Bloody Sunday

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Bloody Sunday

The sequence of events known as "Bloody Sunday" has some very

differing interpretations. The main two being those of the British

paratroopers stationed in Northern Ireland at the time and the

Catholics marching on the day and their families. Each side has stood

firmly by their interpretations, but new evidence has led to some

changes in opinion.

The Catholics who were marching have remained adamant that they were

fired on first. They believed that none of those shot had been in

contact with explosives, although the Widgery inquiry 'ruled that many

of those who had been shot had been handling weapons.' Many

Nationalists were under the impression that the attack on the marchers

was pre-planned. Source C, written in a recent newspaper report shows

how Mr Porter, a British man, heard some off duty paratroopers saying

they were going to "clear the bog" some Nationalists read into

statements such as this as meaning clearing the barricades which they

had put up to protect themselves. They felt as though even though the

army had been brought in to protect them they were ignoring their

needs and were only there to get members of the IRA. There was a

building tension as every day in the months leading up to "Bloody

Sunday" there was rioting in the city, Rioters operating out of Free

Derry would pelt the army with stones at a place known as "agro

corner" and for a good reason.

Perhaps it is this endless rioting that made some members of the army

based in Northern Ireland fired up and ready to kill, also the sheer

number of Nationalist protestors could have been intimidating enough

to evoke a reaction from some of the younger, less experienced

soldiers. When the opportunity came for them to release some of their

pent up aggravations they were only too willing to. The Bloody Sunday

documentary film portrayed the army as being aggravated, one soldier

admitted to firing 22 rounds but he remained resolute that the

marchers had fired on them first, and that nail and acid bombs had

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