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THE UK GOVERNMENT has said it will make compensation payments to the families of those killed by British Army paratroopers on Bloody Sunday.
A spokesperson for the country’s Ministry of Defence confirmed to TheJournal.ie this morning that compensation would be paid. In a statement, the ministry said it was “deeply sorry” over the killings.
Thirteen unarmed protesters died after being shot by soldiers of the British Army’s 1 Para regiment in the Bogside area of Derry on January 30, 1972. Twenty-six people were shot altogether, with one of those injured dying more than four months later. The killings took place during a civil rights march.
Last year, the UK government’s Saville Inquiry concluded that none of those killed or injured had been posing a threat to the soldiers, that they were all unarmed, and that soldiers had lied after the event in an attempt to justify their acts. On foot of the inquiry’s findings, prime minister David Cameron made a landmark apology on behalf of the UK government, saying that “the actions of that day were unjustifiable” and he was “deeply sorry”.
The amount of compensation due to families, and when payments will be made, is not yet known. But a Ministry of Defence spokesperson said compensation would be paid wherever there is a “legal liability”.
We acknowledge the pain felt by these families for nearly 40 years, and that members of the Armed Forces acted wrongly. For that, the Government is deeply sorry. We are in contact with the families’ solicitors and where there is a legal liability to pay compensation we will do so.
According to the BBC, lawyers for the families of Bloody Sunday victims had written to David Cameron after his apology, asking what compensation the government planned to offer. However, some families have said they will not look for any payment until a soldier has been charged over the killings.
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About time if they admitted this all those years ago we wouldn’t have had the carnage that we did over the years
NI needs the Irish president. She will go there and sort out everything. She will speak about the “Importance of building bridges” everywhere…our hero! Any 5 star hotels for her and the husband there?
At last. Fair play to the families for sticking with it for so long.
The real shame here is that many of the parents of those who were killed have since passed on. They never got to hear David Cameron say those words “What happened on Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and unjustifiable. It was wrong.”
For 40 years the British state told these parents that their children were at fault, and were responsible for their own deaths. For 40 years they were told that the actions of the paratroop regiment on the day were appropriate. No compensation will ever correct that.
The huge problem that I have with this is that Britain will now see it as some form of closure on all of the murders of Irish civilians by British soldiers. Everyone has heard about Bloody Sunday, but how many on hear have heard about the Ballymurphy Massacre and the Springhill Massacre? The families of these events have never received an apology. I implore everyone to at least read up about them as, unlike Bloody Sunday – the media wasn’t there to document the events and give them worldwide publicity.
Springhill saw Margaret Gargan murdered by British soldiers. She was only 13 years old. David McCafferty was only 15, and like Margaret – his only crime was that he was Irish. He was shot in the chest and killed. John Dougal was also shot in the chest, he was only 16.
One of the most harrowing of all the murders however was the murders of Noel Phillips and Joan Connolly during the Ballymurphy Massacre. It’s unfortunate that most people in Ireland do not know about these events, so I hope people opt to become more informed, so they don’t turn out like ‘Colin’ above, and become intolerantly ignorant beyond repair.
Without any warning, Noel Phillips (20) was shot. As he laying on the ground crying, Joan Connolly – a mother of 8 children went to help him. As she tried to assist him – she was shot in the face. At this point – Connolly and Phillips both lay on the ground in severe agony. Daniel Teggart a father of 14 lay dead on the ground. The rest of the wounded were taken to the local army base, where they were severely beaten. Joseph Murphy was beaten so badly, he died of his wounds 3 weeks later.
During all this – Joan Connolly lay on the ground, with part of her face missing. She was crying out for help – but nobody could come to assist her, as anyone who tried to help anyone in the area was fired upon by soldiers. She eventually died, and left 8 children without a mother. Noel Phillips lay injured on the ground, also crying out for help. Without any justification, a soldier exited the base and approached Noel Phillips. He pulled out a handgun and shot Noel once behind each ear in a public execution.
11 civilians were killed during the Ballymurphy Massacre, 5 more were killed during Springhill. Not one soldier has ever served a day in prison for these actions. No apology has been issued. Britain was quick to lock up hundreds of innocent Irish people during internment, but never once held their soldiers accountable for their actions.
Why the Irish Government has never pressed for an apology for Ballymurphy and Springhill is beyond me.
A nice little payday built up for them to retire on. The march was illegal on the day, they broke the law and the legal authorities in that area reacted in accordance with the law after extreme provocation.
Colin your comment is incorrect, the armed forces did not act within the law and the goverment has already agreed with this. This is a fact!
It’s also clear from the story that for many it’s not about any money it’s about justice.
Given that it is fact that the armed forces in question lied it is only right they are brought to justice for their illegal actions and for lieing.
This is a very reasonable expectation for the familys.
No amount of money will compensate these familys for the loss of their loved ones
Colm
Your comment is way out of line, you should be ashamed of yourself.
"legal authorities"??? England have no right to claim NI as the UK. In fact an illegal force opened fire on native people. Colin if read any Irish history book you will find a section called "The Plantations". What happened was people from a country settled in another country and decided to call it there own. They ignore the native people and did their best to put them down…… Which is illegal…FACT!!
What an idiotic, insensitive and provocative comment.
You obviously know nothing about the families of the victims of Bloody Sunday, if you think that they struggled for 30+ years for a “payday” rather than justice for their murdered loved ones.
Just looked at some of your tweets, so this type of odious commentary is typical of you – for a homophobe, you’re overly interested in sodomy! I’m sure Gay M is delighted with your support.
One green thumb… really, did you thumb yourself?
Ha! Has his green thumb actually been disabled?
Sigh, judging by his avatar and twitter account Colin is a clone of GAY mitchell so his views are redundant on any topic
Can’t believe you just posted that. That is probably one of the worst comments I have ever seen here.
I see that SF HQ have been getting the red arrow drones over to skew the debate. Predictable as ever.
No mate, just regular ordinary people
“I see that SF HQ have been getting the red arrow drones over to skew the debate.”
There is no debate. What the British army did was “unjustified and unjustifiable”. Not my words, but the words of the current British Prime Minister. If you actually read the full events of what occurred on Bloody Sunday – you wouldn’t be on here making such asinine comments.
If you think the appropriate response to a bit of civil discontent is to murder 14 civilians – Then I’d be curious to know, why you are spamming your twitter account about protecting the right to life, and the evils of abortion. You’re a hypocrite, and your comments are beyond the pale. That is why they were voted down. No other reason.
This will encourage more protests-it pays.
And kills
have your say