Parachute Regiment flags fly in Derry on Bloody Sunday anniversary

» John Hedges

An Phoblacht Editor

The head of the British Army, General Sir David Richards, said he fully supported the Prime Minister’s apology, as did General Sir Mike Jackson, who served in the Parachute Regiment on Bloody Sunday

UNIONIST LEADERS have been urged to use their influence to remove Parachute Regiment flags erected in the Newbuildings area in County Derry on the eve of the anniversary of the ‘Bloody Sunday’ killings of civil rights marchers by British Army paratroopers in Derry City on 30 January 1972.

Thirteen anti-internment protesters were shot dead by the Paras; 14 others wounded, one of whom died later.

The Saville Tribunal Report of 2010 into the killings was heavily critical of the British Army and found that soldiers fired the first shot, contrary to longstanding and determined claims by British that they were responding to IRA sniper fire.

British Prime Minister David Cameron told MPs in the House of Commons after the report’s publication that he was “deeply sorry” for the events on Bloody Sunday.

He added that no warning had been given to any civilians before the soldiers opened fire; none of the soldiers fired in response to attacks by petrol bombers or stone throwers; some of those killed or injured were clearly fleeing or going to help those injured or dying; none of the casualties was posing a threat or doing anything that would justify their shooting; many of the soldiers lied about their actions

The head of the British Army, General Sir David Richards, said he fully supported the Prime Minister’s apology, as did General Sir Mike Jackson, who served in the Parachute Regiment on Bloody Sunday.

Despite the British state’s apology, Parachute Regiment flags have once again been erected by unionists on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

Derry Ógra Shinn  Féin Chairperson Michael McCrossan said he has received a number of complaints about these flags being erected in the Newbuildings area.

“The erection of these flags is being seen as provocation in an effort to raise tensions in the Derry area,” he said.

“We now need to see leadership from within unionism to ensure that these flags are taken down as those who have erected them obviously did so to create a reaction from within the nationalist community.

“The people who erected these flags are only serving the interests of those opposed to the Peace Process and heightening community tensions in the city. This is now the time for clear leadership within the unionist community to help reduce tensions."