Bloody Sunday Families Expect Dead To Be Cleared

[Raistlin]

Relatives of the Bloody Sunday dead are expecting the names of all those killed on the day to be cleared by the release of the long-awaited Saville Inquiry report.

Families of the victims will form a silent procession in the morning from Derry's Bogside along the intended route of the original civil rights march to the city's Guildhall where the findings will be published.

Two relatives of each of those killed and injured will be given advance access under strict security arrangements, as will soldiers involved and some MPs and peers.

Secretary of State Owen Paterson has already received a copy. Mickey McKinney, whose 27-year-old brother Willie was shot dead on the day, said: "I think people are becoming very anxious, I think they're getting a bit nervous... It's been a long time but it's here now and we just want to see it."

Mr McKinney said he remained hopeful about the outcome but insisted he and others cannot move on unless people are held to account for the shootings.

The full report, expected to contain 5,000 pages and which runs to ten volumes, will be fully published at 3.30pm as Prime Minister David Cameron makes a statement in the House of Commons.

British troops shot dead 13 protesters in Northern Ireland in 1972. Another 14 were wounded, one of whom died several weeks later. The soldiers said they shot at people who were armed with guns or nail bombs, which was strongly denied by witnesses and by relatives of the victims.

U2 Tribute video, Well worth watching

[Bizarra]

Much the same, from our National Daily, with a few personal cases

Families await Bloody Sunday report

Tuesday June 15 2010

Families of the Bloody Sunday dead are hoping their epic campaign to clear the names of their loved ones will finally end with the release of the long-awaited Saville report.

After more than a decade and 30 million words of testimony, the longest and most expensive inquiry in British legal history will culminate in the publication of its findings in Derry.

An air of anxious expectation has descended on the city as it awaits the outcome of the investigation into the killings of 14 unarmed civilians on January 30 1972 by British soldiers.

Mickey McKinney, whose 27-year-old brother Willie was shot dead on the day, said families of victims were hopeful but tense ahead of the publication.

"I think people are becoming very anxious, I think they're getting a bit nervous," he said. "It's been a long time but it's here now and we just want to see it."

Relatives will form a silent procession from Derry's Bogside along the intended route of the ill-fated civil rights march to the city's Guildhall.

There, two family members for each of those killed and injured will be given advance access under strict security arrangements, as will soldiers involved on the day and some MPs and peers in Britain. Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson has already received a copy.

The full report, expected to contain 5,000 pages and which runs to 10 volumes, will be fully published at 3.30pm as Prime Minister David Cameron makes a statement in the House of Commons. A large screen was erected outdoors in the Guildhall Square to relay the statement to those gathered.

When she is handed the report, Kay Duddy, 63, whose teenage brother was the first person shot dead, will grip a handkerchief that became the enduring image from the day. The blood-stained hanky was waved aloft by the then Fr Edward Daly as he tried to guide a small group of men carrying 17-year-old Jackie Duddy out of gunfire to medical help.

Ms Duddy gifted the piece of cloth to a small museum last year after nearly losing it to a would-be mugger but asked for it back temporarily as a "comfort blanket" to see her through the report.

Press Association

[bothwell_buyer]

alas its another of these things which the Government Officials (Civil? Service) hide away, or prolong until they leave with their pension intact - unlike those involved who leave in a coffin.

How many events have happened where the civil servants/government paid employees just get away with murder - literally.

Hope the folk get what they have waited so long for....

[Parts-King]

From bbc.co.uk/news

All those killed on !Removed! Sunday were innocent, the Saville Report has ruled.

Thirteen marchers were shot dead on 30 January 1972 in Londonderry when British paratroopers opened fire on crowds at a civil rights demonstration.

Fourteen others were wounded, one of whom later died. The report found that the Army fired the first shot.

Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "deeply sorry" and that the findings were "shocking".

A huge cheer erupted in Guildhall Square in Derry as Mr Cameron delivered the findings which unequivocally blamed the Army.

The report said that the Army fired the first shot of the day in one of the most controversial state killings in the Northern Ireland conflict.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Cameron said what happened on !Removed! Sunday was unjustifiable and wrong. He said his government and the country were "deeply sorry" and the findings were "shocking".

Army fired first shot Mr Cameron said:

• No warning had been given to any civilians before the soldiers opened fire

• None of the soldiers fired in response to attacks by petrol bombers or stone throwers

• Some of those killed or injured were clearly fleeing or going to help those injured or dying
• None of the casualties was posing a threat or doing anything that would justify their shooting
• There was no point in trying to soften or equivocate - the events of !Removed! Sunday were not justified
• Many of the soldiers lied about their actions
• What happened should never, ever have happened
• Some members of the British armed forces acted wrongly
• On behalf of the government and the country, he said he was "deeply sorry"
• The events of !Removed! Sunday were not premeditated
• Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, Sinn Fein, was present at the time of the violence and "probably armed with a submachine gun" but did not engage in "any activity that provided any of the soldiers with any justification for opening fire"

The report was commissioned in 1998 by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair under the auspices of former High Court judge, Lord Saville of Newdigate.

The crowd in Guildhall Square cheered The Saville Inquiry took witness statements from hundreds of people and has become the longest-running and most expensive in British history.

It closed in 2004 with the report initially due for publication the following year.

It cost £195m and took 12 years to complete.

The Saville Report was made available to the families and their lawyers in closed sessions in Derry's Guildhall earlier on Tuesday.

Thousands of people are gathered outside the Guildhall to watch Prime Minister David Cameron deliver the report to Parliament on a huge screen.

Earlier, crowds retraced the steps of the original marchers from the !Removed! Sunday memorial in the city's Bogside close to the spot where many of the victims died.

