Mural by Bogside Artists 

depicting Bishop Edward Daly 

waving a white handkerchief 

whilst trying to escort 

the mortally wounded Jackie Duddy to safety.

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First, dear Networkes, allow Miss Eagle to declare her interest.  I am a sixth generation Australian, part of a family - The Gores - who are believed to be the only family in Australia directly descended from someone on The Endeavour.  While I may not be pure Celt, there is a substantial portion of Irish blood flowing through my veins.

I therefore note with interest, sadness, and remembrance the apology of the British Prime Minister for Bloody Sunday.

I know there are few nations in the world without dark stains with regard to race, religion, ethnicity.  However, it is my own firm belief that the English - as a national entity - have never had a real and proper understanding of the Celtic nations of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.  In fact, the ethnic cleansing that has happened in the Celtic countries of the United Kingdom and the banning and delegitimisation of Celtic languages is proof of this.

I hope that the people of Northern Ireland can live in peace and make something of their own parliamentary democracy.  However, it must be remembered that the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is an artificial and political boundary.  It never should have been there.  It remains to-day because of the will of the Unionists/Protestants of Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom's own perceived necessity for an Atlantic strategic presence.  Sooner - and I hope sooner - rather than later, justice and natural geography must have its way, with a re-unification of Ireland.

In the meantime, we remember the unarmed dead of Bloody Sunday who merely wanted civil rights and were prepared to gather in support of those rights:

The dead

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• Jackie Duddy (17). Shot in the chest in the car park of Rossville flats. Four witnesses stated Duddy was unarmed and running away from the paratroopers when he was killed. Three of them saw a soldier take deliberate aim at the youth as he ran.

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• Patrick Doherty (31). Shot from behind whilst crawling to safety in the forecourt of Rossville flats. Doherty was photographed by French journalist Gilles Peress seconds before he died. Despite the testimony of "Soldier F" at the Widgery Tribunal, the photographs show he was unarmed.

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• Bernard McGuigan (41). Shot in the back of the head when he went to help Patrick Doherty. He had been waving a white handkerchief at the soldiers to indicate his peaceful intentions.

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• Hugh Gilmour (17). Shot in the chest whilst running away from the paratroopers on Rossville Street. A photograph taken seconds after Gilmour was hit corroborated witness reports that he was unarmed.

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• Kevin McElhinney (17). Shot from behind whilst crawling to safety at the front entrance of the Rossville Flats. Two witnesses stated McElhinney was unarmed.

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• Michael Kelly (17). Shot in the stomach whilst standing near the rubble barricade in front of Rossville Flats. Widgery accepted Kelly was unarmed.

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• John Young (17). Shot in the head whilst standing at the rubble barricade. Two witnesses stated Young was unarmed.

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• William Nash (19). Shot in the chest near the barricade. Witnesses stated Nash was unarmed and going to the aid of another when killed.

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• Michael McDaid (20). Shot in the face at the barricade whilst walking away from the paratroopers. The trajectory of the bullet indicated he was killed by soldiers positioned on the Derry Walls.

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• James Wray (22). Wounded and then shot again at close range whilst lying on the ground. Witnesses who were not called to the Widgery Tribunal stated that Wray was calling that he was unable to move his legs before he was shot the second time.

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• Gerald Donaghy (17). Shot in the stomach whilst running to safety between Glenfada Park and Abbey Park. Donaghy was brought to a nearby house by bystanders where he was examined by a doctor. His pockets were turned out in an effort to identify him. A later Royal Ulster Constabulary photograph of Donaghy's corpse showed nail bombs in his pockets. Neither those who searched his pockets in the house nor the British army medical officer (Soldier 138) who pronounced his death shortly afterward say they saw any bombs. Donaghy had been a member of Fianna Éireann, an IRA-linked Republican youth movement.

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• Gerald McKinney (35). Shot just after Gerald Donaghy. Witnesses stated that McKinney had been running behind Donaghy, and he stopped and held up his arms, shouting "Don't shoot," when he saw Donaghy fall. He was then shot in the chest.

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• William McKinney (26). Shot from behind as he attempted to aid Gerald McKinney (no relation). He had left cover to try to help the older man.

• John Johnston (59). Shot on William Street 15 minutes before the rest of the shooting started. Johnson died of his wounds four months later, the only one not to die immediately or soon after being shot.

AND THE UPSHOT OF ALL THIS...........

• Many, many more lives were lost as The Troubles arose
• Many, many families left grieving, with lives wrecked.
• British taxpayers dollars wasted on killing, maiming and terror
• Headlines of that wonderful facility known as The Maze
• Britain linked by Amnesty International to human rights abuse in Northern Ireland
• The inquiry by Lord Saville into Bloody Sunday.  Statistics below.

THE BLOODY SUNDAY
INQUIRYYEARS TO COMPLETE:12
**INCLUDED THE FOLLOWING**WITNESS STATEMENTS2,500ORAL STATEMENTS:922

VOLUMES OF EVIDENCE:160AUDIOTAPES:121VIDEOTAPES:110WORDS:20-30 MILLIONTOTAL COST: £195M

AND SHOULD THERE BE SOMETHING SIMILAR

TO SOUTH AFRICA'S TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION

IN NORTHERN IRELAND?

Food for thought here.

Further reading:

Bloody Sunday Inquiry

Bloody Sunday report published

An Coimhlint

The Museum of Free Derry

Related reading, viewing, listening:

Bloody Sunday

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Those Are Real Bullets: Bloody Sunday, Derry, 1972

Eyewitness Bloody Sunday: The Truth

Bloody Sunday: 

Massacre in Northern Ireland : 

The Eyewitness Accounts

The Road to Bloody Sunday: How the Troubles in Northern Ireland Began

Bloody Sunday in Derry: What Really Happened

Bloody Sunday - Movie Poster - 27 x 40