SUNDAY, January 30th 1972. The day British Paratroops shot dead thirteen unarmed demonstrators on the streets of berry. more were injured, one of whom died later. Seven of the dead were Court judge, Lord Widgery produced the official report. His con -lusion was that there had been shooting by the IRA. The British Army were merely returning fire. produce no evidence for this. None of he dead were carrying arms or throw ng petrol bombs. Five had been shot in the back In December 1974 the British Government announced it would pay €41,500 to the families of those killed as a gesture of 'conciliation and goodwill'.
The report of the Derry city coroner into the shooting" was more forthright in assigning blame:
It strikes me that the army ran amok that day and they shot without thinking of wha they were doing. They were shooting innocent These people may have been taking part in a parade that was banned but I don't think that justifies the firing of live rounds indiscriminately. 1 say it without reservation, it was sheer unadulterated murder.' But the British Army were they were doite youth of certainly thinking about what when they opened fire. Bogside and Creggan, who were at the forefront of the many demonstrations against internment, were going to be taught a lessor vritten in blood. Colonel Derek Wilford, the commanding officer of the Paras Bloody was awarded an OBE in 1973 Reaction was swift and furious. In Dublin a crowd of 30,000 burned the British Embassy. Taoiseach Jack Lynch declared a national day of mourning and thousands of workers went on strike. The following day in the House of Commons, Bernadette Devlin physically attacked Home Secretary Maudling. Thousands of Irish workers downed tools and joined protest marches in London and other cities. There was also a flood of international condemnation.
In contrast there was no collective condemnation from the Labour Party. These tragic events belong in the past declared Labour leader Jim Callaghan in the debate on the wagery Report He assured Heath's Government of the secret) policy - the suspension of position of direct rule. Bloody Sunday Jan. 18, 1992 No. 14 Internment had been desperate throw of Brian Faulkner's Unionist Government to put down Thirteen spired insurrection under the cloak of a More than 450 nationalists were ar: ested in the dawn raids of 5 Augus 1971. Most ended ended up in the notorious Long Kesh prison camp, outside Belfast. could Twelve internees were selected for an experiment in sensory depnivanon techniques and other methods of interroration, later condemnea by tne European Court of Justice as inhuman or degrading'. hooded, forced to stand for long periods in the 'search' position, denied Reginald sleep, food and drink and being subected to 'white noise'.
Faulkner believed that internment would at least prevent the unrest growing. In fact the reaction to internment was so fierce that on 12 August 1971 Faulkner was forced to demonstrations for a year. But this had little effect on growing opposition in the streets. Barricades were built in Nationalist areas to keep out the British areas the iRA was able to operate open- Army and the RUC.
A rent and rates strike against internment, organised by women in Belfast, was so successful that the British Government passed the Payment of Debt Act allowing arrears to be taken nenefits. Similar the last legislation was later used in the collection of the Tax Internment and Bloody Sunday finally put an end to the illusion that reforms could be wrested from the Unionist Government at These included being did. ban all fact. In these 'no go Government at Stormont.
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