Bloody Sunday 50: Shocking impact felt beyond Derry, Hume Foundation

The 50th anniversary of the grievous atrocity of Bloody Sunday brings sombre reflection on its devastating impact on families, a spirited community and a suffering city as we remember the bright lives taken and the dark lies told, writes the John & Pat Hume Foundation for Peaceful Change and Reconciliation.
By The Newsroom
Published 28th Jan 2022, 16:19 BST
John and Pat Hume pictured outside Derry's Guildhall where the Nobel laureate gave evidence to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry in 2002.John and Pat Hume pictured outside Derry's Guildhall where the Nobel laureate gave evidence to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry in 2002.
John and Pat Hume pictured outside Derry's Guildhall where the Nobel laureate gave evidence to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry in 2002.

Its shocking impact and subsequent injustice were felt beyond Derry so this anniversary will resonate nationally and internationally.

Profound recognition that Bloody Sunday also had awful consequences in the savage loss of many other lives is to proffer no excuse for any other violence or its grave human toll. The John and Pat Hume Foundation remember the victims of Bloody Sunday - the dead, the wounded, the traumatised - and the victims from beyond Bloody Sunday.

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The Foundation knows that the determined resilience of the Bloody Sunday families’ quest for truth and justice was among the examples of exceptional inspiration which John honoured in his Nobel lecture in December 1998:

“I have seen extraordinary courage and fortitude by individual men and women, innocent victims of violence. Amid shattered lives, a quiet heroism has borne silent rebuke to the evil that violence represents, to the carnage and waste of violence, to its ultimate futility.”

Recalling how the families’ victory for truth in the Saville Report enabled steps of reconciliation at that time, the John and Pat Hume Foundation would stress the value of properly addressing legacy for victims and survivors, our wider community and future generations.

We also commend the example of the families’ dignified campaign for truth and justice to others who struggle peacefully to overcome burdens of conflict or control.

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○ The John and Pat Hume Foundation was established in 2020 to support and inspire leadership for peaceful change. It is guided by principles drawn from the actions and philosophy of John and Pat Hume.