BBC Thirteen people were killed and 15 wounded on Bloody Sunday
Thirteen people were shot dead and at least 15 others injured when members of the Army’s Parachute Regiment opened fire on civil rights demonstrators in the Bogside – a predominantly Catholic part of Londonderry – on Sunday 30 January 1972.
The day became known as Bloody Sunday.
It is widely regarded as one of the darkest days of the Northern Ireland Troubles.
The events leading to Bloody Sunday
About 15,000 people gathered in the Creggan area of Derry on the morning of 30 January 1972 to take part in a civil rights march.
Five months earlier, in August 1971 and against a backdrop of escalating violence and increased bombings in Northern Ireland, a new law was introduced giving the authorities the power to imprison people without trial – internment. The government had decided it was the only way it could restore order.
Thousands gathered in Derry on that January day for a rally organised by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association to protest at internment.
The British Embassy in Dublin was burned to the ground by an angry crowd.
The day after Bloody Sunday the government announced there would be an inquiry led by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Widgery.
The victims, top row (l to r): Patrick Doherty, Gerald Donaghey, John Duddy, Hugh Gilmour, Michael Kelly, Michael McDaid and Kevin McElhinney. Bottom row : Bernard McGuigan, Gerard McKinney, William McKinney, William Nash, James Wray and John Young
The Widgery Tribunal largely cleared the soldiers and British authorities of blame, although he described the soldiers’ shooting as “bordering on the reckless”.
It was derided as a whitewash by the victims’ families, who spent years campaigning for a fresh public inquiry.
Prime Minister Tony Blair announced that a new inquiry would be held, headed by judge Lord Saville.
It was set up in 1998 and reported back in 2010, becoming the longest-running inquiry in British legal history and costing about £200m.
The inquiry found that none of the casualties were posing a threat or doing anything that would justify their shooting.
It said no warning was given to any civilians before the soldiers opened fire and that none of the soldiers fired in response to attacks by petrol bombers or stone throwers.
Saville found there was “some firing by republican paramilitaries” but that on balance the Army fired first.
Having weighed up 125,000 pages of material, prosecutors said on 14 March that they will prosecute Soldier F for the murders of James Wray and William McKinney.
He had also faced charges for the attempted murders of Patrick O’Donnell, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon and Michael Quinn.
On 2 July 2021, it was announced Soldier F would not face trial following a decision by the Public Prosecution Service (PPS).
In a statement, the PPS said after “careful consideration” the decision had been taken due to another recent court ruling which found evidence being relied upon in the prosecution of Soldier A and Soldier C for the killing of Joe McCann was inadmissible.
This was due to the circumstances in which the evidence was obtained.
The decision not to proceed with the case is now the subject of live judicial review proceedings following a legal challenge brought by the brother of one of the Bloody Sunday victims.
The Police Ombudsman has unlawfully failed to investigate alleged RUC wrongdoing in the killing of three IRA men within a reasonable time, a High Court judge declared today.
Mr Justice Humphreys confirmed the outcome in a challenge mounted by the widow of one of the men shot dead by the SAS 35 years ago.
Brothers Gerard and Martin Harte were gunned down at Drumnakilly, Co Tyrone in August 1988.
They were ambushed 10 days after the IRA bombed a bus carrying troops at Ballygawley, an attack which claimed the lives of eight soldiers.
Relatives of the three republicans believed they were victims of a suspected shoot-to-kill policy operated by the security forces.
State agents allegedly lured them into a premeditated trap, according to their case.
It has also been claimed that RUC officers were involved in cordoning off the area prior to the shooting and did not carry out an effective probe in the immediate aftermath.
Gerard Harte’s widow, Roisin, lodged a complaint with the Police Ombudsman’s Office following a television documentary about the case broadcast in 2015.
In 2018 the watchdog confirmed that an investigation into her grievance would be carried out.
But amid budgeting issues the inquiry was never completed.
Mrs Harte issued judicial review proceedings against the Ombudsman over that delay, and against the Department of Justice for an alleged failure to provide the necessary funding.
With the Government’s controversial Legacy Act set to shut down work on Troubles-era probes, her case is not expected to be dealt with by the cut-off date of May 2024.
In court today it was announced that the Ombudsman had conceded Mrs Harte’s legal challenge.
Mr Justice Humphreys stated: “The court will make a declaration that the first respondent (the Police Ombudsman) has acted unlawfully by failing to investigate the applicant’s complaint within a reasonable time.”
