The Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972

The Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972

Introduction

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The Bloody Sunday was undoubtedly a very traumatic event for the Irish

people. Fourteen Irish men did not deserve to die and this was the

most horrific attack that took place during the troubles. Feelings of

bitterness between nationalists and unionists still last today because

of it. The Irish people demanded an explanation on why

Bloody Sunday happened and were given the Widgery Inquiry not long

after the event. The result of this inquiry did not satisfiy or

appease the Irish people as it cleared the army of all charges and

blamed the victims of Bloody Sunday for starting the troubles.

Improvements in science and technology as well as the existence of new

evidence about what happened on the day have led to a new inquiry

being set up by Lord Saville. The result of this inquiry has not yet

been published but perhaps it may arrive at an interpretation, which

may be palatable to all.

Source A

There have been many interpretations about what had happened on that

day of Sunday. Sources A and B are excerpts from newspapers. They were

both written on the same day, yet they have entirely differing

viewpoints. Source A is taken from The Daily Mail, a conservative

newspaper, so therefore it is more likely to favour the opinions of

the British Army. When reading it you get the impression that the

paratroopers did act responsibly and that they had the situation under

control although this is not the opinion of most Irish people. It

tries to suggest that it is the victims of Bloody Sunday who caused

the event as it mentions an account from one of the officers who was

there that day. He claims that they didn’t fire at the marchers until

they started throwing nail bombs and acid bombs at the army.

This article also brands the new inquiry set up by Lord Saville as “an

absolute disaster”. It tries to suggest to the reader that it is