According to BBC NI political editor Mark Devenport, while it may not have been the bloodiest day in the history of the Troubles, "the significance of that day in shaping the course of the conflict cannot be overstated".

"The actions of the Parachute Regiment in shooting dead 13 unarmed civil rights protesters immeasurably strengthened Irish republicans' arguments within their own community and provided the Provisional IRA with a flood of fresh recruits for its long war," he said.

Our correspondent also said !Removed! Sunday set in train the suspension of the Northern Ireland government in March 1972, which led to the decades of direct rule from London.

The full process of restoring devolution was only completed in 2010.

An inquiry chaired by Lord Widgery was held in the immediate aftermath of the killings but it failed to satisfy families of the victims.

[Raistlin]

OMG Kingo a current story

[Phoenix999]

It was 38 years ago.... with respect I think it is now time to move on in life

[Bizarra]

It was 38 years ago.... with respect I think it is now time to move on in life

There was a sickish joke on the go here in Ireland when attempts were being made to get the IRA to disarm. The comment was " For God's sake, they haven't surrendered the Pikes from 1798 yet!"

History is the past, but lessons must be learned for the future

[Raistlin]

It was 38 years ago.... with respect I think it is now time to move on in life

There was a sickish joke on the go here in Ireland when attempts were being made to get the IRA to disarm. The comment was " For God's sake, they haven't surrendered the Pikes from 1798 yet!"

History is the past, but lessons must be learned for the future

We could just concrete it over and buy our butter from New Zealand , then lease it to the American's as an air base

[Bizarra]

It was 38 years ago.... with respect I think it is now time to move on in life

There was a sickish joke on the go here in Ireland when attempts were being made to get the IRA to disarm. The comment was " For God's sake, they haven't surrendered the Pikes from 1798 yet!"

History is the past, but lessons must be learned for the future

We could just concrete it over and buy our butter from New Zealand , then lease it to the American's as an air base

Northern Ireland, I presume you mean ? <_< Good idea

Put it up for Auction between the Yanks & Russians & watch the bidding

One idea was to build a "Berlin Wall " round it with one gate. Open it after 30 years, with heavy Artillery trained on the Gate. If they hadn't come to their senses- close the gate for another 30 years No one allowed in or out & any escapees shot on sight, in case of infection

[Raistlin]

It was 38 years ago.... with respect I think it is now time to move on in life

There was a sickish joke on the go here in Ireland when attempts were being made to get the IRA to disarm. The comment was " For God's sake, they haven't surrendered the Pikes from 1798 yet!"

History is the past, but lessons must be learned for the future

We could just concrete it over and buy our butter from New Zealand , then lease it to the American's as an air base

Northern Ireland, I presume you mean ? Good idea

Put it up for Auction between the Yanks & Russians & watch the bidding

One idea was to build a "Berlin Wall " round it with one gate. Open it after 30 years, with heavy Artillery trained on the Gate. If they hadn't come to their senses- close the gate for another 30 years No one allowed in or out & any escapees shot on sight, in case of infection

No we tried that with the Palestinians and look at the mess that made

[Bizarra]

It was 38 years ago.... with respect I think it is now time to move on in life

There was a sickish joke on the go here in Ireland when attempts were being made to get the IRA to disarm. The comment was " For God's sake, they haven't surrendered the Pikes from 1798 yet!"

History is the past, but lessons must be learned for the future

We could just concrete it over and buy our butter from New Zealand , then lease it to the American's as an air base

Northern Ireland, I presume you mean ? Good idea

Put it up for Auction between the Yanks & Russians & watch the bidding

One idea was to build a "Berlin Wall " round it with one gate. Open it after 30 years, with heavy Artillery trained on the Gate. If they hadn't come to their senses- close the gate for another 30 years No one allowed in or out & any escapees shot on sight, in case of infection

No we tried that with the Palestinians and look at the mess that made

Very true :( Quoting Sir Winston Churchill [ Ah Yes ! I remember him well ] " Jaw, jaw is better than War, war"

[Raistlin]

Or the bigger the stick, the harder the clout...

I was brought up with "If your hit once, Hit them back twice" it's always work for me

[Bizarra]

Or the bigger the stick, the harder the clout...

I was brought up with "If your hit once, Hit them back twice" it's always work for me

I thumped a lad once His bruise cleared up in a week. I've had a crooked thumb for 55 years

Still, I'm still alive . Maybe he isn't

[Raistlin]

Or the bigger the stick, the harder the clout...

I was brought up with "If your hit once, Hit them back twice" it's always work for me

I thumped a lad once His bruise cleared up in a week. I've had a crooked thumb for 55 years

Still, I'm still alive . Maybe he isn't

Bent digit.. That could explain a lot

[Bizarra]

Or the bigger the stick, the harder the clout...

I was brought up with "If your hit once, Hit them back twice" it's always work for me

I thumped a lad once His bruise cleared up in a week. I've had a crooked thumb for 55 years

Still, I'm still alive . Maybe he isn't

Bent digit.. That could explain a lot

Methinks thou doth protest too much ! I am highly suspicious of your proclivities <_<

[Raistlin]

I'll have you know that there is nothing wrong with my proclivities, I wash throughly on a regular basis

[Bizarra]

I'll have you know that there is nothing wrong with my proclivities, I wash throughly on a regular basis

New Year's Eve, without fail!

[bothwell_buyer]

It was 38 years ago.... with respect I think it is now time to move on in life

I bow in respect to those people/families who have campaigned for 38 years - they of all deserve a medal and some cash. I remember watching the news on that terrible day and when I saw the footage today again, can realise how real it is for the families. Its only taken 38 years to get the truth out of a so-called democracy?? And in the meantime, all those guilty have retired and enjoy a pension.

naw -sorry if it was me then I'd be looking to get some revenge...

ever-forgiving activist ....