Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 6 Feb 1992

Vol. 415 No. 5

Adjournment Debate. - British Army Shootings in Derry, 1972.

Mr. Gregory

I thank you for allowing me time to raise this important matter. Last week saw the 20th anniversary of the tragic events of Bloody Sunday in Derry when 14 people were shot dead, 13 on the day, one later dying of his injuries in hospital, and many more injured by the British Army Parachute Regiment. To many people this was the most significant event in the conflict in the North, coming as it did at a crucial stage in that conflict. It is now widely accepted that one of the immediate and direct results of the events of that day was that it motivated many young people in the Nationalist community in the North and indeed many more in the South to join the Provisional IRA. When a peaceful civil rights march was met with local military force, it convinced many young people that in future such military aggression could only be met by armed struggle.

The view is still widely held in Nationalist areas in the North, most particularly in Derry's Bogside, that as long as the injustice of Bloody Sunday remains without redress, then condemnations of violence directed against British forces in the North are pointless. That is part of the legacy of Bloody Sunday. The grief of the people of Derry's Bogside and in particular of the relatives and friends of those who died remains deeply rooted today, 20 years later.

That grief is compounded by the fact that the dead are officially held to be the guilty ones, officially held responsible, while the whole of Nationalist Derry knows that they were innocent, unarmed civilian participants in a civil rights march. Indeed, thanks to the BBC and Channel 4 the whole world now knows that. Significantly, as in the cases of the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four, it was British television that drew attention to the dreadful injustice of Bloody Sunday, not our own RTE.

If the unfortunate people who died had instead been given life sentences in prison we would today no doubt be demanding their pardon and release, yet the very fact that their young lives were so brutally taken from them must make it all the more urgent that the truth be established and their names cleared. That is the very least that should be done.

We are all familiar with the role of the Catholic clergy in Derry in the events of Bloody Sunday. I am sure we all vividly recall Father Edward Daly, now Bishop Daly, holding the white handkerchief trying in vain to protect the wounded and the dying. On the British television programmes we heard the same clergy say they saw in front of their own eyes unarmed, defenceless, innocent people murdered by the British Army Parachute Regiment. We cannot ignore this; it simply will not go away.

Already members of the British Parliament from both the Labour and Conservative Parties have called for a new inquiry. The Minister and the Government must not remain silent. This House must not remain silent. The Minister must state quickly and urgently what steps he and the Government intend to take to ensure that a new inquiry is held to establish the truth and see justice done.

Both the BBC and Channel 4 programmes contained new evidence which strongly suggests that the Widgery Tribunal was nothing more than a whitewash — a cover-up by the British establishment. Widgery was a chief justice. Now in retrospect from the cases of the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four we know just how prejudiced the British judicial establishment was and how willing they were to cover up the most appalling injustices against Irish people, whether by the British police or in this instance the Parachute Regiment and those who directed that regiment. Widgery refused to believe the eye witnesses, the people and priests of Derry. Widgery ignored the evidence that showed that unarmed people holding their hands up were shot dead. Widgery accepted forensic evidence that undoubtedly would not be accepted today — that traces of lead on three of the bodies came from guns and not from other lead sources or indeed as a result of manhandling of the bodies by soldiers resulting in cross-contamination from the lead on the soldiers' own hands. Widgery simply chose to believe the paratroops, regardless of all this. To do otherwise would have been to accept "an appalling vista".

The new evidence presented by British television destroys the Widgery findings. There are admissions by the paratroopers' own sergeant major that members of the regiment were out of control and that one individual soldier fired in excess of the ammunition officially given to him but could not identify any armed targets at which he was firing.

An independent inquiry must be set up to re-examine all the evidence and all the circumstances. The Minister and the Government must ensure that this happens, if necessary by appealing to the European Community to sponsor the inquiry.

Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (Mr. Calleary)

I sincerely thank Deputy Gregory for the opportunity to reply in regard to the tragic events which took place in Derry on the afternoon of 30 January 1972 when 13 people were shot dead and 17 others wounded. As he stated, one person subsequently died. These tragic events had the most profound implications for the people of Derry as a whole and for the subsequent evolution of the situation in Northern Ireland.

Those killed had been taking part in a civil rights march organised by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association to protest against internment. The needless deaths in Derry on that day evoked a deep sense of outrage and revulsion at the actions of the British Army unit involved, which was felt throughout Ireland and in the wider international community.

The Irish Government made immediate and vigorous protests to the British Government through diplomatic channels. The then Government also took steps to bring the Bloody Sunday killings before the European Commission of Human Rights in the context of the interState cases which the Government brought against the United Kingdom in the 1970s.

The British Government, in the aftermath of the killings, commissioned a tribunal, chaired by the then Lord Chief Justice, Lord Widgery, who published their report in April 1972. The terms of reference and findings of that report were regarded as inadequate by many including the Irish Government of the day. In particular, the tribunal's findings could not be reconciled with the facts as known to a large number of responsible observers. The then Taoiseach stated, in response to the publication of the Widgery report, that he found it difficult to see how Lord Widgery reached the general conclusions he did, even on the evidence set out in the report itself. This reflected the widespread scepticism and unease which greeted the report, most particularly in Derry itself.

Particular exception was taken by the relatives of those killed to the finding that some among the deceased were suspected of having been engaged in terrorist activities. No independent evidence to support this contention was then, or has since been adduced. Indeed the report itself admitted that "none of the deceased or wounded is proved to have been shot whilst holding a firearm or bomb". The already widely-held belief in the innocence of those killed has been further reinforced by recent television and media reports on these events.

The findings of the Widgery Tribunal and, in particular, the presumption of complicity in violence, added greatly to the distress of those who had been bereaved. Although the subsequent decision by the British authorities in 1974 to pay compensation to the relatives was accompanied by a statement to the effect that all the deceased should be regarded as having been found not guilty of the allegation of having been shot while handling a firearm or bomb, this did not remove the imputation left by the report's conclusions.

The Irish Government have consistently believed that those killed in Derry on Bloody Sunday were engaged in peaceful protest and were not involved in violence. The Government appreciate that an acknowledgment in this sense by the British Government, even after the period of time which had elapsed, would be welcomed by the families concerned. The Government have noted with interest that a number of Members of the House of Commons, referred to by Deputy Gregory, from both main parties, have tabled motions requesting that the issue be re-examined, including a re-opening of the Widgery Tribunal and a review of the forensic evidence considered by the original tribunal.

The Government welcome developments in this direction and hope that these can be translated into actions which will meet the legitimate concerns of all, including the Irish Government which have been voiced in this regard. They believe such would contribute both to establishing an accurate record of what transpired on 30 January 1972, of itself important in enhancing the credibility of the system of justice, and to undoing a wrong to those families — referred to by Deputy Gregory — who have already suffered enough. Such course of action would serve the cause of justice, contribute to the promotion of peace and reconciliation, and turn a new page in the life of a city which has shown a remarkable capacity to rise above adversity and unite in the interests of all its citizens.