Yesterday marked the 38th anniversary of the Bloody Massacre in Derry in which 14 Irishmen were shot dead by the British Paratroop Regiment of the British Army, the same army that still has 5000 troops in Occupied Ireland. Despite the bad weather thousands of people from all backgrounds and nationalities came together to demand justice.
Along the route of the commemoration there were many signs, banners and billboards highlighting many other injustices such as, political policing, justice for Óglach John Brady, Internment, the release of Colin Duffy and Terry McCafferty and British Occupation.
For nearly 4 decades the families have been seeking justice and they have been met with constant stumbling blocks at every turn. One thing that was mentioned was the fact that when the inquiry get published it will be sent straight to the British Government who will then take out the bits that suit them. Then weeks, maybe months afterwards the families will get to see it. A family member of each victim took to the platform to say a few words about their relative which was very moving. This was followed by a minutes silence in memory of those who died.
One thing that was very noticeable was that when Deputy British Minister Martin McGuinness took to the platform a mass of people turned their backs and silently walked away, a few years ago most of those people would have hung on his every word. This left just a few people left to listen to Martin. One Tyrone Republican summed it up by saying "When British minister Martin Mc Guinness came to the podium to speak we witnessed the greatest statement the Republican people of Ireland could make. A massive block of the parade IRSP, RNU, 32s, Eirigi, independents and various international groups simply turned their backs and walked away, they left British minister Martin Mc Guinness preaching his party’s agenda to only the deluded faithful."
Personally i think politics should be kept out of the Bloody Sunday commemoration. I believe that only speech made should be made by the families. Do people really think that Republicans are going to stand there and listen to a man who calls Republicans traitors?
Hopefully the families will the justice they have been seeking for all these years and hopefully the terrorists responsible will be dealt with.
you must have been in a different Derry than me then on Sunday.
ReplyDeleteThe vast vast Majority of the crowd applauded Mc Guinness.
Will you kindly point out where in my article i said that no one applauded?
ReplyDeletePersonally i didn't hear the applause, because i was gone by that stage. No doubt a large amount of seals did stay and clap