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THE FAMILIES OF those murdered on Bloody Sunday have challenged a decision to delay an inquiry into the incident.
Madden & Finucane Solicitors today lodged judicial review proceedings “challenging the decision by the Chief Constable to effectively end this multiple murder investigation”.
The solicitors represent the majority of those killed and injured on Bloody Sunday.
In a statement released today, Madden & Finucane said that noted that less than six months ago the PSNI talked of its “statutory duty to investigate fully all matters of serious crime, including murder”, in its pursuit of the Boston College Tapes.
The solicitors said that it now appeared that “this statutory duty does not extend to murders committed by the British Army”.
We are taking these proceedings on behalf of twenty of our clients who are the next of kin of those murdered, the wounded and the families of the wounded who have since died.
Last month it emerged that the inquiry would be delayed due to budget cuts at the PSNI.
On 30 January 1972, 13 Catholic civil rights marchers were shot dead by British soldiers in Derry. Another man died from his injuries four months later. Several more were injured.
In 2010, following a 12-year inquiry, Lord Saville published his report into the shooting. He called the killings “unjustified and unjustifiable”. In July 2012, the PSNI said it would launch its own investigation into the deaths.
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Typical of the british and northern irish authorities even still, for them the only murders were committed by the ira
@D H
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-29602133
“James Smyth, 48, and Mark Campbell, 43, are jointly accused of the murders of Gary Convie and Eamon Fox in May 1994.
The victims were shot as they ate their lunch in a car at a building site on Belfast’s North Queen Street.”
Now, DH, you were saying….?
Ciaran they arrest the odd few loyalist paramilitaries, the ones that weren’t working for the British state, but they never seem to arrest ex RUC or army personnel who were responsible for countless murders. Unlike unsolved murders committed by loyalist or republican paramilitaries where the identities of the people responsible are unknown, the state knows exactly who every single suspect for crimes committed by soldiers is, yet they don’t arrest them!
@pjm
Several RUC officers were convicted of murder and other terrorist offences: Billy McCaughey, John Weir etc.
Several British soldiers were also convicted, e.g. the murders of Michael Naan and Andrew Murray in Co. Fermanagh in 1972 and the murders of Thomas “Kidso” Reilly and Peter McBride, although, regrettably, the soldiers who murdered Thomas and Peter were granted early release and allowed to remain in the Army.
Ciarán, let’s not give credence to the fallacy that there was equality in terms of sentencing. Around 25,000 republicans served jail sentences totaling a 100,000 years through the conflict. The number of british army members who served sentences for troubles related killings? Well we can count those on one hand. And each of them was released within 3/4 years and in some cases these convicted murders were not just released early amd not just allowed back into the british army and given guns, but we’re promoted. Kind of makes a mockery of the laughably termed IRA letters “amnesty” earlier on the year. Only one side in the conflict received an amnesty.
@Tír Eoghain Gael
“And each of them was released within 3/4 years and in some cases these convicted murders were not just released early amd not just allowed back into the british army and given guns, but we’re promoted. ”
I believe it was wrong that it happened.
That it? Wasn’t sanctioned state immunity though, no?
Given that they were convicted and did time (although it wasn’t long enough), they weren’t exactly granted immunity.
Collusion in hundreds of murders yet only 3/4 British Soldiers saw the inside of a cell (for however brief a time) and this wasn’t immunity?
I’d love to know how you can explain away this:
In 1972, 79 Irish people were shot dead by the British Army on Irish soil. The vast majority of these were civilians. In July 1972, a strategic government and security meeting at Stormont Castle was held, involving the Secretary for State William Whitelaw MP, the North’s most senior British Army officer the General Officer Commanding (GOC) General Ford, the Deputy Chief Constable of the RUC, plus Lord Windlesham the British government’s representative in the House of Lords, British MP’s, and senior civil servants from the NIO. Relatives for Justice last year unearthed a document from this meeting. The document includes some striking quotes:
* That the GOC (the Head of the British Army in the north) “would see UDA leaders that afternoon” to let them know that their “efforts as vigilantes” were “acceptable”.
* And that: “The (British) Army should not be inhibited in its campaign by the threat of court proceedings and should therefore be suitably indemnified.”
As mentioned, this meeting took place in 1972. That year 79 people were shot by the British Army. The meeting took place in July (just a few months after Bloody Sunday). That month the British Army killed 20 innocent Irish civilians. Not one British soldier faced a conviction for ANY of these killings throughout 1972.
