Monday 30th January 2012 is the 40th Anniversary of the murder of Irish Civil Rights protesters by the British Army.
Thirteen marchers were shot dead on 30 January 1972 in the City of Derry, Ireland, when British paratroopers opened fire on crowds at a civil rights demonstration. Fourteen others were wounded, one later died. The Saville Report is heavily critical of the Army and found that soldiers fired the first shot.
In presenting the results of the Saville Enquiry in the House of Commons on 15 June 2010 Prime Minister David Cameron said:
No warning had been given to any civilians before the soldiers opened fire
None of the soldiers fired in response to attacks by petrol bombers or stone throwers
Some of those killed or injured were clearly fleeing or going to help those injured or dying
None of the casualties was posing a threat or doing anything that would justify their shooting
Many of the soldiers lied about their actions
The events of Bloody Sunday were not premeditated
Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuiness, Sinn Fein, was present at the time of the violence and "probably armed with a sub-machine gun" but did not engage in "any activity that provided any of the soldiers with any justification for opening fire"
History will record how the dual moral travesties of Bloody Sunday and Internment without Trial (and without intelligent intelligence) of 1,200 people created and empowered the Provisional IRA. The abandonment of moral authority by the British State to support the failed political entity of Northern Ireland created a poisonous moral equivalence to allow the IRA to justify its hijacking of the Civil Rights movement with its own brand of crypto fascism.
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| This mural in Derry contains portraits of the 14 people who were killed by the British Army on 'Bloody Sunday.' In addition to the portraits, there are also 14 oak leaves with each leaf symbolising one of the victims. Derry takes its name from the Irish word Doire meaning oakgrove. |
No one has ever been punished for the Bloody Sunday murders, indeed the officer commanding the Paratroopers was promoted after the event.
As you sow so shall you reap?
"Cuimhnigh ar Luimneach agus feall na Sasanach."
ReplyDeletePerfidious Albion, always thus.
You didn't happen to mention the burning of the British Embassy in Dublin following Bloody Sunday. This was a case of Molotov cocktails saving rather than taking lives. Like lancing a boil. Dublin was about to explode with anger at that time.
I was there, and now bring British visitors to see the site, and explain the background to them.
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Póló's comment;
ReplyDelete"Cuimhnigh ar Luimneach agus feall na Sasanach." refers to the Treaty of Limerick "Remember Limerick and British betrayal."
The Treaty of Limerick (Irish: Conradh Luimnigh) ended the Williamite war in Ireland between the Jacobites and the supporters of William of Orange. It concluded the Siege of Limerick. The treaty really consisted of two treaties which were signed on 3 October 1691.
Reputedly they were signed on the Treaty Stone, an irregular block of limestone which once served as a mounting block for horses. This stone is now displayed on a pedestal in Limerick city. Because of the treaty, Limerick is sometimes known as the Treaty City.
The Military Articles (the first 13
) were respected in full and 14,000 Irish Jacobites and their families were escorted to Cork to travel to France & Spain where they often fought in their armies against the English, they became known as the "Wild Geese." The Civil articles (the other 16) were abrogated when James II acceded to the throne.
Ironically, given the iconic status of William to the Orangemen of the wee North he was allied to the Pope under the Treaty of Augsberg.