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05 Feb 2026

IN PICTURES: President Connolly meets Bloody Sunday families at Museum of Free Derry

The President held a private meeting with approximately 50 relatives and survivors of those killed and injured during Bloody Sunday in 1972

Irish President Catherine Connolly has visited the Museum of Free Derry where she viewed the exhibition on Bloody Sunday and met some survivors and their families.

Tony Doherty, chairman of the Bloody Sunday Trust, said it was “very heartening to see that the President was very keen to meet us and to share with us her solidarity”.

Mr Doherty’s father Patrick Doherty was one of the victims of Bloody Sunday, shot in the back at the age of 32 while attempting to assist others, leaving behind a wife and six children.

Mr Doherty said: “Catherine Connolly is a very popular woman, not just for those who voted for, but for those who couldn’t vote. And what we actually did say is that hopefully, in the not too distant future, that some of us will actually canvas for the future president of Ireland on our own streets. So we were very glad to have her with us. The visit went swimmingly well. We’re very pleased to see her and she was very pleased to see us.”

He added: “Bloody Sunday has made its own imprint on the history of the city and in response, ourselves, as families, have made our own imprint in terms of addressing the injustice of what has happened on that day and for decades subsequently. So we’re very happy that she’s referenced us and the way that she has it’s, I suppose, a sign of maturity as well that the President’s office isn’t reticent or afraid to address sort of core issues.”

PICTURED BELOW: President Connolly at the The Museum Of Free Derry with Chair, Tony Doherty. (Photo: Tony Maxwell / Maxwells)

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