Former IRA man denies Bloody Sunday allegations

A former member of the Provisional IRA has told the Saville Inquiry in Derry that he and Martin McGuinness were not planning to shoot at British soldiers on Bloody Sunday almost 32 years ago.

The witness, who is giving evidence anonymously, said the claims, contained in a newspaper article, were “utter rubbish”.

He told the inquiry that he was the IRA’s quartermaster in Derry on Bloody Sunday and that all of the organisation’s weapons were placed in a secure dump on the day. He said he was in charge of the IRA’s weapons and was certain that none of them was used on Bloody Sunday.

Mr McGuinness, who has admitted being the IRA’s second-in-command in Derry at the time, has already told the inquiry that all IRA members were ordered not to engage the British army during the Catholic civil rights march on January 30, 1972.

The inquiry is investigating the deaths of 13 unarmed marchers who were shot dead by British soldiers on that day.