The march was a peaceful demonstration, but ended up with 14 dead (7 of which were teenagers). People had no choice but to march, as they had no other ways to express their views. After Partition, the Special Powers Act was created, which was written for all people in Northern Ireland. In the act there were rules such as “People can be stopped from going where they like.” and “Houses can be SEARCHED WITHOUT A WARRANT.” The Act was quite unfair and cruel, but even worse was the fact that although they were written for all of the people in Northern Ireland to follow, the people with power – the British Government and the Unionists – only used the laws on Nationalists. This meant that Nationalists could not put forward their views as the Government would not let them.
Even now, historians are trying to put together what really happened on Bloody Sunday, but there have been many sources explaining what they thought had happened. It is believed that the British government had let the march go unchallenged, but that the marchers must not be allowed outside the Catholic Bogside area. Barriers were put up so the marchers would keep within the Bogside. The 1st Parachute Regiment, or mainly known as 1 Para, were there to deal with any violent rioters.
A very famous source was a Catholic Priest, Father Bradley. In source I, talking about the start of the shooting he stated that “they shot indiscriminately” [without choosing targets] and that he saw “only the Army shooting.” Also several of the people in the march were shot in the back; this means that the army shot people who were fleeing the scene; people who were not fighting against them. Another account by James McGuigan, brother of a civilian shot dead, tells us that his brother “put his hand in the air and waved a white handkerchief” as he went to help other injured people. “The soldiers shot him through the head.” Both of these sources tell us that the army went further than “self-defence” and this created martyrs out of the group. However, these sources could be one-sided as they are both nationalist and McGuigan is related to one of the victims, so may not be entirely accurate.
Some believe that the 1 Paras were unsuited to the role they were asked to perform. A modern historian wrote that the 1 Para were “the elite assault troops” of the Army, and were “trained to attack and kill the enemy.” They were repeatedly assaulted by mobs and groups throwing stones, sticks and bombs, and it was “no surprise they eventually retaliated with deadly force.” As the 1 Para were trained to kill the enemy, they should not have been entrusted with peace-keeping duties.
Bloody Sunday was a huge catastrophe, which brought to attention the awful way the British Government handled situations and also brought to light the horrible ways in which nationalists were treated. Because of this scandal, the failure and hatred of the British Government would me passed down throughout generations of nationalists, and even now there are still reports looking in to what exactly happened on Bloody Sunday.
The Widgery report was a white-wash – A report that looked into Bloody Sunday and what occurred, and who was to blame, left only a small amount of time to examine the evidence, and reported that the army were not seen as responsible. Because of this report there was no chance ever of justice for the Nationalists.
The Nationalists grew increasingly angry with the British Government and passing down the hatred through generations meant that now in Northern Ireland today, people are still fighting against the British Government – you couldn’t work with a government that had treated your community badly in the past - and they still have a need for justice and for closure today.
