualty was
near the southern end of the wall at the back of the gardens
of the houses on the western side of Chamberlain Street.
3.49 Michael Bridge was injured after Margaret Deery. He
was shot in the thigh when he was a short distance from
Sergeant O’s vehicle in the car park of the Rossville Flats.
3.50 It is probable that it was Lieutenant N, the Commander
of Mortar Platoon, who aimed at and shot Michael Bridge.
This officer had moved towards the car park of the Rossville
Flats from his APC in the Eden Place waste ground before he
fired.
3.51 Michael Bradley was shot when he was on the south-
ern side of the Rossville Flats car park. It is probable that it
was Private Q of Mortar Platoon who aimed at and shot
Michael Bradley, from a position near to the northern end of
Block 1 of the Rossville Flats.
3.52 Patrick McDaid and Pius McCarron were injured by
debris sent flying by shots fired as they were attempting to
run away from the south-eastern area of the Rossville Flats
car park.
3.53 We cannot determine precisely which soldier or sol-
diers fired these shots beyond saying that it was one or
more of Sergeant O, Private R and Private S, all of Mortar
Platoon.
3.54 Although he did not aim at Patrick Brolly, Private T of
Mortar Platoon was probably responsible for the shot that
directly or indirectly injured this casualty, who was in Block
1 of the Rossville Flats. However, we cannot eliminate the
possibility that Private S rather than Private T was respon-
sible. Patrick Brolly was injured after Jackie Duddy was shot
but before the latter had been carried from the car park.
3.55 We are sure that shortly after he disembarked from his
vehicle and while events were unfolding in the car park of
the Rossville Flats, Lance Corporal F of Anti-Tank Platoon
fired from the low walls of the Kells Walk ramp and mortally
injured Michael Kelly, who was behind the rubble barricade
in Rossville Street.
3.56 After Michael Kelly had been shot, William Nash, John
Young and Michael McDaid were shot and killed at the rub-
ble barricade. We are sure that Corporal P of Mortar
Platoon, who had disembarked from Sergeant O’s APC in
Rossville Street, shot at least one of these casualties and
may have been responsible for all three, though Lance
Corporal J of Anti-Tank Platoon may have shot one of them
and we cannot eliminate the possibility that Corporal E was
responsible for another. Corporal P fired from a position in
Rossville Street north of the rubble barricade and south of
the low walls of the Kells Walk ramp; while Lance Corporal J
and Corporal E fired from a position at that ramp.
3.57 We are sure that Private U, a member of Mortar
Platoon who had taken up a position at the northern end of
Block 1 of the Rossville Flats, fired at and mortally wounded
Hugh Gilmour as the latter was running south (ie away from
the soldiers) along the Rossville Street side of Block 1 of the
Rossville Flats.
3.58 We are sure that either Private L or Private M, mem-
bers of Composite Platoon who had taken up positions at
the low walls of the Kells Walk ramp, shot Kevin McElhinney
as he was crawling south from the rubble barricade away
from the soldiers. Both probably fired at him on the orders
of one or perhaps two nearby non-commissioned officers,
Colour Sergeant 002 and Corporal 039.
3.59 It is possible that either Corporal P or Lance Corporal
J was responsible for firing at and injuring Alexander Nash.
These soldiers were in positions somewhere north of the
rubble barricade and south of the low walls of the Kells Walk
ramp. However, there is insufficient evidence to make any
finding against either of these soldiers on this matter.
3.60 The four soldiers who moved from the low walls of the
Kells Walk ramp into Glenfada Park North were Corporal E,
Lance Corporal F, Private G and Private H. All were members
of Anti-Tank Platoon and all fired their rifles in Glenfada Park
North.
3.61 We are sure that these four soldiers were between
them responsible for the casualties in Glenfada Park North.
It is probable that Corporal E was responsible for the shot
that injured Patrick O’Donnell. It is not possible to identify
which particular soldiers shot the other casualties.
However, we consider it more likely than not that either
Lance Corporal F or Private H fired the shot that mortally
wounded William McKinney; that one or other of these sol-
diers was responsible for the shot that wounded Joe Mahon;
that either Private G or Private H fired the shot that wound-
ed Michael Quinn; that either Lance Corporal F or Private G
fired the shot that wounded Joe Friel; and that either Private
G or Private H fired the first shot to hit Jim Wray. Joe Mahon
was probably wounded by a shot that had first hit William
McKinney. It is not clear whether Joe Friel and Michael
Quinn were specifically targeted, or were hit by shots fired
indiscriminately at the people who were in the south-west
corner of Glenfada Park North. All these shots were fired
from the northern side of Glenfada Park North within a very
short time of each other. All the casualties were on the
southern side of Glenfada Park North, about 40 yards from
the soldiers.
3.62 The circumstances in which Daniel Gillespie was
injured are so confused that it is not possible to identify the
soldier or soldiers who might have been responsible for his
injury, which was slight.
3.63 As we have said, Jim Wray was shot twice, the second
time probably when he was lying mortally wounded on the
ground. It is probable that either Private G or Private H fired
this second shot.
3.64 There is no doubt that Private G was the soldier who
at a range of only a few yards fired at and mortally wounded
Gerard McKinney in Abbey Park. His shot passed through
Gerard McKinney’s body and also mortally wounded Gerald
Donaghey.
3.65 The last gunfire casualties were Bernard McGuigan,
Patrick Doherty, Patrick Campbell and Daniel McGowan, all
shot in the area to the south of Block 2 of the Rossville Flats
within a very short time of each other. We are sure that
Lance Corporal F fired at and shot Bernard McGuigan and
Patrick Doherty and it is highly probable that he was also
responsible for shooting the other two casualties. This sol-
dier fired across Rossville Street from the Rossville Street
entranceway into Glenfada Park North.
3.66 We should note at this point that we have considered
the possibility that one or more of the casualties might have
occurred from soldiers firing by accident, in the sense of dis-
charging their rifles by mistake and without intending to do
so. We have found no evidence that suggests to us that this
was or might have been the case.
Why the soldiers shot the casualties
3.67 Every soldier serving in Northern Ireland was issued
with a card entitled Instructions by the Director of
Operations for Opening Fire in Northern Ireland. This was
known as the Yellow Card, and contained instructions as to
when a soldier could open fire.
3.68 The Yellow Card in force on Bloody Sunday contained
instructions to the soldiers that they should never use more
force than the minimum necessary to enable them to carry
out their duties, and should always first try to handle the sit-
uation by means other than opening fire. The Yellow Card
provided that the soldier should only fire aimed shots and
that save in two cases, if a soldier had to open fire, a warn-
ing was to be given before doing so. The warning to be given
had to include a statement that fire would be opened if the
soldier’s order was not obeyed.
3.69 The first of the two cases in which a soldier could
open fire without warning was when hostile firing was taking
place in his area and a warning was impracticable, or when
any delay could lead to death or serious injury to people
whom it was the soldier’s duty to protect or to the soldier
himself; and in either of these situations the soldier was only
permitted to open fire against a person using a firearm
against members of the security forces or people whom it
was the soldier’s duty to protect; or against a person carry-
ing a firearm if the soldier had reason to think that that per-
son was about to use the firearm for offensive purposes. The
Yellow Card defined “firearm” as including a grenade, nail
“Despite the
contrary evidence
given by soldiers,
we have concluded
that none of them
fired in response to
attacks or
threatened attacks
by nail or petrol
bombers.”
