Mayor planning civic recognition for Bloody Sunday families and survivors

Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council Ruairí McHugh is to give civic recognition the families and survivors of Bloody Sunday.

Speaking at Wednesday’s full Council meeting, Mayor McHugh said it had been “an honour” to walk with members of the Bloody Sunday families and survivors on the first day of the Soldier F trial at Belfast Crown Court. 

Concluding the discussion regarding the not guilty verdict handed down by Judge Patrick Lynch in Belfast Crown Court last week, Alderman Darren Guy (UUP) said “the Parachute Regiment should not have been deployed on the streets of the Bogside in January 1972, just as they should not have shot two innocent individuals in the Shankill Road.

“This is why you will never see a Parachute Regiment flag flying anywhere on the Shankill Road,” added Ald Guy.

In his opening remarks, Mayor McHugh said: “I think it would be appropriate for me as the first citizen of the city and district to pay tribute and commend the resilience and most importantly the the dignity of the Bloody Sunday families and survivors over the last 53 years,” he added.

“I will be liaising with the families via the bloody Sunday trust in order that the city and district finds a way to to to honour that campaign of the last 53 years. 

“I would like to commend the families for their resilience and most importantly for their dignity. It goes without saying, we all know what happened on Bloody Sunday and we only but read the judge’s remarks to know what happened on that fateful day,” said McHugh.

Supporting the move, Cllr Gary Donnelly (Independent) said he echoed the Mayor’s sentiments regarding solidarity with the Bloody Sunday families and survivors.

He added: “What this does for me, it proves the British state doesn't care and in this instance it didn't even feel the need to throw somebody to the wolves.

“If you look at how the British state treats its own people, Windrush, David Kelly and the Iraq War, phone hacking, MP’s expenses, the Post Office scandal, Grenfell, Hillsborough, election betting scandals, I think, ‘What chance have Irish people under British occupation got when we look at the state we're currently living in?’

“ We have a police force that 40% of its budget is controlled by British intelligence. The same people that give us Iraq war. We've got a sectarian shambolic Assembly that doesn't serve working class, serves nobody but but the ruling class interests. There will never be justice while there is a British system in place in Ireland,” said Cllr Donnelly. 

Cllr Shaun Harkin (PBP) described it as “deeply disappointing for the vast majority of people in this city, people across Ireland, and across the world that Soldier F wasn't convicted”.

“He wasn’t convicted because he isn’t guilty, he wasn’t convicted because the judge believed that there wasn't evidence that could do that. 

“But we know that Soldier F is guilty and the world knows that as well and I think the dignity of the families and the survivors and the many campaigners stands very much in stark contrast, I believe, to the way that some of the leaders of political unionism have operated since the ruling - displaying their support for the Parachute Regiment with its symbolism and acting as if soldier F is innocent,” said Cllr Harkin. 

Cllr Brian Tierney (SDLP) said it was “fitting” the families and survivors of Bloody Sunday be recognised by Mayor McHugh and Derry City and Strabane District Council.

Cllr Tierney added he was “incredibly shocked and disappointed to see some of the responses from people who are so-called leaders of unionism”.

“[They] were claiming the verdict as some sort of victory in the face of tragedy, of 53 years of families campaigning to prove that their loved ones were innocent. People claiming that as a victory is disgusting in my mind.”

Describing Judge Patrick Lynch’s summing up at the conclusion of Soldier F’s trial as “damning”, Cllr Sandra Duffy (Sinn Féin) said: “There was no evidence there to find soldier F guilty but he certainly was not found innocent in a court of law. I think that that needs to be remembered.

“But I think that what we need to be very clear about today is our unwavering support for the Bloody Sunday families in their pursuit of justice. They were very dignified. They were very determined through it through it all and they have had some horrifying times throughout including death threats to the family over recent weeks,” added Cllr Duffy.

Concluding the discussion, Alderman Darren Guy (UUP) paid tribute to the Sunday families.

He said they had “shown dignity throughout this long ordeal and would no doubt be deeply disappointed with the judge's decision”.

Ald Guy added: “I have always maintained personally that the parachute regiment should not have been deployed on the streets of the Bogside in January 1972, just as they should not have shot two innocent individuals in the Shankill Road. This is why you will never see a Parachute Regiment flying anywhere on the Shankill Road.

“The UUP, however, is astonished this prosecution was allowed to proceed after the trial's reliance on hearsay statements from two other soldiers was accepted, particularly after an earlier refusal to hold a trial because of no new evidence had been identified,” he said.

“It is legitimate to ask why lawyers raised and sustained families expectations for so many years when the evidential basis was so weak. The Public Prosecution Service decision to proceed on the grounds of public interest rather than a clear evidential test undermines confidence in our judicial system.

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“Commentary from across the political divide has been crude and unhelpful. The unionist community has long had reservations about the aspects of what happened on Bloody Sunday. We acknowledge that members of the Parachute Regiment fired on those attending the Civil Rights march and that 13 largely innocent people lost their lives - a fact recognized by the Saville Inquiry.

“Equally concerning are the false or distorted accounts that emerged immediately after the killings. Before victims bodies had been returned to grieving families, Republican elements were instructing people about what to say and how events should be described. That rewriting of of events became an reoccurring tragic pattern throughout killings carried out by IRA criminals, often defended or concealed by their own communities. 

“What occurred on Bloody Sunday was wrong. Equally, the ongoing prosecution of soldier F, pursued decades later amid contested and unreliable evidence is also wrong. The money spent in this single case is startling when survivors and family of other atrocities such as Claudy, Teebane, La Mon and and many others await with dignity but have still not received justice.”