Bloody Sunday
Blood Sunday refers to the shooting dead of 26 civil rights protesters in Derry, Northern Ireland on 30 January 1972.
I will first explain the causes of Bloody Sunday
Two years before Bloody Sunday, the provisional Irish Republican Army’s campaign against Northern Ireland being part of the UK had begun. The protestant areas of Northern Ireland remained part of the UK while the rest of the Ireland eventually became part of the UK. Violence was common in Northern Ireland during The Troubles in 1923. In the late 1960’s the Roman Catholic Nationalist population of Northern Irealnd and the Primarily protestant Unionists were openly firing at each other. The cheif agents were situated near the boarder. They saw some of the greatest violence of the period.”Internment without trial” or “operation Demetrius” was introduced on 9 August 1971 because of increasing levels of violence. It involved the arrest and internment without charge of people accused of being involved in Parimilitary groups. All marches and parades were banned. 21 people were being killed in 3 days of rioting following the introduction of “internment without charge” On 10th August Paul Challenor was the first soldier to be killed by the provisional IRA in Derry. He was shot by a sniper on the Creggan Estate. In mid December 1971 six more soldiers were killed in Derry. The British army faced 180 nail bombs and 211 explosives. They fired364 rounds in return. 30 British soldiers were killed in the remaining months of 1971. Free Derry was a nationalist area of Derry, 29 barricades were put in place there to prevent access from the British army and The RUC. In 1968 NICRA (Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association) was set up. It was influenced by the black civil rights movement in the Southern states of the USA. It consisted of a wide range of organisations, individuals, trade unions and members of political parties, not just disconnected Catholics. This organisations aims were to:-