@Tír Eoghain Gael
The UDA wasn’t an unlawful organisation until 1972 (I’m not saying it was right; I’m just explaining the legal situation as it was).
“In 1972, 79 Irish people were shot dead by the British Army on Irish soil. The vast majority of these were civilians.”
79, out of nearly 500 killings that took place in Northern Ireland in 1972.
“79, out of nearly 500 killings that took place in Northern Ireland in 1972″
the british army were responsible for most of the killings in 1972 given that they controlled the loyalists and told the loyalists who to murder..
And? Nothing to say about the second little quote there from the document? Or the fact that nobody was charged for any of those british army killings in the same year as a british government documents outlines a desire for the brotish army to be immune for prosecution?
And drop all this “legal” crap. It exacerbates the myth that the six counties had a normal legal system. The fact that I just showed you a quote from an official state letter where the British Government advocated immunity from prosecution for state crimes, should make that abumdantly clear.
Sorry ciaran was working all day couldnt get back to you but now that i can i think i neednt say any more everyone seems to have said it all already. So my statement still stands
“Unjustified and unjustifiable” but not worthy of prosecution???
If they are prosecuted they might start to feel aggrieved, in that they were only following orders from the very top of the British Govt.
For too long British soldiers, RUC members and Loyalist paramilitaries have been considered untouchable.
@SeanieRyan
Several RUC officers were convicted of terrorist offences in the 1970s, e.g. Billy McCaughey, John Weir, James Mitchell. Many loyalists were convicted of heinous crimes e.g. the Miami Showband and Greysteel massacres.
Sadly, some civilians were killed by mistake by security forces personnel during riots. In many cases, the action that the security forces took was justified. For example, an RUC officer was acquitted in the 1984 Seán Downes case because Downes was about to attack an officer with an iron bar. There was TV footage of Downes approaching the other officer and waving an iron bar. I saw it on “The Troubles I’ve Seen” on UTV a few weeks ago.
Ciaran ive only ever called 1 other person a name before on this site, its not something i agree with but its with pride i say that your some idiot
So the ruc were battering men women and children, they had helmets and flak gear and they executed a guy who was holding an iron bar.
you’re a terrorist sympathizer
@SarsfieldsAlive
The RUC (the lawful police force in Northern Ireland at the time) was trying to arrest Irish-American terrorist sympathiser Martin Galvin at the time. By the way, the adults deliberately put themselves and their children in the RUC’s way. The officer who shot Downes was tried in a court of law and found not guilty.
@Sam Bartell
You’re calling me just because I’m mentioning legal facts.
And the 6 county courts and justice system were fair and honest and impartial? Is that why only 3 or 4 British soldiers saw the inside of a prison cell?
masterson is patrick lyons
the ruc were a paramilitary force which was thankfully defeated by the ira
@SarsfieldsAlive
If the IRA won then why is Northern Ireland still part of the UK?
If the RUC was defeated then why are so many officers who served in the RUC are in the PSNI?
@Tír Eoghain Gael
So you’ve got the knife in for the judiciary as well as the security forces.
@SarsfieldsAlive
Who’s Patrick Lyons?
the ira won democracy civil rights and paved the way for unity
So the judiciary was fair?!
What happened in the past seems to matter only if it was republicans who are responsible.
Sarafields is right, the IRA are the real victims here.
SHINNERBOT/SHÍNNER Ó BHOT/SHi#THEAD, changing your name from English to the Irish still doesn’t take away from the fact that you’re still an immature Pratt, and for those giving you the thumbs up when they must realize that you’re an imbecilic troll is mind boggling!
Hush Comrade Binéad, we can direct your anger at fighting the historians together.
Don’t make me laugh! You’re certainly no comrade of mine! And as I pointed out earlier, your imbecilic trollings, particularly your previous one, just doesn’t make any sense!
@Ciaron Masterson, This is not about the IRA, Sinn Feinn, Jean Mc Conville or any other form of political point scoring. This is about justice for the murder of innocent people in my hometown, it is their families right to see that justice is carried out.
@Liam Mclaughlin
Pjm, not me, brought the Jean McConville case into it.
