General’s Bloody Sunday comments ludicrous - reporter

A reporter who was with the team which filmed dramatic footage of Bishop Edward Daly on Bloody Sunday today criticised as "ludicrous" the explanation of the Army general on the ground that day.

John Bierman said he quickly came to the conclusion that General Robert Ford was being "economical with the truth" when interviewed in Derry’s Bogside immediately after 13 civil rights demonstrators were shot dead.

Former Royal Marine Mr Bierman was in the thick of the action on January 30 1972, when his crew filmed Bishop Daly - then a curate - waving a bloodstained handkerchief to clear a path for those carrying the dying Jack Duddy, footage which came to epitomise the tragedy.

They also captured the sounds of live gunfire, the body of Barney McGuigan lying in a pool of blood, and, at one stage, an interview with the then Fr Daly which was interrupted by a volley of shots which sent people scattering for cover.

Giving evidence to the new inquiry probing the killings, Mr Bierman described setting off for Belfast from the scene and encountering Gen Ford, who has always maintained he was in Derry that day only to observe the big military operation taking place.

"Somewhat disingenuously, I decided to play dumb and ask him what had been going on in the Bogside," he said.

"As I was interviewing Gen Ford, I quickly came to the conclusion that he was being economical with the truth.

"He said the Army had only fired a few rounds and that they had been fired on first. I told him I thought this was strange, as I had seen three or four bodies of people who had been shot.

"I thought what he was saying in response to my questions was ludicrous.

"Perhaps he hadn’t been given the information he should have been given from his troops on the ground.

"I suppose to a certain extent I caught him unawares and the last thing he was expecting was for a BBC camera to appear and to be thrust into his face together with me asking him questions."

Mr Bierman, now 72, said he saw nothing to justify the response of the troops that day and was "astonished" when he learned the casualty toll.

The Bloody Sunday Inquiry is chaired by Lord Saville of Newdigate and has been hearing oral evidence in the Guildhall in Derry since March last year.