43
bomb or gelignite-type bomb. The second case in which a
soldier could open fire without warning concerned firing at
vehicles and has no relevance to the firing on Bloody
Sunday.
3.70 None of the casualties shot by soldiers of Support
Company was armed with a firearm or (with the probable
exception of Gerald Donaghey) a bomb of any description.
None was posing any threat of causing death or serious
injury. In no case was any warning given before soldiers
opened fire.
3.71 It was submitted on behalf of many of the represented
soldiers that it was possible that some of the casualties were
accidental, in the sense that the soldier concerned fired at
someone posing a threat of causing death or serious injury,
but missed and hit a bystander instead. It was also submit-
ted that soldiers fired at and killed or injured other people
who were posing such a threat, but that the existence of
these casualties had been kept secret by those civilians who
knew that this had happened, in order to deprive the sol-
diers of evidence that their firing was justified.
3.72 Apart from the firing by Private T, we have found no
substance in either of these submissions.
3.73 As to the first, although John Johnston was hit acci-
dentally from fragments of the shots fired at Damien
Donaghey in William Street, Damien Donaghey was not pos-
ing a threat of causing death or serious injury. Margaret
Deery, who was shot and seriously wounded in the Rossville
Flats car park, was probably not the intended target and was
hit by accident, but again the soldier concerned was not fir-
ing at someone posing a threat of causing death or serious
injury. The same is true of the shots that indirectly caused
injury to Pius McCarron and Patrick McDaid. In Glenfada
Park North, Joe Mahon was hit and wounded by a bullet that
was aimed at and probably initially hit William McKinney. In
Abbey Park, Gerald Donaghey was hit and mortally wound-
ed by the bullet that had first mortally wounded Gerard
McKinney, but neither William McKinney nor Gerard
McKinney was posing a threat of causing death or serious
injury. Apart from these and Patrick Brolly, all the casualties
were either the intended targets of the soldiers or the result
of shots fired indiscriminately at people. None of the sol-
diers admitted missing his target and hitting someone else
by mistake.
3.74 As to Patrick Brolly, if Private T was responsible for
the shot that injured this casualty, this was one of the two
shots that Private T fired at a man who had been throwing
down bottles containing acid or a similar corrosive sub-
stance from the Rossville Flats. Such conduct probably did
pose a threat of causing serious injury. Private T (if he was
responsible) neither intended to hit Patrick Brolly nor fired
his rifle indiscriminately at people. If it was Private S who
fired and injured Patrick Brolly, he did not aim at this casu-
alty but fired indiscriminately at the Rossville Flats.
3.75 As to the second submission, we are sure that no-one
other than the casualties that we have described above was
killed or seriously injured by firing by Support Company sol-
diers. Had there been such casualties, we have no doubt
that this would have come to light many years ago. We have
found no evidence that suggests to us that there were other
less serious casualties of Support Company gunfire.
3.76 Despite the contrary evidence given by soldiers, we
have concluded that none of them fired in response to
attacks or threatened attacks by nail or petrol bombers. No-
one threw or threatened to throw a nail or petrol bomb at
the soldiers on Bloody Sunday. There was some firing by
republican paramilitaries (though nothing approaching that
claimed by some soldiers) which we discuss in detail in this
report, but in our view none of this firing provided any jus-
tification for the shooting of the civilian casualties. No sol-
dier of Support Company was injured by gunfire on Bloody
Sunday. Two suffered slight injuries from acid or a similar
corrosive substance thrown down on them in bottles from
the Rossville Flats.
3.77 Apart from Private T (who claimed to have fired at
someone throwing down acid bombs from the Rossville
Flats), all the soldiers who in our view were responsible for
the casualties on Bloody Sunday sought to justify their
shooting on the grounds that they were sure when they fired
that they had targeted and hit someone who was armed with
a firearm or a nail or petrol bomb and who was posing or
about to pose a threat of causing death or serious injury.
3.78 In other words, all the soldiers (apart from Private T)
who were in our view responsible for the casualties insisted
that they had shot at gunmen or bombers, which they had
not, and (with the possible exception of Lance Corporal F’s
belated admission with regard to Michael Kelly) did not
accept that they had shot the known casualties, which they
had. To our minds it inevitably followed that this materially
undermined the credibility of the accounts given by the sol-
diers who fired.
3.79 As we have said, none of the casualties was posing a
threat of causing death or serious injury, or indeed was
doing anything else that could on any view justify their
shooting. However, the question remains as to whether
when they fired, the soldiers nevertheless mistakenly
believed that they were justified in doing so.
3.80 We appreciate that soldiers on internal security
duties, facing a situation in which they or their colleagues
may at any moment come under lethal attack, have little
time to decide whether they have identified a person posing
a threat of causing death or serious injury; and may have to
make that decision in a state of tension or fear. It is a well-
known phenomenon that, particularly when under stress or
when events are moving fast, people often erroneously
come to believe that they are or might be hearing or seeing
what they were expecting to hear or see. We have borne this
in mind when assessing the state of mind of the soldiers
responsible for the casualties.
3.81 It is also possible that in the sort of circumstances out-
lined in the previous paragraph, a soldier might fire in fear
or panic, without giving proper thought to whether his tar-
get was posing a threat of causing death or serious injury.
3.82 In the course of the report we have considered in
detail the accounts of the soldiers whose firing caused the
casualties, in the light of much other evidence. We have con-
cluded, for the reasons we give, that apart from Private T
many of these soldiers have knowingly put forward false
accounts in order to seek to justify their firing. However, we

44
have also borne in mind that the fact that a soldier after-
wards lied about what had happened does not necessarily
entail that he fired without believing that he had identified a
person posing a threat of causing death or serious injury,
since it is possible that he was at the time convinced that he
was justified in firing, but later invented details in an attempt
to bolster his account and make it more credible to others.
We have borne this possibility in mind when seeking to
decide whether or not each of the soldiers of Support
Company who fired and whose shots killed or injured civil-
ians believed, when he did so, that he was justified in firing.
3.83 With these considerations in mind, we turn to consid-
er the individual soldiers concerned. In accordance with our
ruling of 11th October 2004,1 we express where appropriate
the degree of confidence or certainty with which we reach
our conclusions.
3.84 As noted above, the first casualties of Army gunfire on
the day were in William Street, some minutes before soldiers
went into the Bogside.
3.85 The soldiers concerned in this incident, Corporal A
and Private B, unlike those who later went into the Bogside,
were not in an open area, but in a derelict building on
William Street. At the same time, they were members of a
platoon that had been sent to a position isolated from other
soldiers, close to the rioting in William Street and adjacent
to the Bogside, the latter being part of the “no go” area of the
city and known to be dangerous for the security forces. They
accordingly perceived themselves to be in a dangerous situ-
ation in which at any time they might be targeted by repub-
lican paramilitaries with lethal weapons. If not frightened,
they would have been highly apprehensive.
