ANALYSIS:After 38 years the innocence of the dead and injured on Bloody Sunday is officially known to the world, writes GERRY MORIARTY
THE PUBLICATION of the Saville report into the events of Bloody Sunday was like the liberation of a city, the second relief of Derry, the righting of a terrible wrong perpetrated on the dead and on survivors and on their loved ones – a great healing moment too in Irish history.
For weeks now the Bloody Sunday families and the people of Derry have been living on their nerves, carrying a heavy weight of tension and expectation as well as a fear that what Lord Saville produced might be ambivalent, that it could give ammunition to those who would wish the families ill.
But there was no equivocation from Lord Saville and this was bolstered by what can only be described as a powerful statement and apology in the House of Commons from British prime minister David Cameron at 3.30pm. It left a big impression on the families. It was generous and unambiguous. That too is assisting the healing process.
When this admission of unjustified killings and the apology from the British government and the British people were relayed by television screen to the people standing outside the Guildhall in Derry, there was a loud cheer and a collective massive sigh of relief. After 38 years the innocence of the dead and injured on Bloody Sunday was officially known to the world.
The Bloody Sunday families have always correctly stated they did not need to have the innocence of the dead and injured proclaimed because, as John Kelly – brother of 17-year-old Michael, shot dead on the day – has often asserted, their innocence already was known.
But nonetheless the stain of Widgery remained. Without yesterday history books would have carried a qualification. Whatever they might know in their heads, in their hearts the families required a cathartic moment, and yesterday Lord Saville provided it.
Saville, without qualification, made clear the 14 who died were innocent. By his report he officially rubbished Widgery.
Widgery exonerated the soldiers of I Para of the British parachute regiment. Saville put them in the dock. He called many of them killers and liars. He found that not one of the killings was justified. He found the soldiers fired first on the day and while the Official IRA may have fired off an ineffectual shot, it had no bearing on what the paratroopers did.
Saville also found that of the 14 who died 11 of them were killed almost gratuitously by soldiers from 1 Para, as if in cold blood. He found some killed and wounded more than one of the victims and that one in particular, lance corporal F, acting without fear or panic, may have killed up to six people.
Three others may have died through soldiers acting out of fear. But again the emphasis constantly was that not one of the killings or woundings was justified.
“Our overall conclusion is that there was a serious and widespread loss of fire discipline among the soldiers of support company (of 1 Para),” said Lord Saville.
Saville laid much of the blame for Bloody Sunday at the door of Lt Col Derek Wilford, the commanding officer of 1 Para. He was wrong to order support company into the Bogside. But there was no blame for the British government, no suggestion of any official high-level conspiracy.
In the aftermath of the killings the Derry coroner, major Hubert O’Neill described the shooting of 13 people by the British parachute regiment on January 30th 1972 as “sheer unadulterated murder”. Saville made no such comment – he wasn’t expected to. Yet his findings aren’t too far short of such a verdict.
But Saville issued no finding on whether any of the soldiers should be prosecuted. That will be a matter for the British prosecution service and perhaps for the legal advisers of the families. Some want prosecution, others are just jubilant that their loved ones have been totally cleared.
Some argued that if soldiers were to be prosecuted then people like Martin McGuinness should be prosecuted. His reasonable response yesterday was that hundreds of republicans, including himself, had been prosecuted for their actions. But he was careful too not to prescribe whether soldiers should face the courts.
There are other key issues to be addressed, to be digested, to be analysed from the report in the coming days, weeks and months. But officially discrediting Widgery and declaring the innocence of the 14 dead and the 14 injured was what was vital. And that was achieved after a long, tortuous, 38-year wait.
Some unionist politicians such as East Derry DUP MP Gregory Campbell could not manage to be magnanimous. There was still complaint from him and some other unionists about the £190 million cost of the inquiry, and “whataboutery” questions about a hierarchy of victims, and why wasn’t there comment about IRA atrocities.
But the local Church of Ireland Bishop of Derry Dr Ken Good was careful and wise and fair, offering: “As individuals and as a community, let us speak in measured, constructive and respectful tones given that, as with every death or injury, we are dealing with deep emotion and human pain.” This was a “time to show that we have the desire and the will to deal courageously and humbly with issues that have long been painful and contentious”, he added. Good advice.
It should not be forgotten too how the events of Bloody Sunday inflamed the conflict, contributing to countless republican, loyalist and state killings and horrors.
In a sense Lord Saville encapsulated why righting a wrong was so important. His final conclusion was: “The firing by soldiers of 1 Para on Bloody Sunday caused the deaths of 13 people and injury to a similar number, none of whom was posing a threat of causing death or serious injury.
“What happened on Bloody Sunday strengthened the Provisional IRA, increased nationalist resentment and hostility towards the army and exacerbated the violent conflict of the years that followed.
“Bloody Sunday was a tragedy for the bereaved and the wounded, and a catastrophe for the people of Northern Ireland.”
Who could disagree with such a truth? Who could grudge yesterday’s liberating moment for the families, the people of Derry, and in a very real sense for the people of Ireland?