He also ordered the body to pay Mrs Harte’s legal costs.
Proceedings against the Department of Justice were formally dismissed.
Outside court, Mrs Harte’s solicitor stressed she had expected her complaint would be fully examined and the subject of a published report.
Gavin Booth of Phoenix Law claimed: “The circumstances of this case are that three men were shot dead by the SAS with the knowledge and assistance of the RUC.
“It is clear now that the Ombudsman has acted unlawfully, but unfortunately there will be no report due to the Legacy Act.”
Citing the separate High Court challenge to that legislation, he added: “Mrs Harte, like many other families, are in a state of uncertainty and hope that judgment will allow them to obtain investigations into their cases.”
What makes a former British soldier advocate for Irish unity? Glenn Bradley tells Political Correspondent John Manley about his journey from a loyalist heartland to joining civic nationalist group Ireland’s Future
John Manley
04 December, 2022 19:00
Former British soldier Glenn Bradley. Picture by Mal McCann
GLENN Bradley arguably has more reason than most to have an aversion to republicanism.
In 1972, aged five, he was on his way to Sunday school at Woodvale Methodist Church in west Belfast when an IRA car bomb exploded some 300 yards away, causing minor injures but leaving a lasting impact.
Fast forward nine years to the day, Bobby Sands died after 66 days on hunger strike and he remembers vividly the petrol bombing of his school bus by a mob as it passed Ardoyne.
“I literally got off that bus, saying I want to hit back,” he recalls.
An intervention by his uncle and later Belfast lord mayor Hugh Smyth prevented the teenager joining the ranks of the UVF, so he instead signed up for the British Army.
“I naively joined the British Army to get the best training possible as a thought I’d come back and take the fight to the IRA,” he told The Irish News.
“Obviously, the army had different ambitions for me – my first posting wasn’t even back here.”
Glen Bradley pictured on duty as a British soldier
The 55-year-old spent eight years with the Royal Irish Rangers, including five tours in the north.
In September 1990, while stationed at Gough Barracks in Armagh, his battalion attended a scene on the border where a booby-trapped body had been dumped near the village of Belleeks in south Armagh.
It turned out to be the remains of his uncle, 42-year-old RUC detective constable Louis Robinson, who two days earlier had been returning from a fishing trip in Kerry when he was abducted and tortured by an IRA gang of up to 10, who’d intercepted his car on the main Dublin-Belfast road. A statement later claimed the victim had been “executed” after questioning.
“With the benefit of hindsight, I shouldn’t have been anywhere near that operation… it was too personal,” he says.
“But I was, and it haunts me to this day… obviously it was me that identified his body on the roadside.”
Mr Bradley left the army in 1994, though he continued to serve as a reservist. He joined the Ulster Unionist Party, becoming its constituency chairman in west Belfast and a party officer.
“I was involved in the talks that led to the Good Friday Agreement, but I wasn’t part of the negotiating team,” he says.
“I stand by the Good Friday Agreement that was negotiated. I think a lot of our problems today are because it hasn’t been implemented.”
It could easily be assumed from his back story that Glenn Bradley would be a staunch unionist with a deep hostility towards republicanism. However, the retired businessman is among a growing number of what has been termed ‘cultural unionists’ who are now receptive to the idea of constitutional change.
Former British soldier Glen Bradley with Irish News political correspondent John Manley. Picture by Mal McCann
The grandfather-of-two recently joined others raised in a Protestant tradition on the stage of the Ulster Hall at Ireland’s Future’s ‘Belongs to You’ event.
His involvement with the civic nationalist group dates back several years, with the UK’s departure from the EU acting as a “catalyst” when it came to transforming his political perspective.
“I’m a democrat,” he responds when asked to explain what appears to have been a Damascene conversion to the cause of Irish unity.
“I’ve always been a democrat – being a unionist is not something that’s injected into someone’s DNA, it’s a political choice.”
He’s a critic of Westminster’s first past the post system, which has “led to a dominance by English MPs”.
“For me Brexit totally tore apart any illusion that we were in a union of equals – Scotland and Northern Ireland forced out of Europe against their will,” he said, arguing that such an outcome was “morally reprehensible”.
The former soldier also rejects claims about the NHS being the “best in the world”.
“My father has vascular dementia; my mother and sister died recently in 2017 and 2018; I’ve seen what the NHS can do first hand and all credit to the workers but it is not the best service in the world.”
Mr Bradley describes the notion that the union provides what is best for its citizens as “utter delusion”.
