The Bloody Sunday

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The Bloody Sunday

On 30th January 1972, 13 Catholics were killed when soldiers of a

British paratroop regiment opened fire during a civil rights march in

Londonderry. The day became known as Bloody Sunday. Its impact led to

a resurgence of violent opposition to the British presence in Northern

Ireland. Although the details of what took place that day remain

controversial, many of the basic facts are not disputed, 14 people had

been killed etc.

The demonstration was held in protest at the policy of internment

without trial. It was organised by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights

Association. About 10,000 people gathered in the Creggan Estate

planning to walk to Guildhall Square in the centre of the city, where

a rally would be held. The march itself was illegal because the

Stormont Parliament had banned all such protests.

There have been two investigations into what actually happened. The

first in 1972 by Lord Widgery and one taking place at this moment by

Lord Saville. The inquiry by Lord Widgery reported that the

paratroopers’ firing had "bordered on the reckless". It also concluded

the soldiers had been fired upon first and some of the victims had

handled weapons.

Both sides used his report to support their views. Widgery, at that

moment in time, according to Lord Saville didn’t have sufficient

evidence to point the finger of blame clearly to one side. The

evidence which was extracted could’ve have been contaminated from

‘foreign’ substances. For example, gun powder was found on the

victim’s hands, this could have been from genuinely handling gun

powder. Or on the other hand when the bodies were loaded into the

truck...

... middle of paper ...

... not

thorough and was simply skimming the surface. Also taking into

consideration the 35 years for another inquiry to be launched in which

justice is properly done. This meant that eye witnesses aren’t as

reliable simply as the lengthy time span since Bloody Sunday, this

including both marchers and the paratroopers themselves. The new

enquiry is helping people to understand what had actually happened on

30th January 1972 and in doing so getting a view from both sides and

scientists who investigated into what had happened and why they

changed their mind. If all this is in the clear then people would be

in the know-how of who is the guilty party and in doing so which

people had done injustice, were brought to justice. This would also

mean people would stop using violence as way of avenging what had

happened in 1972.

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