Bloody Sunday 36 Years On - Still Marching For The Truth
Thousands of people will gather in Derry this Sunday (February 3) to mark the 36th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday massacre in the city.
On January 30 1972 the British army’s Parachute Regiment opened fire on a civil rights march, killing 14 people, 6 of whom were only 17-years-of-age, and injuring many more.
Despite British propaganda, it was clear to the people of Derry and those further afield that this was a deliberately murderous attack on a peaceful march in an effort to intimidate those involved in the struggle for freedom and justice.
The Bloody Sunday atrocity and the subsequent British government Widgery whitewash led to an upsurge in the armed struggle in the Six Counties and an almost complete alienation of the nationalist community from the British state.
Due to the determination of the families of the victims and their supporters, the British government was forced to convene the Saville Inquiry in January 1998. This Inquiry has yet to release its findings and it remains unclear whether it will have the courage or the freedom to conclude what the world already knows – that what happened in Derry on January 30 1972 was an exercise in officially sanctioned mass murder by the forces of the British government.
Every year since 1972 nationalist Ireland and its international supporters have walked the route of the original march in an act of collective remembrance, solidarity, defiance and resistance.
Éirígí spokesperson Daithí Mac an Mháistír called on people from across the country to make an effort to attend on Sunday.
“Bloody Sunday was a watershed in the ongoing struggle of our people for peace and justice. It, in a way that few other events could have done, drew a clear line between those who are supportive of British interference in Ireland and those who resist it.
“The massacre effectively marked the death of the peaceful civil rights struggle as it became clear to the mass of the working class nationalist population that civil rights could not be gained without national rights and the removal of the British government and its regime in Ireland.”
Daithí continued, “The verdict of the latest British inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday is imminent. It remains unclear what the findings of this body will be and, if they reflect the truth, whether the British government will allow their publication.
“The whole world knows the truth of what happened on Derry’s Bloody Sunday, the ability of the British government to face up to that truth is the issue at hand.
“This is why it is so important that as many people as possible make their way to Derry on Sunday to stand in solidarity with the relatives of the dead – the marching feet of thousands of Irish citizens will keep the pressure on the British establishment and show the world that the victims of British war crimes have not been forgotten.”
The annual Bloody Sunday commemorative march and rally will leave Creggan Shops in the city at 2.30pm on Sunday afternoon (February 3).
Éirígí activists and supporters from across Ireland will be attending. If you would like details of travel arrangements, contact (00353) (0) 86 2367298.
Their epithet is the ongoing struggle for democracy.