3.86 The evidence of Corporal A and Private B was that the
person they shot was about to throw a nail bomb in their
direction. This was not the case, though Damien Donaghey
had previously been throwing stones at the soldiers and
might have been about to do so again. It was submitted on
behalf of Damien Donaghey that these soldiers fired without
any belief that they had identified someone posing a threat
of causing death or serious injury. We concluded that this
was not the case and that it was probable that each soldier
either mistakenly believed that Damien Donaghey was about
to throw a nail bomb or suspected (albeit incorrectly) that
he might be about to do so. It is possible that one or both of
these soldiers fired in panic or fear, without giving proper
thought as to whether his target was posing a threat of caus-
ing death or serious injury.
3.87 The next firing by soldiers that resulted in casualties
occurred after soldiers had gone into the Bogside. Soldiers
of Support Company had been told by officers and believed
that this was a particularly dangerous area for the security
forces, with any incursion running the risk of meeting
attacks by paramilitaries using bombs and firearms. In the
minds of some soldiers that belief was reinforced by the
shot fired by a member of the Official IRA (OIRA 1) some
minutes earlier at soldiers by the Presbyterian church in
Great James Street. When they disembarked in the Bogside
the soldiers were in an open area where they had never pre-
viously been and which was overlooked by the large and
high blocks of the Rossville Flats, believed by them to be a
place from which republican paramilitaries operated. They
were in these circumstances highly alert to the risk of com-
ing under lethal attack from republican paramilitaries either
in or near to those flats. Most of the soldiers were armed
with rifles to guard against any such attacks and in many
cases (in breach of the Yellow Card) had cocked their
weapons in order to fire without delay should occasion
arise.
3.88 In short, soldiers of Support Company went into what
they perceived to be a dangerous area in which they ran the
risk of coming under lethal attack at any time. Again, if these
soldiers were not frightened, they must at least have been
highly apprehensive.
3.89 Since the Eden Place waste ground was an open area,
many of the soldiers of Mortar Platoon, and soldiers of the
other platoons that had followed Mortar Platoon into the
Bogside, must have heard the shots fired by Lieutenant N up
the Eden Place alleyway and over the heads of the people
there. The effect was to lead at least a number of soldiers to
believe either that republican paramilitaries had opened fire
or thrown bombs or that a soldier or soldiers were respond-
ing to the imminent use of firearms or bombs by paramili-
taries; and thus not only to reinforce what they had been
told and believed about the likely presence of republican
paramilitaries in the area, but also to make them even more
ready to respond. If, as we consider was the case, Lieutenant
N decided to fire these shots over the heads of the people
otherwise than as a last resort to protect himself or other
soldiers, he can in our view fairly be criticised, not only for
firing, but also for failing to realise the effect that his firing
would be likely to have on the other soldiers who had come
into the Bogside.
3.90 When shooting breaks out in an urban area, as it then
did, it is often difficult or impossible to establish who is fir-
ing, from where the firing has come, in what direction it is
going, and the type of weapon being used. The same applies
to explosions and we have little doubt that the sound of the
firing of baton rounds could in some circumstances have
been mistaken for the explosion of bombs. In Londonderry
these factors were magnified by what was known as “the
Derry sound”, which was the echoing effect created by the
City Walls and adjacent buildings (including the high
Rossville Flats) and which could multiply the sound of gun-
fire and explosions and create false impressions of the direc-
tion from which these sounds were coming.
3.91 In circumstances such as we have described, there is
a risk that soldiers, mistakenly believing themselves or their
colleagues to be under lethal attack, lose their self-control,
forget or ignore their training and fire without being satisfied
that they have identified a person posing a threat of causing
death or serious injury.
3.92 As to the soldiers who went into the Bogside, we have
reached the following conclusions.
3.93 As we have said, the first casualty to be shot after the
soldiers entered the Bogside was Jackie Duddy, who in our
view was probably shot by Private R. According to this sol-
dier’s accounts, as he approached Sergeant O’s APC he saw
and shot a man who was about to throw a nail bomb.
3.94 Jackie Duddy was running away from the soldiers
when he was shot. He probably had a stone in his hand at
the time. Private R may have thought that Jackie Duddy
General Sir Robert Ford.
might have been about to throw a bomb and shot him for
this reason, but we are sure that he could not have been suf-
ficiently confident about this to conclude that he was justi-
fied in firing. It is possible that Private R fired in a state of
fear or panic, giving no proper thought to whether his target
was posing a threat of causing death or serious injury.
3.95 The second casualty was Margaret Deery, shot (prob-
ably by Lance Corporal V) as she stood with a group of peo-
ple at or near the southern end of the wall of the gardens of
the houses on the western side of Chamberlain Street. Lance
Corporal V had approached the car park of the Rossville
Flats from Lieutenant N’s APC. Lance Corporal V’s evidence
was that he fired at and hit someone who had thrown or was
in the course of throwing a petrol bomb, evidence that we
rejected. Margaret Deery was probably not his intended tar-
get. Lance Corporal V probably fired in the knowledge that
he had not identified someone who was posing a threat of
causing death or serious injury. It is possible that he fired in
a state of fear or panic, without giving proper thought to
whether his target was posing a threat of causing death or
serious injury.
3.96 Michael Bridge was shot as he walked towards the sol-
diers near Sergeant O’s vehicle in the car park of the
Rossville Flats, shouting at them in protest against the
shooting of Jackie Duddy and in his anger inviting the sol-
diers to shoot him.
3.97 It was probably Lieutenant N who shot Michael
Bridge. After firing his rifle up the alleyway leading to
Chamberlain Street, Lieutenant N had returned to his vehi-
cle and then moved across the Eden Place waste ground
towards the car park of the Rossville Flats. It was at this
stage that he fired at and wounded Michael Bridge. His evi-
dence was that he fired at a man he was sure, at the time,
was about to throw a nail bomb at his soldiers. In our view
Lieutenant N fired, probably either in the mistaken belief
that his target was about to throw a nail bomb, but without
any adequate grounds for that belief; or in the mistaken
belief that his target might have been about to throw a nail
bomb, but without being confident that that was so. It is pos-
sible that Lieutenant N fired in a state of fear or panic, with-
out giving proper thought to whether his target was posing
a threat of causing death or serious injury.
3.98 It was probably Private Q who shot Michael Bradley.
This casualty was on the southern side of the Rossville Flats
car park and was probably about to throw a stone at the sol-
diers when he was shot. Private Q falsely maintained that
shortly before he fired his shot a nail bomb had been thrown
It is possible that
Private R fired in a
state of fear or
panic, giving no
proper thought to
whether his target
was posing a threat
of causing death or
serious injury.
and had exploded in the car park and that he was sure that
the person he shot was about to throw another nail bomb,
but we are sure that Private Q did not believe when he fired
that he had identified a nail bomber. It is possible that he
mistakenly thought that Michael Bradley might have been
about to throw a bomb, but in our view, even if this was so,
he could not have been sufficiently confident about this to
conclude that he was justified in firing. It is possible that
Private Q fired in a state of fear or panic, giving no proper
thought to whether his target was posing a threat of causing
death or serious injury.
3.99 One or more of Sergeant O, Private R and Private S
fired the shots that indirectly injured Patrick McDaid and
Pius McCarron. All these soldiers claimed to have fired at
gunmen at ground level, a claim we do not accept. While
they did not aim at either Patrick McDaid or Pius McCarron,
we are sure that the soldier or soldiers whose shots result-
ed in these casualties fired without justification and without
any or any proper regard to the risk to people in the area.
