During World War I, On Easter Monday 1916, around 1600 Irish rebels took up positions in different areas of Dublin ready for attack. The rebels wanted a national Ireland, one of the leading rebels Patrick Pearce, stood on the steps of their base- a post office and proclaimed what the rebels wanted. They basically wanted The Irish Republic to own and be entitled to rule and govern their own country, instead of the English. This caused the British forces to attack the rebels using gunboats across from the River Liffey. 220 civilians had been killed and £2.5 millions' worth of damage had been caused, the British won. Most people in Dublin blamed the rebels for everything and hated them as well and civilians would take any opportunity to abuse them. After the announcing of 64 rebels had been sentenced to death, the public took a different view on them.
Before Ireland was partitioned there was a lot of fighting between the English ' Black and Tans' and the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The English had enough of all the violence and decided to suggest an agreement to partition Northern and Southern Ireland. They thought Ireland would be happy with the partition but the Nationists in Northern Ireland wanted to keep Ireland as one. Michael Collins from the IRA went to England to negotiate the agreement and ended up signing it. The IRA then split into two halves; some agreed with it, some didn't, this caused fighting and even a civil war between the two sides of the IRA. There were two governments- one in Belfast and one in Dublin, Ireland also held a referendum and the majority of Ireland voted for the partition.
Catholics were discriminated by Protestants because of their powers over employment, elections- not having the vote (gerrymandering) and housing. After the Civil War there were 257 Catholic civilian deaths, 11,000 were out of a job, 23,000 had been forced out of their homes and 500 Catholic businesses had been wrecked and were no longer there. Bitterness evolved between Catholics and Protestants after 45 years of discrimination towards the Catholics. However in 1969, Catholics were tired of the way they had been treated and this influenced them to form a Civil Rights group called NICRA (Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association). Catholic Protesting marches were created and infuriated Protestants when they marched through their territory. More violence and disputes evolved between the two halves.
Failure of the Unionist Government unable to control the violence, Catholics decided to solve the problem their selves by building barricades. This caused the Protestants to retaliate back by marching past them and attacking by throwing stones. A battle occurred and both sides used petrol bombs and rocks. After an agonising 48 hours, the British sent their army in. They raided houses in search of weapons but failed by only retrieving 106 out of the 100,000 licensed guns, this caused them to bring out internment (imprisonment without a trial). The government then raided and interned suspected IRA members. This led to the IRA growing and intense atmosphere between the Catholics and Protestants and Catholics and the British.
Bloody Sunday was a turning point in Ireland and an important part of history. It is known for the death of 14 civilians during a peaceful march in Derry.
It was on Sunday 30th January 1972, that a NICRA march proceeded in the city of Derry. Civilians were protesting against internment which was illegal as the Unionist Government had banned all marches when introducing it. At around 2.50pm protesters headed towards the Bogside area, the numbers of marchers increased along the entire route. There were an estimate between 3,000 and 5,000 people, a small minority of the group decided not to follow instructions and went to confront the troops on William Street. This resulted in a riot and was reported to be 'not particularly intense'.
At around 3.55pm, two people were injured and immediately rushed to hospital from the army open- firing in a derelict building away from the riot. The two victims- Damien Donaghy (only 15) and John Johnston (59), both were treated but John Johnston died in hospital. Also at around 3.55pm the riot began to break down and most of the marchers moved to 'Free Derry Corner' to attend a meeting. At approximately 4.07pm an order was given for a 'sub unit' of the 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment to go down William Street to arrest any remaining rioters. At 4.10pm soldiers from the 'sub unit' began to open fire on people in the area of Rossville Street Flats; - The forecourt of Rossville Flats, at the rubble and barricade on Rossville Street and in the area of Glenfada Park. Around 21 soldiers fired weapons on 'Bloody Sunday' and at around 108 rounds altogether.
Still today many of the events which took place on 'Bloody Sunday' have unanswered questions; no-one knows who fired the first shot and whether or not the soldiers came under fire as they entered the area of Rossville Flats. There was not enough evidence to show if any weapons had been used as none were found. The evidence had to be looked at carefully because if it came from NICRA it would be bias. Still it is unsure whether the army was fighting in self- defence as there were random shootings at innocent people.
The argument cannot be settled 'who fired the first shot?' as there is still not enough proof or evidence from the two sides. But from looking at these statements I believe that the British Army were to blame for the first shot as there is not enough evidence to prove that there was a shot form the crowd and the army killed 14 people altogether