Bloody Sunday 50th anniversary: Upcoming events this weekend in Derry

‘Beyond The Silence’, on Sunday at 4pm on Guildhall Square, will pay tribute to the victims of Bloody Sunday through music, spoken word and a light installation, with special guests contributing.

Due to Covid restrictions on large gatherings, this event will be ticketed and a place can be booked, or the event watched on the livestream, at www.bloodysunday50.com/live-events/Earlier on Sunday, Bloody Sunday family members will gather for a Walk of Remembrance along the route of the original march from 9.15am. People who wish to pay their respects are being asked to line the route either side of the road along the pavement as the procession makes it way along.

These events form part of the ‘One World, One Struggle’ programme to mark the milestone anniversary developed by the Bloody Sunday Trust.

The Memorial Service and wreath laying ceremony will follow at the Bloody Sunday Monument at 11am on Sunday.

Also on Sunday, at 12.30pm, there will be a special event at the Lecky Road Monument opposite the Gasyard Centre to mark the 50th Anniversary of Fian Gerald Donaghey, organised by the Bogside and Brandywell Monument Committee.

Sunday night will also see the Playhouse premiere The White Handkerchief at the Guildhall at 8pm.

The new production is an ‘elegy’ to those who died on Bloody Sunday.

Prior to this, the annual Bloody Sunday Anniversary Mass will be held at St Mary’s Church, Creggan on Friday, January 28, at 7:30pm. All are welcome depending on restrictions in place at the time.

The annual Bloody Sunday lecture on Saturday 29 at the Guildhall at 3pm will be delivered by former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Meanwhile, as part of a separate programme of events, The Bloody Sunday March Committee (BSMC) are inviting people who attended the march 50 years ago to a ‘We Were There!’ photograph 50 years on.

The photograph will be taken in Creggan this Sunday, January 30 ahead of a march for ‘truth, justice and accountability’ in memory of those who lost their lives on that day in Derry 1972, starting at 2.30pm from Creggan shops to Free Derry Corner.

Afterwards Eamonn McCann and Bernadette McAliskey will address those gathered at a rally at Free Derry Corner, with MEP Clare Daly also speaking.

Prior to this, as part of the BSMC programme, Jeremy Corbyn will speak with Eamonn McCann at the Rath Mor Centre on Friday, January 28.

Conal McFeely, of Creggan Enterprises, said he was delighted Mr. Corbyn had accepted the invitation to visit Ráth Mór.

He said: “Jeremy Corbyn has been a lifelong campaigner for social justice and workers’ rights, and an ardent supporter of co-operatives and social enterprise.

“Throughout his illustrious career he has demonstrated a commitment to Civil Rights as a champion of truth and justice.”

There will also be a screening of Jimmy McGovern’s acclaimed film ‘Bloody Sunday’ at Brusnwick Moviebowl on Friday evening at 6.30pm.