Rioters from Belfast ‘tried to take over Bloody Sunday’

Rioters from Belfast tried to take over battles with soldiers on Bloody Sunday, it was claimed today.

Gerard McDaid told the Saville Inquiry he was among 50-60 people excited about the prospects of a "good confrontation" with the Army during the January 1972 civil rights march in Derry which ended with the deaths of 14 people.

Joining the riot after it had got under way, Mr McDaid, who was 18 at the time, said he and his friends pulled down a corrugated tin sheet to protect them from rubber bullets.

"I can also remember that there were some boys from Belfast there trying to get involved in the riot, but we told them that we were okay and they stayed and got involved in the riot with us," he said.

Questioned by Cathryn McGahey, junior counsel to the inquiry, Mr McDaid added: "The Belfast boys came down and they started to try to take over."

There were around 10-12 in the group from outside Derry and they appeared "hyper", he said.

Mr McDaid said he had been taking part in riots against soldiers in Derry on a daily basis for at least a year prior to Bloody Sunday, but claimed the atmosphere in the Bogside on the day was different from normal.

This did not prevent him, however, from re-engaging in hostilities.

"My friends were all rioters too and we were all excited and looking forward to a good confrontation."

After the Bloody Sunday funerals on the following Wednesday, Mr McDaid said he and his friends vowed to hit back at the Army for what they had done.

"That evening we went down and started a riot in Waterloo Place, but this riot only lasted for 15 minutes or so before car loads of older men came down from the Creggan and dragged us away," he recalled.

"They told us that this was not the time to be having a riot."