3.100 Private T was probably responsible for the shot that
directly or indirectly injured Patrick Brolly, who was in Block
1 of the Rossville Flats, though it is possible that Private S
was responsible. The soldier concerned did not aim at
Patrick Brolly. If it was a shot by Private S (who fired 12
shots in the area of the Rossville Flats car park) we are sure
that it was fired for no good reason and without any regard
to the risk to people in the flats. If it was Private T, it was one
of two shots that this soldier fired at a man on a balcony of
Block 1 of the Rossville Flats, who had thrown down at the
soldiers below a bottle or bottles containing acid or a simi-
lar corrosive substance, which had caused minor injuries to
Private T and Private R. These shots were fired without a
previous warning and thus in our view contravened the
instructions given to the soldiers as to when they could
open fire, contained in the Yellow Card. Sergeant O had told
Private T to shoot if the man sought to throw another bottle.
Both he and Private T believed that the person concerned
was posing a threat of causing serious injury. The second
shot was fired after the man had thrown a further bottle and
thus at a time when he was posing no threat to the soldiers.
Both shots missed the intended target.
3.101 In Rossville Street, Lance Corporal F fired from the
low walls of the Kells Walk ramp and killed Michael Kelly
who was behind the rubble barricade on Rossville Street,
some 80 yards away. Initially Lance Corporal F said nothing
about this shot but later he admitted that he had fired, false-
ly claiming that this was at a nail bomber. In our view Lance
Corporal F did not fire in panic or fear, without giving prop-
er thought to whether he had identified a person posing a
threat of causing death or serious injury. We are sure that
instead he fired either in the belief that no-one at the rubble
barricade was posing a threat of causing death or serious
injury, or not caring whether or not anyone at the rubble
barricade was posing such a threat.
3.102 As to the further shooting in Rossville Street, which
caused the deaths of William Nash, John Young and Michael
McDaid, Corporal P claimed that he fired at a man with a pis-
tol; Lance Corporal J claimed that he fired at a nail bomber;
and Corporal E claimed that he fired at a man with a pistol
in the Rossville Flats. We reject each of these claims as
knowingly untrue. We are sure that these soldiers fired
either in the belief that no-one in the areas towards which
they respectively fired was posing a threat of causing death
or serious injury, or not caring whether or not anyone there
was posing such a threat. In their cases we consider that
they did not fire in a state of fear or panic.
3.103 We take the same view of the shot that we are sure
Private U fired at Hugh Gilmour, mortally wounding this
casualty as he was running away from the soldiers. We reject
as knowingly untrue Private U’s account of firing at a man
with a handgun.
3.104 As we have explained, either Private L or Private M
shot and mortally wounded Kevin McElhinney as he was
crawling away from the soldiers. They probably did so on
the orders of Colour Sergeant 002 or Corporal 039 or per-
haps both these non-commissioned officers.
3.105 These soldiers and officers gave evidence that they
had seen two people, one or both with rifles, crawling away
from the rubble barricade. They probably believed that they
might have identified a gunman or gunmen, but none of
them could have been satisfied that they had done so. Their
targets were crawling away and not posing an immediate
threat of causing death or serious injury. The soldiers’ evi-
dence was that they fired, not because the crawling men
were posing at that moment an immediate threat of causing
death or serious injury, but because they believed that the
crawling men would or might use their weapons once they
had reached cover, although Private L expressed the view
that he was entitled to fire at someone with a weapon, what-
ever that individual was doing. These shots were not fired in
fear or panic. We are of the view that the soldiers concerned
probably believed that the crawling men might pose a threat
of causing death or serious injury once they had reached
cover, though it is possible that Private L did not care
whether or not they would pose such a threat.
3.106 We are sure that the soldier who shot and injured
Alexander Nash while he was tending his dead or dying son
William at the rubble barricade could not have believed that
he had or might have identified someone posing a threat of
causing death or serious injury.
3.107 We have above identified Corporal E, Lance Corporal
F, Private G and Private H as the soldiers who went into
Glenfada Park North, between them killing William
McKinney and Jim Wray, injuring Joe Mahon, Joe Friel,
Michael Quinn and Patrick O’Donnell, and possibly injuring
Daniel Gillespie. All claimed that they had identified and
shot at people in possession of or seeking to use bombs or
firearms.
3.108 In our view none of these soldiers fired in the belief
that he had or might have identified a person in possession
of or using or about to use bombs or firearms. William
McKinney and Jim Wray were both shot in the back and
none of the other casualties (with the possible exception of
Daniel Gillespie) appears to have been facing the soldiers
when shot. We are sure that these soldiers fired either in the
belief that no-one in the areas towards which they respec-
tively fired was posing a threat of causing death or serious
injury, or not caring whether or not anyone there was pos-
ing such a threat. In their cases (with the possible exception
of Private H), it is unlikely that they fired in a state of fear or
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010
panic.
3.109 All four soldiers denied shooting anyone on the
ground. However, Jim Wray was shot for a second time in the
back, probably as he lay mortally wounded in the south-
western corner of Glenfada Park North. Whichever soldier
was responsible for firing the second shot, we are sure that
he must have known that there was no possible justification
for shooting Jim Wray as he lay on the ground.
3.110 Private G shot Gerard McKinney in Abbey Park. As
we have already noted, his shot passed through this casual-
ty and mortally wounded Gerald Donaghey. Private G may
not have been aware that his shot had had this additional
effect. Private G falsely denied that he had fired in Abbey
Park. He did not fire in fear or panic and we are sure that he
must have fired knowing that Gerard McKinney was not pos-
ing a threat of causing death or serious injury.
3.111 Gerald Donaghey was taken by car to the Regimental
Aid Post of 1st Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment, which
was at the western end of Craigavon Bridge, which spans the
River Foyle. There four nail bombs were found in his pock-
ets. The question arose as to whether the nail bombs were
in his pockets when he was shot, or had been planted on
him later by the security forces. We have considered the
substantial amount of evidence relating to this question and
have concluded, for reasons that we give, that the nail
bombs were probably on Gerald Donaghey when he was
shot. However, we are sure that Gerald Donaghey was not
preparing or attempting to throw a nail bomb when he was
shot; and we are equally sure that he was not shot because
of his possession of nail bombs. He was shot while trying to
escape from the soldiers.
3.112 As we have said, the last gunfire casualties were
Bernard McGuigan, Patrick Doherty, Patrick Campbell and
Daniel McGowan, all shot in the area to the south of Block 2
of the Rossville Flats within a very short time of each other.
Bernard McGuigan was shot in the head and killed instantly
as he was waving a piece of cloth and moving out from the
cover afforded by the southern end wall of Block 1 of the
Rossville Flats. Further to the east Patrick Doherty was shot
in the buttock and mortally wounded as he was attempting
to crawl to safety across the area that lay on the southern
side of Block 2 of the Rossville Flats. Patrick Campbell was
shot in the back and injured as he ran away from the south-
ern end of Block 1 of the Rossville Flats along the southern
side of Block 2. Daniel McGowan was shot and injured in the
leg when he was in about the same area as where Patrick
Doherty was shot.