This is what pjm said: “Wasn’t someone arrested and questioned last month in Belfast in relation to another case which happened in the same year. Why are some cases still getting resources and others are ignored, oh I forget republicans are the only ones who should be hounded, British soldiers who committed these acts are on full pensions most probably with honours! Selective amnesia similar to our media and government.”
The crimes that were committed by loyalist and republican terrorists were much more heinous than what happened on Bloody Sunday.
The people of Derry – not Londonderry as Alan Shatter famously called it once – were involved in a peaceful march – the armed forces of their government opened fire and shot at them indiscriminately …. and we are led to believe for years that the British in the North were the good guys fighting terrorists …. agree or disagree with this if you wish !
Now let’s move things through history a little and cast our minds back to the riots in England a few years back – the youth were looting and burning the place down – where were the paratroopers then and if they opened fire as they did in Derry would cameron or the queen be where they are now ?
that puts it in the best context for me…..
P Lyons and his forty coats will be here in a minute
Wasn’t someone arrested and questioned last month in Belfast in relation to another case which happened in the same year. Why are some cases still getting resources and others are ignored, oh I forget republicans are the only ones who should be hounded, British soldiers who committed these acts are on full pensions most probably with honours! Selective amnesia similar to our media and government.
I wish our lot,especially Enda Kenny would put the same amount of effort into this and the Dublin /Monaghan murders as he does with others.
They will in their bollax. Fg are up to their ears in it
@Martin Byrne
Forensic technology was primitive in 1974. Therefore, there wasn’t enough evidence for extradition. Many relatives who died in atrocities committed by Loyalist and Republican paramilitaries have not got justice. It’s not whataboutery; it’s the truth.
@thetruth
Fine Gael didn’t protect terrorists or rapists.
Then tell me why fg never asked about dublin monaghan? Oh and fr molloy now there’s a good one.
@thetruth
There wasn’t enough evidence for extradition. Therefore, there was nothing that FG or any of the other parties in the Republic could do about it. Furthermore, the government was dealing with the cycle of violence that continued for another two decades.
“Fine Gael didn’t protect terrorists or rapists.” What a fcukin liar
Another fine gael cesspit with hundreds more childrens bodies has been found.
Fine gael enabled pedophilia, child experimentation, child murder child sales, child starvation.
We need an international criminal inquiry into fine gael ff and labour.
@SarsfieldsAlive
The children at the Tuam mother-and-baby home died of illness because the country was poor at the time. There’s no evidence that any government minister was aware that children were being sexually abused by “Christian” Brothers. Furthermore, there is not a shred of evidence that vaccine trials in Ireland caused deaths.
And thats the only reason the Bloody Sunday murderers were never arrested? Funny that, because there were plenty of republicans charged in those days. Your excusing of british state coverups is shameful.
@Tír Eoghain Gael
The evidence given at the Saville Tribunal cannot be used in the PSNI investigation because of the principle of compulsion. The passage of time has reduced the possibility of additional evidence being found. Furthermore, some of the soldiers are dead. Tragically, many soldiers killed civilians by mistaken when under attack.
Indeed it can’t be used in police evidence but to date it is the largest and moat thoroigh investigation into Bloody Sunday and its findings, which the British Government accepts, are at odds with your groundless claims. So excuse me for paying no heed on your utterly shameful statements.
” many soldiers killed civilians by mistaken when under attack.”
bullshite, innocent civilians were targetted for murder by the sas/mrf/fru etc, even the brits now admit to this and you spit your lies here. The brits murdered 1700 people, 120 of them were ira personnel, the rest were civilians.
the brits = brit army/ruc/uda/uvf/lvf/rhc/mi5/mi6/raf, all these were effectively one organisation
@masterson
10,000 or more dead children and you want us to believe that fine gael didn’t know what was going on?
Children were experimented on, fine gael knew about that because it had to be signed off by the health minister at the time, the fact is that fg experimented on children just like herr goebles did.
@SarsfieldsAlive
The experiments only involved injection of vaccines. There’s no evidence that it had serious ill-effect. It’s not like the children were injected with sarin.
@SarsfieldsAlive
“the brits = brit army/ruc/uda/uvf/lvf/rhc/mi5/mi6/raf, all these were effectively one organisation”
I have to laugh at you. You are impossible to take seriously.
@Tír Eoghain Gael
What I am saying is that the soldiers who were referred to in the Saville Tribunal report are still legally innocent.
Ciarán.
