Bloody Sunday 50th anniversary: ‘Let’s retrace footsteps of our dead men and boys... remember them with burning pride’

TONY DOHERTY, of the Bloody Sunday Trust, urges people everywhere to remember the victims of the 1972 Bogside massacre with a ‘burning pride’
Thirteen people were killed on Bloody Sunday. Another man died later.Thirteen people were killed on Bloody Sunday. Another man died later.
Thirteen people were killed on Bloody Sunday. Another man died later.

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the brutal killing of our fathers, brothers, sons, uncles and nephews on the streets of our great city, writes Tony Doherty, Chair of the Bloody Sunday Trust.

This Sunday falls on January 30 - the day, date and hour fifty years later will be exactly the same. We, the families of the dead and wounded, have travelled a long road from the horror of that day, the shocked silence in our homes and in our streets, through the lies and propaganda the British army and government spread throughout the world, to standing up and repeatedly challenging the state by demanding truth and justice.

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All the mothers, fathers and wives of our murdered loved ones are now also gone; Ida McKinney, loving wife of Gerry McKinney, passing only last year. Our generation of children and teenagers who grew up with Bloody Sunday are now in their fifties, sixties and seventies. Growing up, for me, was finding out, either accidentally or with intention, how my father met his early death as he crawled on his hands and knees in the forecourt of the Rossville Flats in a vain attempt to escape with his life. And, then, how Barney McGuigan waved a white hankie before venturing out of cover, only to be gunned down.

Tony Doherty.Tony Doherty.
Tony Doherty.

The passing of time does not erase or make better these facts. It doesn’t either erase the fact that there was no police investigation into the murders of our 14 dead and 17 wounded, shot in the time and space of 25 minutes and 100 square metres in the Bogside. This was the true reality of living in the state of Northern Ireland at that time and for decades after: the state can kill you or have you killed and not let itself be bothered by collating the facts for legal purposes. Hundreds of families have been left in legal limbo land because their loved ones’ deaths at the hands of the state were not investigated.

When we established the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign in 1992, we knew what we were taking on and that the odds were stacked against us. By then, the wains and teenagers had grown up through the troubles and we were only too aware of what we were taking on. We were determined to expose the terrible wrongs that had been visited on this city on Bloody Sunday. We stood together in Derry, Belfast, Dublin, London, New York and Washington with our demands for truth and justice until people, press and politicians listened to our story and cause. By 1996, there was hardly a spokesperson left on the British side who would dare justify Bloody Sunday or point to the Widgery Whitewash as due and fair legal process. By 1998, the British Government, under Tony Blair, was forced to accept that there was a need to properly investigate the killing and wounding by setting up a second judicial inquiry. While this was a victory in itself, it precipitated another twelve long years before the report was released.

On that day in June 2010, all of the deceased and wounded were declared innocent by Lord Saville and blame for the atrocity was rightly laid at the door of the Parachute Regiment.

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It is also true to say, however, that the report was heavy on innocence and light on guilt. The release of the report was accompanied with an unprecedented apology delivered in Westminster by the then British Prime Minister David Cameron who described the atrocity as ‘unjustified and unjustifiable’. Derry people of all hues and persuasions cheered and clapped at Guildhall Square.

So, where are we now? No-one has been brought to justice. Hundreds of other families whom the state has murdered have not found justice. Studies and reports of collusion between state forces and loyalist gangs emanate on a regular basis. Despite all of this, the Bloody Sunday Trust and families utilise our story, our history of campaigning, to encourage and inspire others, both here and abroad, who struggle for justice against strong states.

‘One World One Struggle’ is the rallying call for the 50th anniversary. It is the same as it was in 1992 when we took inspiration from the collapse of the Apartheid state of South Africa, when we gladly accepted and freely issued messages of international solidarity from and to many struggling groups and peoples around the world.

It is through this process of generosity that we see ourselves in the world.

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We dedicate the 50th commemoration to the memory of the dead of Bloody Sunday and all those physically wounded and scarred by the barbarity of the Paras. We pledge ourselves to the creation of a society free from injustice and where our children are respected and treated equally, celebrating diversity and exporting positivity.

Finally, we recognise the full spectrum of loss suffered by thousands of other families during the conflict, regardless of hue or persuasion, many of whose loss has barely been acknowledged and whose justice may well be found in a peaceful and prosperous new agreed Ireland. We welcome people of all politics, cultures and backgrounds to join us this Sunday, January 30, 2022, at 9.15am in Creggan for the Families’ Walk of Remembrance.

Let us retrace the footsteps of our dead men and boys. Let our children remember them with a burning pride.