McGuinness role on Bloody Sunday under inquiry spotlight

Claims that the Army knew all along that Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness did not open fire on Bloody Sunday were questioned today at the Saville Inquiry in London.

A former Army intelligence officer, known as Martin Ingram, said he saw surveillance reports which showed Mr McGuinness was being closely watched on Bloody Sunday and was not seen firing a weapon.

The ex-soldier contradicted allegations by an IRA informant, codenamed Infliction, who claimed the Mid-Ulster MP told him he fired the first shot on Bloody Sunday.

Ingram said he found the information in the early 1980s while undertaking a project examining the events of Bloody Sunday when 13 civil rights marchers were shot dead in Derry.

A 14th man died later.

Ingram’s superior officer at the time, Officer Y, told the inquiry today he did not recall any such project taking place.

“During my tenure as the Republican Desk Sergeant I do not recall anyone within 121 Intelligence Section working on and completing a project on Bloody Sunday,” he said.

“As the incident took place many years before, I do not see how such an official study could have had any relevance to the intelligence requirements of 1981.

“Moreover, it is unlikely that the files held at 121 Int Sect would have contained material going back that far.

“This was because information older than five years was considered dated in current intelligence terms and the limited storage capacity meant that there was constant pressure to weed out and destroy out of date intelligence reports.

Officer Y added: “If Mr Ingram had completed a project on the events of Bloody Sunday on the instruction of one of the Intelligence Branch Officers I would have expected some feedback from the Desk Officer concerned.”

Ingram also told the inquiry he came to the conclusion that soldiers overreacted on Bloody Sunday after seeing a large amount of intelligence about the day.

Officer Y told Alan Roxburgh, counsel to the inquiry, that he never came across any specific items of intelligence that shed light on what happened on Bloody Sunday.

Mr McGuinness, who has admitted to being the IRA’s second-in-command in Londonderry in January 1972, has denied he fired any shots on Bloody Sunday.

He has instructed his lawyers not to question any intelligence officers about the allegation because Infliction will not appear in person before the inquiry due to concerns about his safety.

Officer Y appeared on day 331 of the Saville Inquiry, which is currently hearing evidence from military witnesses and others in London because of concerns for their safety.

Lord Saville of Newdigate and the Commonwealth judges accompanying him on the Bloody Sunday Inquiry began their work nearly four years ago and are not expected to report back until 2004.

The Bloody Sunday inquiry was established in 1998 by Prime Minister Tony Blair after a campaign by families of those killed and injured.