Tributes to tireless Bloody Sunday justice campaigner John Kelly who is retiring

John’s campaign for justice for his brother Michael, who was aged 17 when he was shot dead by British paratroopers on Bloody Sunday, dates back to the early 1970s and the immediate aftermath of the atrocity.

The MoFD said it was saddened to announce his retirement after a ‘lifetime fighting for justice for his brother Michael and the others murdered and wounded on Bloody Sunday’.

"John has been central to our work for so many years, providing a guiding voice in the creation of the museum, and always ensuring that it truly reflected the voices of those whose stories it was set up to tell.

"The museum is a better place because of his involvement, and he will never really leave it as his influence is embedded into the very fabric of the building and his voice will always be heard through the many displays he helped create,” said the MoFD.

John was one of the founders of the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign in 1992, on the 20th anniversary of Bloody Sunday when British paratroopers gunned down 14 innocent anti-internment demonstrators.

He has been a key figure with the Bloody Sunday Trust since 1996 and at MoFD since 2007.

John’s brother Michael, from Dunmore Gardens and a family of nine sisters and two brothers, had been attending his first civil rights march when he was shot dead, alongside John Young (17), William Nash (19) and Michael McDaid (20), at a rubble barricade near the entrance to Glenfada Park on Rossville Street on Bloody Sunday.

For years John has been providing first hand testimony about the events of Bloody Sunday as an education officer with the MoFD.

"As we wish him all the best for a long and happy retirement we are sure we will be joined by the many others he has helped along the way, others who looked to him for help and advice in their own struggles, which he always gladly provided.

"He truly deserves a rest, and while we won’t see him in work every day, we know he’ll always be there for us,” the museum stated.

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