3.113 We have no doubt that Lance Corporal F shot Patrick
Doherty and Bernard McGuigan, and it is highly probable
that he also shot Patrick Campbell and Daniel McGowan. In
1972 Lance Corporal F initially said nothing about firing
along the pedestrianised area on the southern side of Block
2 of the Rossville Flats, but later admitted that he had done
so. No other soldier claimed or admitted to firing into this
area. Lance Corporal F’s claim that he had fired at a man
who had (or, in one account, was firing) a pistol was to his
knowledge false. Lance Corporal F did not fire in a state of
fear or panic. We are sure that he fired either in the belief
that no-one in the area into which he fired was posing a
threat of causing death or serious injury, or not caring
whether or not anyone there was posing such a threat.
Other firing by soldiers on Bloody Sunday
3.114 Soldiers of Support Company fired in all over 100 rifle
rounds on Bloody Sunday after they had gone into the
Bogside. In this report we describe in detail not only the cir-
cumstances in which soldiers fired and killed or injured civil-
ians, but also the circumstances in which the other shooting
occurred. As to the latter, with the probable exception of
shots fired by Sergeant O at what he described as a gunman
on a balcony of Block 3 of the Rossville Flats, we found no
instances where it appeared to us that soldiers either were
or might have been justified in firing. In many cases the sol-
diers concerned fired either in the belief that no-one in the
areas into which they fired was posing a threat of causing
death or serious injury, or not caring whether or not anyone
there was posing such a threat; while in other cases we con-
sider that when the soldiers fired they may have mistakenly
suspected, without being satisfied, that they might have
identified someone posing a threat of causing death or seri-
ous injury.
3.115 Apart from the firing by soldiers of Support
Company, there was no other firing by members of 1 PARA
on Bloody Sunday. In particular, there was no firing by
members of C Company, who had also gone into the Bogside
(on foot through Barrier 14) soon after Support Company
had gone through Barrier 12.
3.116 There were other incidents of Army firing on Bloody
Sunday, by members of other Army units. This firing was in
response to republican paramilitary firing that was directed
at soldiers, but not at those who had gone into the Bogside.
We consider these incidents in detail in this report. In one of
these incidents (some 600 yards from the area where the
civilians were killed and injured by soldiers of Support
Company) a soldier (in our view justifiably) shot at and
injured an armed member of the Official IRA, “Red” Mickey
Doherty, who had immediately before fired at soldiers.
3.117 At one stage it was suggested that a soldier or sol-
diers stationed on the City Walls above the area into which
Support Company of 1 PARA deployed might have been
responsible for some of the civilian casualties at the rubble
barricade in Rossville Street. We considered this possibility
but are sure, for the reasons we give in the report, that this
was not the case; and by the end of the Inquiry no-one tak-
ing part in the Inquiry suggested otherwise.
3.118 As will be seen from this report, as part of our inves-
tigation we examined in detail the organisation of the
Provisional and Official IRA and the activities of members of
those organisations on the day, since it was submitted on
behalf of soldiers that, in effect, these activities justified the
soldiers opening fire. With the exception of Gerald
Donaghey, who was a member of the Provisional IRA’s youth
wing, the Fianna, none of those killed or wounded by sol-
diers of Support Company belonged to either the
Provisional or the Official IRA.
3.119 In the course of investigating the activities of the...
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010
Provisional and Official IRA on the day, we considered at
some length allegations that Martin McGuinness, at that time
the Adjutant of the Derry Brigade or Command of the
Provisional IRA, had engaged in paramilitary activity during
the day. In the end we were left in some doubt as to his move-
ments on the day. Before the soldiers of Support Company
went into the Bogside he was probably armed with a
Thompson sub-machine gun, and though it is possible that he
fired this weapon, there is insufficient evidence to make any
finding on this, save that we are sure that he did not engage in
any activity that provided any of the soldiers with any justifi-
cation for opening fire.
The arrest of civilians
3.120 Soldiers of Support Company, 1 PARA arrested a num-
ber of civilians on Bloody Sunday. Only six were arrested in
the area of Rossville Street or in the Eden Place waste ground
where the soldiers had initially deployed, most of the others
being arrested either in a house in Chamberlain Street or
where they had taken shelter behind a wall at the south-east-
ern corner of Glenfada Park North. In this report, we have
examined the circumstances of these arrests and what hap-
pened to those who were arrested, not only because they
formed an important part of the events of the day, but
because the way in which some were treated provided an
indication of the attitude that some soldiers of 1 PARA adopt-
ed towards the people they encountered on Bloody Sunday.
There were a number of incidents in which soldiers gave
knowingly false accounts of the circumstances in which
arrests were made. In the end no proceedings were pursued
against any of those who had been arrested.
Chapter 4: The question of
responsibility for the deaths and
injuries on Bloody Sunday
4.1 The immediate responsibility for the deaths and injuries
on Bloody Sunday lies with those members of Support
Company whose unjustifiable firing was the cause of those
deaths and injuries. The question remains, however, as to
whether others also bear direct or indirect responsibility for
what happened.
The United Kingdom and Northern
Ireland Governments and theArmy
4.2 During the course of the Inquiry, allegations were made
by some of those representing the families of those who died
on Bloody Sunday and those wounded, that the politicians in
both the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland
Governments, as well as the military authorities, had planned
not simply to stop the civil rights march and to mount an
arrest operation against rioters as set out in the orders for
Operation Forecast (the operation to contain the march and
deal with any rioting), but rather to use 1 PARA for the pur-
pose of carrying out some action, which they knew would
involve the deliberate use of unwarranted lethal force or
which they sanctioned with reckless disregard as to whether
such force was used. On this basis it was submitted that the
civil and military authorities bore responsibility for the
deaths and injuries on Bloody Sunday.
4.3 These allegations were based on one of two proposi-
tions, either that what happened on Bloody Sunday was
intended and planned by the authorities, or that it was fore-
seen by the authorities as likely to happen. We are of the view
that neither of these propositions can be sustained.
4.4 In order to consider these allegations we looked in detail
at what the authorities were planning and doing in the weeks
and months preceding Bloody Sunday; as well as what hap-
pened on Bloody Sunday before soldiers were sent into the
Bogside. We found no evidence to substantiate these allega-
tions. So far as the United Kingdom Government was con-
cerned, what the evidence did establish was that in the
months before Bloody Sunday, genuine and serious attempts
were being made at the highest level to work towards a peace-
ful political settlement in Northern Ireland. Any action involv-
ing the use or likely use of unwarranted lethal force against
nationalists on the occasion of the march (or otherwise)
would have been entirely counterproductive to the plans for
a peaceful settlement; and was neither contemplated nor
foreseen by the United Kingdom Government. So far as the
Northern Ireland Government was concerned, although it
had been pressing the United Kingdom Government and the
Army to step up their efforts to counter republican paramili-
taries and to deal with banned marches, we found no evi-
dence that suggested to us that it advocated the use of
unwarranted lethal force or was indifferent to its use on the
occasion of the march.
4.5 It was also submitted that in dealing with the security
situation in Northern Ireland generally, the authorities (the
United Kingdom and Northern Ireland Governments and the
Army) tolerated if not encouraged the use of unjustified lethal
force; and that this was the cause or a contributory cause of
what happened on Bloody Sunday. We found no evidence of
such toleration or encouragement.