Former British soldier Glen Bradley. Picture by Mal McCann
“As a democrat, as someone who cherishes my grandchildren and thinks about what my legacy for them is going to be – particularly given the socio-economic political basket case that I was born into – I want to make sure that they have the best opportunities in their lives.
“It would therefore be irresponsible of me not to consider other things beyond the status quo, and therefore, yes, I’m looking at Irish unity – and yes, I accept that at the minute there isn’t the plan but there’s nothing wrong with discussion.”
And what about unionism’s response to to the Ireland’s Future project?
“I think political unionism is burying its head in the sand, and I think it’s a consequence of the recent changes that have been ongoing in this place,” he said.
“There’s this realisation that they don’t dominate the political landscape no more, that they are a minority and I think there’s swathes of political unionism are having real trouble coming to terms with that – and it’s evident and what’s going on in our local politics at the moment.”
Michelle O’Neill has called for urgent action to address the Stormont stalemate (Brian Lawless/PA)
Jonathan McCambridge, PA
03 December, 2023 12:02
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has said negotiations with the DUP are in their final stages (James Manning/PA)
Sinn Fein’s Stormont leader Michelle O’Neill has called for “immediate action” from the UK Government to address the political stalemate in Northern Ireland.
The PA news agency understands that Ms O’Neill wrote to Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris in recent days stating that the patience of the public had been tested “beyond all reasonable limits” by the ongoing impasse.
The powersharing institutions at Stormont have been suspended for more than 18 months due to a protest by the DUP over post-Brexit trading arrangements.
The unionist party has been involved in negotiations with the Government about the Windsor Framework, which reformed the Northern Ireland Protocol, and is seeking further assurances, by way of legislation, over Northern Ireland’s place in the UK internal market.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has said negotiations with the DUP are in their final stages (James Manning/PA)
Mr Heaton-Harris has said that the negotiations are nearing a conclusion, stating last week that they were in the “final, final stages”.
In her letter, Ms O’Neill called for “immediate action to address the political stalemate”.
She said that despite elements of the Windsor Framework being operational since October, negotiations between the UK Government and the DUP “have not delivered a successful outcome to date”.
Ms O’Neill said this was despite repeated assurances from both the Secretary of State and DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson that they are almost at a close.
She said “ample space and time” had been afforded for all parties involved to engage constructively.
The Sinn Fein Stormont leader also emphasised the “urgency on the Government to conclude these negotiations”, stating that the “patience of the public and all those concerned has been tested beyond reasonable limits”.
Ms O’Neill urged the Northern Ireland Secretary to respond swiftly to her to “address the gravity of the situation”.
The Northern Ireland Office has been approached for comment.
‘Highly likely’ 2 Derry men died from gunshots wounds to the head Inquest told
The inquest into the deaths of two Derry men shot dead by the SAS in the grounds of Gransha Hospital on December 6, 1984 has heard that it was ‘highly likely’ both men died from gunshot wounds to the head.
By Staff reporter
Published 1st Dec 2023, 16:02 GMT
William Fleming and Daniel Doherty.
The evidence was being given to the inquest into the deaths of William Fleming (19) from the Waterside and Daniel Doherty (23) from Creggan.
During Friday’s hearing, two pathologists gave evidence with regards to the injuries sustained by each of the deceased men.
This included two bullets to the head, 12 to his back, three to his forearm and two to his leg.
The hearing was told that it was not possible to determine in what order the wounds were received, but that the two wounds to the head would have been ‘rapidly fatal’.
The court heard that some of the body wounds would also have been fatal, but not as rapidly as the head wounds.
It was said that Mr Doherty had a crash helmet in his possession at the time of the shooting but was either not wearing it, or not wearing it properly when he was shot.
As regards William Fleming, the hearing was told that he had sustained at least five bullet wounds.
One of those wounds was to the head, three were to the trunk and one was to the leg.
The court also heard that Mr Fleming had a leg injury that would have been caused by ‘blunt force trauma’.
The pathologists further stated that Mr Fleming had up to 50 other wounds, and that these were believed to have been caused by fragmenting bullets.
Both pathogists disagreed with earlier findings, and concluded that Mr Fleming’s wounds were inflicted while he was lying on the ground.
An earlier report had suggested the Derry man may have been sitting up when he was shot. However Friday’s hearing was told the angle of the wounds made it more likely that he was shot while on the ground.
PA
PacemakerDerry’s Guildhall Square was packed for David Cameron’s apology on behalf of the state in 2010
