Bloody Sunday was mass murder

BY any standards, what the Saville report said about the role of the British army in Derry on Bloody Sunday beggars belief.

What happened that fateful day was nothing short of organised mass murder.

Not satisfied with having taken the lives of 13 innocent civilians, the British propaganda machine swung into action and proceeded to compromise the good names and reputations of those killed under the guise of the Widgery tribunal.

During that tribunal, testimony was not taken from wounded survivors, many eyewitnesses were not called to give evidence and the forensic evidence gathered was flawed.

Widgery conferred legitimacy on the murder of 14 innocent civil rights marchers. Even former British prime minister Tony Blair branded the Widgery tribunal a whitewash.

Suggestions by DUP MP Gregory Campbell and some senior British army spokespersons that if the “illegal” civil rights march did not take place, no one would have been killed is an affront to those killed, injured and bereaved.

If the widespread discrimination and gerrymandering that was endemic in the North under unionist rule had been addressed at the outset of the civil rights movement, there would have been no need to march.

In recent times, an anticipated invitation to Queen Elizabeth to visit the Republic has gained currency, I would caution against such an invite. Would those calling for the Government to issue such an invitation bear in mind that Queen Elizabeth is colonel-in-chief of all regiments of the British army, and that includes the Parachute regiment.

Until such time as Queen Elizabeth, British head of state, head of church and head of the British army, proffers an apology to the people of Ireland for the illegal actions of her soldiers, she must not be made welcome here.

Tom Cooper

Delaford Lawn

Knocklyon

Dublin 16