4.6 There was a further submission to the effect that it was
critical to an understanding of why lethal force was used by
the Army against unarmed civilians on Bloody Sunday, to
appreciate that by this time the role of the police in security
matters had been eroded and that the Army had illegally
taken control over the policing of security situations from the
police. Though by the period in question the situation was
such that the RUC had neither the manpower nor the
resources to deal effectively with all security issues and was
in many cases dependent upon the military, we do not accept
that the Army had illegally taken over control of security from
the police. The Army and the police worked together in decid-
ing how to deal with matters of security.
4.7 As to the actions of the soldiers themselves, it was sub-
mitted that those who fired did so because of a “culture” that
had grown up among soldiers at the time in Northern Ireland,
to the effect that they could fire with impunity, secure in the
knowledge that the arrangements then in force (arrange-
“Lance Corporal F’s
claim that he had fired
at a man who had (or,
in one account, was
firing) a pistol was to his
knowledge false. Lance
Corporal F did not fire
in a state of fear or
panic.”
ments later criticised by the Lord Chief Justice of Northern
Ireland) meant that their actions would not be investigated
by the RUC, but by the Royal Military Police (the Army’s own
police force), who would be sympathetic to the soldiers and
who would not conduct a proper investigation. In support of
this submission it was alleged that before Bloody Sunday
there were many previous unjustified shooting incidents by
soldiers in Northern Ireland. As we pointed out in the course
of the Inquiry, it was simply not possible to take this submis-
sion of an established “culture” forward, for this could only
be done by examining in the same detail as Bloody Sunday the
circumstances of each of those incidents, in order to decide,
among other things, whether or not they involved unjustified
firing by soldiers. In our view this would have been a wholly
impracticable course for us to take, adding immeasurably to
what was already a very long and complex inquiry. In these
circumstances, we are not in a position to express a view
either as to whether or not such a culture existed among sol-
diers before Bloody Sunday or, if it did, whether it had any
influence on those who fired unjustifiably on that day.
Major General Ford
4.8 In the light of the situation that obtained in Londonderry
in early 1972 (which we discuss in detail in this report), we do
not criticise General Ford [Major General Robert Ford, then
Commander of Land Forces in Northern Ireland] for deciding
to deploy soldiers to arrest rioters, though in our view his
decision to use 1 PARA as the arrest force is open to criticism,
on the ground that 1 PARA was a force with a reputation for
using excessive physical violence, which thus ran the risk of
exacerbating the tensions between the Army and nationalists
in Londonderry. However, there is to our minds a significant
difference between the risk of soldiers using excessive phys-
ical violence when dispersing crowds or trying to arrest riot-
ers and the risk that they would use lethal weapons without
justification. We have concluded that General Ford had no
reason to believe and did not believe that the risk of soldiers
of 1 PARA firing unjustifiably during the course of an arrest
operation was such that it was inappropriate for that reason
for him to use them for such an operation.
4.9 General Ford denied, both to the Widgery Inquiry and to
the present Inquiry, that the Army plan for 30th January 1972
was to cause a confrontation with the IRA, Official,
Provisional or both. We accept his denial. We are sure that
there was no such plan.
4.10 As to General Ford’s memorandum, where he suggest-
ed shooting selected ringleaders of rioters after warning, we
are surprised that an officer of his seniority should seriously
consider that this was something that could be done,
notwithstanding that he acknowledged that to take this
course would require authorisation from above. We are sure,
for the reasons given in the report, that this idea was not
adopted and that the shootings on Bloody Sunday were not
the result of any plan to shoot selected ringleaders. In the
event General Ford decided to use an additional battalion (1
PARA) as the means of seeking to deal with rioters. We found
no evidence to suggest that the use of lethal force against
unarmed rioters, who were not posing a threat of causing
death or serious injury, was contemplated by General Ford or
those senior to him as a possible means of dealing with any
rioting that might accompany the then forthcoming civil
rights march.
4.11 General Ford did not himself play any role in ordering
the arrest operation to be launched or in determining the
form either in which Brigade ordered it or which it actually
took. He did not seek to interfere with or to influence what
happened to any significant extent and was right not to do so,
since the decision whether to launch an arrest operation and
the form that it was to take were matters for Brigadier
MacLellan.
4.12 General Ford was responsible for deciding that in the
likely event of rioting, Brigade should employ 1 PARA as an
arrest force on 30th January 1972. But he neither knew nor
had reason to know at any stage that his decision would or
was likely to result in soldiers firing unjustifiably on that day.
Brigadier MacLellan
4.13 As we have noted above, the power to order an arrest
operation did not rest with General Ford, but with Brigadier
MacLellan. We do not criticise Brigadier MacLellan for giving
such an order. As we have pointed out, he did not do so until
he was reasonably satisfied that there was sufficient separa-
tion between rioters and peaceful marchers to sanction the
limited arrest operation that had been initially suggested by
Colonel Wilford. Had Colonel Wilford informed him that the
situation had changed and that as the commander of the
arrest force he now considered that it was necessary to order
an additional company to go in vehicles along Rossville Street
in order to arrest rioters, Brigadier MacLellan might well have
abandoned the arrest operation altogether, on the ground
that such an operation would not allow sufficient separation
between marchers and rioters. Brigadier MacLellan had no
reason to believe and did not believe that the limited arrest
operation he ordered ran the risk of deaths or injuries from
unjustifiable firing by soldiers.
4.14 We should add at this point that in our view Brigadier
MacLellan cannot fairly be criticised either for not imposing
additional restrictions on when soldiers could open fire, over
and above those in the Yellow Card; or for failing to order sol-
diers engaged in an arrest operation to disengage rather than
respond if they were or believed that they were under attack
from republican paramilitaries, so as to minimise the risk that
innocent civilians would be killed or injured. In his case sug-
gestions to the contrary incorrectly assume that he bears
responsibility for sending soldiers into the Bogside. The
arrest operation Brigadier MacLellan ordered was limited in
scope and would not have involved soldiers going into the
Bogside to any or any significant extent; and in our view the
risk to civilians from such an operation did not call for any
such special restrictions or special orders. We have conclud-
ed that Brigadier MacLellan does not bear any responsibility
for the deaths and injuries from the unjustifiable firing by sol-
diers on Bloody Sunday.
Lieutenant Colonel Wilford
4.15 What did happen was not what Colonel Wilford had ini-
tially suggested and Brigadier MacLellan had then ordered.
Colonel Wilford should have ordered his soldiers to stay in
and around William Street and the northern end of Rossville
Street. Instead, he sent them into the Bogside, where they
chased people down Rossville Street, into the car park of the
Rossville Flats, into Glenfada Park North and as far as Abbey
Park.
4.16 In our view Colonel Wilford decided to send Support
Company into the Bogside because at the time he gave the
order he had concluded (without informing Brigadier
MacLellan) that there was now no prospect of making any or
any significant arrests in the area he had originally suggested,
as the rioting was dying down and people were moving away.
In addition it appears to us that he wanted to demonstrate
that the way to deal with rioters in Londonderry was not for
soldiers to shelter behind barricades like (as he put it) “Aunt
Sallies” while being stoned, as he perceived the local troops
had been doing, but instead to go aggressively after rioters,
as he and his soldiers had been doing in Belfast.
4.17 What Colonel Wilford failed to appreciate, or regarded
as of little consequence, was that his soldiers, who had not
been in a position to observe the rioting that had been going
on at the Army barriers, would almost certainly be unable to
identify anyone as a rioter, save where, when they arrived,
they were met by people who were rioting at that time.
