Set the truth free

BY ELLA O’DWYER

This year’s Bloody Sunday commemorative events will highlight issues around the Saville Report, which was promised for March this year. A serious concern for the relatives of the victims of Bloody Sunday is that the release of the report may be further delayed. It will first go to the British government and a lot then depends on how quickly the British pass it on. If, for instance, the release is protracted until the next election there could even be a different government involved by the time the relatives have viewed the findings. 
The Bloody Sunday lecture this year, themed ‘Set the Truth Free’, will look at the search for truth around the events of that day and speakers will include Tony Doherty, whose father was shot that day, and John Kelly, whose brother was also killed.  This will take place in Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin on Friday 29 January at 7.30pm.
Another discussion panel, to take place on Saturday 30 January at 12pm, is entitled ‘Losing Their Memory’ and will look at how states cover up their own violent actions. Chaired by Professor Christine Bell, with historian Jean Luc Einaudi, the discussion will revolve around a massacre which took place in Paris on 17 October 1961 when up to 200 Algerians were killed during a demonstration against the Algerian War. The Algerian protestors, numbering in the region of 30,000, were fired on by French police, reportedly under the direct orders of the head of the Parisian police.
Later on Saturday afternoon at 2pm there will be another discussion entitled ‘Youth for Truth’. This will examine the search for truth for victims of state violence. The panel will include Raymond McCartney MLA, John Kelly, and Mark Thompson, director of Relatives for Justice.
Events on Sunday will commence at 11am with a wreathlaying ceremony at the Bloody Sunday Monument, Rossville Street, followed at 2.30pm by the commemorative March and Rally. This year, representatives of all of the victims’ families will read a joint statement in advance of the expected publication of the report of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry. There will also be speakers from Sinn Féin and the SDLP. The march will stop in William Street, at the point where the original march was stopped on its way to the Guildhall, to signify how the families’ search for justice is being denied by delays in the publication of the report of the Bloody Sunday inquiry.
There will be a number of film and documentary showings during the week and even a reading session titled ‘Raiders of The Lost Archives’.  These readings are from declassified official documents and will, the organisers say, “shed light on what the British Government was thinking but didn’t want us to know.”
Another interesting feature of the week’s commemorative events is the Eyewitness Walking Tour. This is described as “a unique educational tour around the site of Bloody Sunday using contemporary photographs and eyewitness statements to explain the events of the day and connections to current events around the world.”

• For further details of the week’s events contact [email protected] Tel: (028) 7136 0880.

Bloody Sunday Events 2010

• Monday 25 January
8pm: Film ‘The US vs John Lennon’
Venue: The Nerve Centre, Magazine Street. Adm £2

• Tuesday 26 January
 8pm: Film and discussion ‘Five Minutes of Heaven’
Venue: The Nerve Centre, Adm £2

• Wednesday 27 January
8pm: Film and discussion ‘Not In Our Name’
Venue: The Nerve Centre, Magazine Street. Adm £2
10pm: Pub Quiz, Bloody Sunday Memorial Shield
Venue: The Beechtree Bar, Adm £10 per team of five

• Thursday 28 January
8pm: Raiders Of The Lost Archives
Venue: Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin, Gt James St. Adm by donation

• Friday 29 January
12pm: Eyewitness walking tour
Departs: Museum of Free Derry
1.30pm - 3pm: Film and discussion ‘Justice Denied: Voices from Guantanamo’
Venue: Pilots Row. Adm Free
6pm-9pm: Acoustic Set
Venue: Mason’s Bar, Magazine Street. Adm Free
7.30pm: Set the Truth Free Lecture
Venue: Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin. Adm by donation
10pm: Film ‘Sunday’ followed by Music
Venue: Sean Dolan’s GAA, Creggan. Adm Free

• Saturday 30 January
10am - 11.30am: Film ‘Octobre a Paris’
Venue: Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin, Seomra 2.
10.30am - 3.45pm: Training Workshop ‘Non-violent action for Social Justice’
Venue: Pilot’s Row. Participation by donation, includes soup lunch
12pm - 1.30pm: Panel Discussion ‘Losing Their Memory’
Venue: Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin, Seomra 2
12pm - 1.30pm: Ógra Shinn Féin Basque event
Venue: Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin, Performance area
2pm - 3.45pm: Youth for Truth
Venue: Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin, Performance area
4pm: Minutes Silence to mark the time of the shooting on Bloody Sunday
Venue: Bloody Sunday Monument, Rossville Street.
7.30pm: Bloody Sunday Fundraiser
Venue: Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin, Performance area. Adm £5. Space limited so come early.
8pm: Film and discussion ‘Sunday’
Venue: The Nerve Centre. Adm £2
10.30pm: Music by Gary Óg
Venue: Telstar, Central Drive. Adm Free
10.30pm: Music by Cruncher O’Neill
Venue: Dungloe Bar, Waterloo Street. Adm Free

• Sunday 31 January
11am: Wreath laying ceremony and prayer service
Venue: Bloody Sunday Monument, Rossville Street. All welcome.
2.30pm: Bloody Sunday Commemorative March and Rally
Assemble: 2.30pm, Creggan Shops.
6pm: Music and Refreshments
Venue: Sandino’s, Water Street
6pm: Music by Gary Óg
Venue: Telstar. Adm Free
6pm: Music by Cruncher O’Neill
Venue: Dungloe Bar. Adm Free
6pm-8pm: Music by Barry Kerr
Venue: Mason’s Bar. Adm Free
9.30pm: Music by Gary Óg and Cruncher O’Neill
Venue: Sandino’s. Adm Free

• Monday 1 February
2pm-4pm: Music by Gary Óg
Venue: Telstar, Central Drive. Adm Free

Bloody Sunday Trust, c/o Museum of Free Derry, 55 Glenfada Park, Derry BT48 9DR
Tel: (028) 7136 0880 Fax: (028) 7138 0881 Email: [email protected]