Difference between revisions of "File:Massacre At Derry.doc"

A near contemporaneous account of the events of Bloody Sunday from the Madden and Finucane Bloody Sunday Archive.

Introduction

Derry differs from all other atrocities that have occurred to date in the struggle for civil rights and democracy in Northern Ireland. The 1969 attempted pogrom was not ordered or directed by the British Government. This massacre was. That mass-murder took place in Derry on Sunday, January 30, 1972 is beyond doubt. There is no need for an inquiry into this fact. There were more than 30,000 eye-witnesses. The only subject for inquiry is why and by what process the decision to engage in a massacre was taken. And, because the British Army murdered people of a different nationality in the interests of the British Government, any inquiry held must be international. The establishment of the Widgery Inquiry was meant to inhibit publication of eyewitness accounts and comment, shield those responsible and hide from the world descriptions of the terrible slaughter of innocent defenceless people. In speeches announcing the establishment of the Inquiry both Mr. Reginald Maudling, the British Home Secretary, and Mr. Edward Heath, the British Prime Minister, publicly condoned the action of the British Army. This pamphlet aims at telling the world, through the eyes of Derry citizens, what happened to thirteen of their number on Derry's Bloody Sunday.