4.18 Colonel Wilford failed to inform Brigade that in his view
the situation had changed and that the only prospect of mak-
ing any arrests was to send his soldiers in vehicles into the
Bogside. He then failed to obey the order that Brigadier
MacLellan gave, which prohibited any such movement. He
thus created a situation in which soldiers chased people
down Rossville Street and beyond, in circumstances where it
was not possible to distinguish between those who had mere-
ly been marching and those who had been rioting. His failure
to comply with his orders, instead setting in train the very
thing his Brigadier had prohibited him from doing, cannot be
justified.
4.19 In our view Colonel Wilford can also be criticised on
another ground. He sent his soldiers into an area which he
regarded as dangerous and which he had told his soldiers
was dangerous; an area which his soldiers did not know and
where they might come under lethal attack from republican
paramilitaries, who dominated that part of the city. He knew
that his soldiers would accordingly be very much on their
guard, ready to respond instantly with gunfire at identified
targets, as they were trained to respond, if they did come
under such attack. He knew that his soldiers would not with-
draw if they came under lethal attack but were trained not
just to take cover, but instead to move forward and, as he him-
self put it, seek out the “enemy ”.
4.20 In these circumstances, on his own estimation of the
danger of lethal attacks by republican paramilitaries, Colonel
Wilford must have appreciated that there was a significant
risk that sending his soldiers into the Bogside on an arrest
operation could lead to an armed engagement with republi-
can paramilitaries. He should have appreciated that if this did
happen, then there was also, in view of the numbers of people
around, a significant risk that people other than soldiers’ jus-
tifiable targets would be killed or injured, albeit by accident,
from Army gunfire. To our minds this was another reason why
Colonel Wilford should not have launched an incursion into
the Bogside.
4.21 The fact that what in the event happened on Bloody
Sunday when the soldiers entered the Bogside was not a jus-
tifiable response to a lethal attack by republican paramili-
taries, but instead soldiers opening fire unjustifiably, cannot
provide an answer to this criticism, which is based not on
what happened, but what at the time Colonel Wilford thought
might happen.
4.22 We have found nothing that suggests to us that Colonel
Wilford can be blamed for the incident in which soldiers fired
from the derelict building in William Street and injured
Damien Donaghey and John Johnston. However, the question
remains as to whether he realised, or should have realised,
that the risk of unjustifiable firing by soldiers if he sent them
into the Bogside was such that for this reason he should not
have ordered them to go in.
4.23 As one of the officers (given the cipher Captain 128),
who was a member of 2nd Battalion, The Royal Green Jackets
and was present on the day, told us, when a soldier hears
shots and believes that he is under fire, his automatic reac-
tion is to fire himself, which is a difficult reaction to stop; and
when firing breaks out in a tense situation it can spread very
quickly and is very difficult to control. It could thus be said
that Colonel Wilford should have appreciated that by sending
soldiers into an unfamiliar area, which they had been told was
and which they perceived to be a dangerous area, there was
a risk that they might mistakenly believe that they had come
under attack from republican paramilitaries and in that belief
45
open fire without being satisfied that they had identified peo-
ple who were posing a threat of causing death or serious
injury; and that because of that risk, he should not have sent
soldiers into the Bogside. In the end, however, we consider
that on this specific ground Colonel Wilford cannot fairly be
criticised for giving the orders he did. We take the view that
Colonel Wilford cannot be blamed for failing to foresee that
the risk of his soldiers firing unjustifiably was such that he
should not have given the orders he did.
4.24 In summary, therefore, in our view Colonel Wilford
should not have sent soldiers of Support Company into the
Bogside for the following reasons:
- because in doing so he disobeyed the orders given by
Brigadier MacLellan;
- because his soldiers, whose job was to arrest rioters,
would have no or virtually no means of identifying those who
had been rioting from those who had simply been taking part
in the civil rights march; and
- because he should not have sent his soldiers into an unfa-
miliar area which he and they regarded as a dangerous area,
where the soldiers might come under attack from republican
paramilitaries, in circumstances where the soldiers’
response would run a significant risk that people other than
those engaging the soldiers with lethal force would be killed
or injured by Army gunfire.
4.25 There remains the suggestion that Colonel Wilford’s
soldiers should have been instructed that in order to min-
imise the risk to innocent people, if on going into the Bogside
they came under attack from paramilitaries, or believed that
this had happened, they should disengage and withdraw
rather than return fire. In our view this is a hypothetical ques-
tion, since for the first two of the reasons we have given above
Colonel Wilford should not have sent soldiers into the
Bogside, with or without special instructions.
Major Loden
4.26 Those representing the families of the deceased and the
wounded criticised Major Loden, the Commander of Support
Company, on the ground that he failed to exercise any proper
control over his soldiers or their firing.
4.27 In our view, events moved so fast after the soldiers had
disembarked in the Bogside that Major Loden had no idea
what was actually going on; he assumed that his soldiers had
come under attack from republican paramilitaries and were
responding. It could be said that another officer in Major
Loden’s position might have appreciated earlier that, in view
of the amount of Army gunfire, something seemed to be going
seriously wrong; republican paramilitaries were not known to
take on troops in force, but usually sniped at individuals from
positions of cover. In consequence such an officer might have
made greater efforts to control the situation.
4.28 Major Loden was surprised by the amount of firing.
However, he did not initially appreciate that something was
wrong and did not order a ceasefire or give any other instruc-
tions to his soldiers until after all the casualties had been sus-
tained. We consider that it was not unreasonable for him
initially to believe, as he did, that his soldiers, by going into an
area dominated by paramilitaries, had for once encountered
paramilitary resistance in strength, to which they were
responding. We accept his evidence that in this belief, it was
not for him to control or stop his soldiers’ firing, but to leave
this to the platoon and section commanders. We also accept,
for the reasons he gave, that he could not see the targets that
his soldiers were engaging and thus could not tell whether or
not the firing was unjustified.
4.29 In our view, at the time the casualties were being sus-
tained, Major Loden neither realised nor should have realised
that his soldiers were or might be firing at people who were
not posing or about to pose a threat of causing death or seri-
ous injury. However, we consider that at the time when he did
tell his soldiers not to fire back unless they had identified pos-
itive targets, he probably did realise that the firing that was
taking place then was, or might be, unjustified. By this stage
all the casualties had been sustained and there had been a
pause in the firing.
Lieutenant N
4.30 Lieutenant N, the Commander of Mortar Platoon, failed
to appreciate, as he should have done, that firing unjustified
shots over the heads of people in the alleyway leading into
Chamberlain Street was likely to lead other soldiers mistak-
enly to believe, as some probably did, that Support Company
was at that time coming under attack or the threat of attack
from republican paramilitaries. As we have said, he was prob-
ably responsible for shooting Michael Bridge. However, we
take the view that there was in the circumstances (and bear-
ing particularly in mind the speed of events) nothing (apart
from refraining from firing his unjustified shots over the
heads of people) that he could or should have done to avert
the shooting by other members of his platoon. We are not per-
suaded that he should have realised at the time that his sol-
diers were firing unjustifiably.
