A leading trade unionist told the Saville Inquiry today how he refused to ask American dock workers to resume unloading British ships in the aftermath of the Bloody Sunday killings.
Regional secretary of SIPTU Mr Jack Nash was giving evidence in Derry’s Guildhall into the 1972 shootings in the city by British soldiers which left 13 dead.
As a member of Derry Trades' Council, Mr Nash said he was approached after Bloody Sunday by Mr Vic Feather, then general secretary of the British TUC, when American dock workers were refusing to unload British ships.
Mr Feather had hoped to enlist his support to encourage the Americans to unload their ships, Mr Nash, who is now working out of SIPTU's Dublin offices, told the inquiry.
He said: "Given my knowledge of what had transpired on Bloody Sunday, it was impossible for me to support his request".
The trade union official, who was 25 at the time, said he joined other people in throwing stones at British paratroopers at Rossville Street in the city's nationalist Bogside area.
While standing at a rubble barricade, he saw a youth fall. Most people believed initially the young man had tripped. He eventually learned the youth was Mr Michael Kelly (17) who was shot dead.
Mr Nash told the inquiry he met former SDLP Stormont MP Mr Ivan Cooper later in the day.
He said Mr Cooper described the events of Bloody Sunday as a "Sharpesville" - a reference to the infamous South African massacre under the apartheid regime.
PA