Know your defending the experimenting on children with vaccines.
I think you need to ask someone if what your typing is logical. Might be time to stop.
What YOU are saying is that those soldiers/murderers thought they were being attacked and only fired back to protect themselves. You, Ciarán, are therefore ignoring the the single biggest collection of evidence which exists into that day’s events and ignoring (or should I say denying) the findings of one of the largest public inquiries in history in order to put forward your own totally groundless claim and you provide no evidence to do back up that claim. Again, forgive me for not paying any heed on you amd your attempted justification for and excusing of, the murders of 14 innocent Civil Rights campaigners. Shame on you.
Everything you have written Ciarán has been shown to be false in court or tribunals and inquiries.
@Seanie Ryan
What harm is there in being given a vaccine? Do the children even remember getting the vaccines?
masterson appears to be lyons
@Tír Eoghain Gael
As I’ve said, tribunal findings are on the balance of probabilities; criminal prosecutions have to be beyond reasonable doubt.
“What harm is there in being given a vaccine? ”
it wasn’t a vaccine at the time, it was an experimental drug. they were experimented on, they were treated like guinea pigs,
If you want to play flippant, then lets play flippant.
Sure what harm was their in firing a gun in Sen. Billy Fox’s finance’s house.
If Billy hadn’t been standing in front of it, there would have been no problem for him.
There was no problem either way as far as I could seen.
This is your line of reasoning being returned to you.
@SarsfieldsAlive
I doubt that they were given LSD or methamphetamine.
@SeanieRyan
Billy Fox was deliberately killed by members of an unlawful organisation. That means that he was murdered.
You think it was deliberate.
Someone panicked, the gun was fired and that was that.
No one was injured, killed yes, but no one was injured.
I heard a rumour that it was FG members playing a prank and it went all wrong.
is tuam linked to the ninth circle cult ? does it exist and if so what do we do about it ?
That’s the story out of Tuam !
And all weekend James McClean was receiving dogs abuse for not wearing a poppy to honour british soldiers. Kinda understandable don’t you think?
Personally away from Bloody Sunday I would like to see a new investigation into the Ballymurphy shootings, it appears from what I have heard that a nimbler of the shots were fired contrary to the Yellow Card. It was tge same Para Battalion involved in the Murph and Derry, be interesting to find if tge same company,nSupport Company.
Bloody Sunday was I believe down to a lot of panicking, does not excuse the actions, there were reasons to believe that ab ambush was planned by the IRA. The Murph shootings no panic they were as far as I’m aware carried out over a couple of days and in fairly wide apart areas of thee state.
No steve no. Bloody sunday was not down to panicking. Bloody Sunday waw a turkey shoot. The enquiry proved that
Bloody Sunday was planned well in advance.
it was planned to teach paddy a lesson
Just remember the sales from the Poppy will go to help those who carried out this attack.
For a lot of people that is the incentive to buy them.
That’s unfortunately true Seanie. The poppy has been hijacked by right wingers and loyalists. Another symbol to wave in the face of nationalists.
Cuts to PSNI funding? But but but no the Shinners don’t do austerity in NI? Except for the nearly 2 billion in cuts agreed last week.
Cut on these families though.
Adam, activate brain before opening mouth. NI gets “pocket money” from London. Bit like a naughty teenager asking mammy for a few quid
Son you are a member of young labour. You cannot lecture no one about politics
The PSNI curtail the Bloody Sunday investigation due to funding cuts, yet spend £12 million a year policing the parades protest camp at Twiddel Av. A protest supported by the DUP and your on here attacking Sinn Fein stance on welfare cuts.
The six counties dont have fiscal powers. They are implementing a budget which is set by London as is their duty under the Agreement. Clown.
@pjm
The evidence that was given at the Saville Tribunal cannot be used in a criminal investigation because of the principle of compulsion, i.e. no right to silence when giving evidence at a tribunal of inquiry. Therefore, the PSNI had to start from scratch. The number of witnesses who have come forward is much lower than expected. The actions of security forces personnel, unlike the actions of members of terrorist organisations, are presumed lawful until proven otherwise.
Furthermore, the murder of Jean McConville was much more heinous because she was abducted beforehand and the crime was premeditated. Soldiers thought that they were being attacked by the IRA and they panicked. By the way, none of the soldiers who opened fire on Bloody Sunday is in government in any part of the UK, unlike Martin McGuinness.