4.31 Lieutenant 119 was the Commander of Anti-Tank
Platoon. We criticise this officer for allowing four members of
his platoon to go into Glenfada Park North, out of his sight and
control. Before this happened he appears to have been
labouring under the mistaken belief that his soldiers at the
low walls of the Kells Walk ramp were responding to paramil-
itary attacks. We are not persuaded that he should have
realised that these soldiers were firing unjustifiably.
Captain 200 and Sergeant INQ 441
4.32 Captain 200 was the Commander of Composite Platoon.
There is nothing to suggest that he, or Sergeant INQ 441, the
Commander of Machine Gun Platoon, was responsible for any
of the unjustifiable firing by his soldiers.
The Northern Ireland Civil Rights
Association
4.33 In our view the organisers of the civil rights march bear
no responsibility for the deaths and injuries on Bloody
Sunday. Although those who organised the march must have
realised that there was probably going to be trouble from riot-
ers, they had no reason to believe and did not believe that this
was likely to result in death or injury from unjustified firing by
soldiers.

46
World wide support
for families via web
By David Wilson
david.wilson@derryjournal.com
Messages of solidarity with the Bloody
Sunday families were last night flooding
the world wide web in the wake of Lord
Saville's Report.
At derryjournal.com, almost 100 read-
ers logged onto a live web chat within
the first hour of the report's publication -
all backing Saville and emphasising that
"the truth had finally been set free."
Emmett McCallion wrote: " I wasn't
there as I was too young - I have heard
about Bloody Sunday all my life and it
shaped a lot of it - my prayers and
thoughts are with all those who were
there on the day especially the friends
and families of all those murdered on the
day - I am listening to the families as I
write this and I am proud to be here with
them in spirit on this momentous and
fantastic day - the truth is out and I hope
On the inside of
the Inquiry
With the eyes of the world watching Derry
for the Saville Report, two men had more
knowledge of the inner workings of the
Inquiry than most. Creggan man Martin
Burke and Rosemount's Liam O'Kane were
diagnostic technicians at the Guildhall and
in London.
They worked every day of the inquiry,
heard every piece of evidence, every testi-
mony and witnessed each step taken by the
Bloody Sunday Inquiry team.
Earlier this week they spoke to Laurence
McClenaghan about their role in the biggest
legal inquiry in British and Irish history.
Liam O'Kane said: "We had a ringside seat
to history but it didn't feel like we were mak- Martin Burke who worked as a Diagnostic
ing history at the time as we were always
talking about history."
Liam who wasn't born when Bloody
Sunday occured and says he wasn't political,
came to the Inquiry as a blank sheet.
“ I had no opinions. It was a strange situa-
tion for me however as I heard my granny's
house mentioned early in the Inquiry. John
Young was taken in there after he was shot.
Quite quickly I realised how many of those
giving evidence I knew personally from
neighbours to former teachers of mine, so it
was a strange situation for me."
Martin Burke, who has since emigrated to
Boston, USA said: "I was in no doubt before
the Inquiry started that those people were
murdered. I didn't hear a single piece of evi- Liam O'Kane who heard every piece of evidence
dence that made me think otherwise. given at The Saville Inquiry.
Looking at the evidence objectively I believe
the Paratroopers were sent in to teach the
'Derry yobos' a lesson, however there was
no physical piece of evidence to connect
anyone to 'orders to kill.' There was no
smoking gun, no concrete link. The leaks
suggest unlawful killing however that is a
'nice' word for murder.
"To be honest I thought it was important
and pray it sets us all free."
A poster called D, summed up the over-
whelming feelings of many: "Time taken
for the British Government to accept
accountability: 38 years, Innocent vic-
tims vindicated: 14, Cost of Inquiry: £191
million. Setting the truth free: Priceless."
Comments left via the 'Journal's social
networking page on Facebook were no
less unequivocal.
" I am so glad for the families that at last
their loved ones have been declared
INNOCENT," Kathleen Doherty wrote,
"This is now a time for healing. An eye for
an eye leaves everyone blind."
But some called for further action.
Jamie Fitzpatrick said the publication of
Saville's Report was "not the end."
" No, the trial, conviction and imprison-
ment of the murderers from that day will
mark the end."
Political website Slugger O'Toole was
also inundated with post publication
comments.
Technician on The Saville Inquiry and now lives in
the United States.
for Liam and I to be there. Coming from
Creggan, Bloody Sunday is almost central to
your identity. It was hard for me but it was
even harder looking at the families in the
auditorium. We were lucky in that none of
our relations had been killed. I often tried to
imagine how impossible it would be for
those families."
Tuesday, 15th June, 2010
Jean Meslier simply posted the word
innocent 14 times - in reference to the
men killed by the British Army.
Unionists too expressed their views, a
poster called Vanhelsing writing: " I’m
happy that there is closure for these rel-
atives of the innocent people who were
killed on BS. But it is hard for Unionists
because whilst we welcome the truth
today I empathise with others who had
their family members murdered by ter-
rorists, many who have not had justice
through the courts or an inquiry of this
kind."
That Unionist view was expressed also
on the Belfast Newsletter's web chat
were one user named Unionist wrote: "
What about Enniskillen, Omagh and
Claudy? What about the innocent victims
of terrorist violence?"
derryjournal.com had more than 23,000
hits yesterday as the events of the day
unfolded.
Mr. O'Kane was also full of praise and admi-
ration for the bereaved: "Thirty families had
to sit, and listen to all the details of their
loved one’s deaths, over and over again in
great, great detail. They sat listening intent-
ly and did so with great dignity. I'm not sure
I would have had the strength to do that.
Martin added: "The evidence was repeated
all the time. It really was a slow and meticu-
lous process."
There were however some "surreal
moments" as Liam recalls.
"Susan North played some audio taken by Megan Bradley, three, granddaughter of Jim Wray, gathers with other
photographer Fulvio Grimaldi during the relatives of those shot dead on Bloody Sunday.
shooting. As people were sheltering in a
house in the Bogside high velocity, live
rounds could be heard amid the shouts and
screams. The TV in the house was showing
an advertisment asking people to join the
British Army, 'See the world, join the army,'
it said."
There also were "truly sad and maddening
moments," according to Mr. Burke: "The ex
soldiers had an opportunity to tell the truth.
They were immune from prosecution so it
was really disappointing they didn't take
that opportunity. They had a chance to bare
their souls and refused to take it."
Both men were however shocked that the
Inquiry has taken 12 years to report.
Liam said: "I signed up for one year but
when the opening statements took six weeks
I thought it might be a little longer.
"It was five years of evidence which was
unbelievable."
Martin said: "It was ridiculous that it took
so long, simply insane. The judges would
have been forming opinions and making
decisions as they heard each piece of evi-
dence.
Jean Hegarty and John Kelly tear up a copy of the Widgery report after
"Six years to write a report is a long, long
talking to the thousands of Derry people gathered for the reading of the
time. I just hope it can bring some closure to
Saville Report. (1506SL114) Photo: Stephen Latimer
the families involved."
 Tuesday, 15th June, 2010

THE TRUTH IS SET FREE

An emotional Liam Wray (right), whose brother Jim was murdered

on Bloody Sunday, comforts a tearful Joe Mahon - who feigned
death beside Mr. Wray as the paratroopers launched their
murderous assault on Glenfada Park on January 30, 1972 - prior
to yesterday’s publication of the Saville Report.

SPECIAL:
The Saville Report
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