Panicked so much they shot dozens of unarmed people. Including teenagers. In the back, in the head, as they were running away, as they lay on the ground…
I don’t know about you, but for me that’s a stretch from ‘soldiers thought they were being attacked by the IRA and panicked’
But you go ahead and justify state slaughter of civil rights marchers if it suits your agenda
Sticking up for brit terrorists, something fine gael do quite regularly.
How do you know that no brit terrorist who fired on bloody sunday has ever been in government? You don’t, so stop bullshitting.
@Jarvis
I wasn’t justifying what happened. Soldiers made tragic mistakes.
@SarsfieldsAlive
If any of the Paras who were there on Bloody Sunday had been elected to the House of Commons, we’d know about it.
“Soldiers thoight they were being attacked by the IRA”
So the Saville Inquiry was wrong and you know what happened. Jaysus they should have asked you to drop in. Ciarán, utter shame on you to justify like this the murders of 14 civil rights campaigners.
Callin the Bloody Dunday murders a “mistake” IS justifying their actions. Shame on you.
“Soldiers thought that they were being attacked by the Ira and they panicked” is, in my opinion, justifying their actions. To go on and mention Martin McGuinness’ position in government straight after, comparing it to the soldiers on the day, is pretty messed up and betrays your attitude.
Soldiers’ “tragic mistakes”. The people who were there on the day know that it wasn’t a case of tragic mistakes. There was a concerted effort to kill, and then cover it up. Teach these insolent paddies a lesson.
I don’t like Sinn Fein either. But this is a strange article to air your grievances under
@Tír Eoghanin Gael
I didn’t justify the killings; I was merely explaining them. Tribunals of inquiry make their findings on the balance of probabilities. Guilt in criminal trials must be proven beyond reasonable doubt.
@ Tír Eoghain Gael
I never said that the protestors deserved to be killed and I never accused them of anything. Given that the death toll was relatively low and that no women or children were killed in the incident, it was hardly My Lai.
i’m smelling patrick lyons off ciaran masterson, anyone else?
young teen boys were murdered in derry, if you had a 16 year old murdered by the brits you’d rightly refer to them as a child.
@SarsfieldsAlive
Do you actually think I’m “Patrick Lyons” (whoever he is)? I’m not hiding my identity.
Saying the soldiers panicked Ciarán is despicable.
Why would you go along with that line, especially given that it goes against all evidence.
Comrade Sarafields, you may want to delete that last comment before you see the next article “Paramilitaries abused 500 children since 1990″.. we need to stay on message.
Ciarán.
Only the most extreme and bigoted Unionists still spout the long disproved rubbish your coming out with.
Shame on you.
Genuinely, shame on you.
“Hardly My Lai”. You do realise how insensitive that sounds? And how it trivialises what happened on Bloody Sunday?
So now you’ve justified AND trivialised the murder of unarmed, innocent people.
Well done. Your mother must be very proud
@SeanieRyan
I never said that the protestors deserved to be killed and I never accused them of anything. Tribunal findings are on the balance of probabilities. Criminal convictions are beyond reasonable doubt.
@Jarvis
I didn’t justify it. My point was that it was on a much smaller scale than what happened at My Lai. The deliberate killing of women and children is the most heinous of crimes.
Your an ignorant man, you can’t change that and you can’t edit the previous comments which demonstrate that.
All but the most bitter and bigoted Unionists would even tell you where to shove it.
Ignorant man.
You did justify it. You incorrectly put it down to mistakes and you gave a reason for those so called mistakes. That’s justifying it, whatever way you try to squirm out of it.
And by saying “hardly my Lai” you trivialised it.
In my book, that means you are a pretty nasty person
“Tribunal findings are on the balance of probabilities”
Indeed. And it delivered a very unambiguous finding. Which makes your denial of those findings all the more disgusting.
ciaran masterson
you do hide your identity, your name is not ciaran masterson
@SarsfieldsAlive
“you do hide your identity, your name is not ciaran masterson”
You’ve watched too many films.
@Tír Eoghain Gael
You’re forgetting “beyond reasonable doubt”.
You put forward your own explanation and preswnted it as fact. You did so without any evidence whatsoever. Between your justification for the murders and the Saville Inquiry’s findings (based on actual evidence), I know which one I have reasonable doubts about.
Shame on you.
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