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19 - 22
JANUARY 2004
Evidence heard
This week the Inquiry heard from the following witnesses:
Paul Mahon (Political Researcher); OIRA 10 (Official IRA volunteer, Belfast 1972); OIRA 6 (Official IRA, Derry 1972) Aidan Hegarty (North Derry Civil Rights Association 1972) and Reg Tester (Quartermaster, Official IRA, Derry 1972).
Summary of Evidence
Monday 19 January 2004 Paul Mahon
Tuesday 20 January 2004 Paul Mahon, OIRA 10
Wednesday 21 January 2004 Paul Mahon, OIRA 6, Aidan Hegarty
Thursday 22 January 2004 Reg Tester
A full transcript of the proceedings is available at http://www.bloody-sunday-inquiry.org.uk.
Numbers in square brackets refer to the code given to a particular document by the Inquiry.
INTRODUCTION
Paul Mahon wrote a dissertation on Bloody Sunday in 1997 he then spent two years interviewing civilian witnesses in Derry. He claimed his own analysis of an audio tape proves the IRA fired before motor platoon shot Damien Donaghy and John Johnston.
OIRA 10 was a member of the Official IRA in Belfast in 1972. Paul Mahon approached him to help research shootings by the Parachute Regiment in Belfast.
OIRA 6 was a member of the Official IRA in the Creggan in 1972. Aidan Hegarty was a member of the North Derry Civil Rights Association and an Official Republican activist. He gave evidence about the relationship between the Official Republican Movement and the Derry Civil Rights Association in 1972.
Reg Tester was the quartermaster for the Official IRA in Derry on Bloody Sunday. He was stationed in a car in the Creggan with other volunteers but on hearing what had happened in the Bogside he drove down and attempted to fire on Paras in Rossville Street.
The Tribunal’s Ruling of 14 January 2004 regarding Colonel Overbury was also distributed this week. The Tribunal ruled that Madden & Finucane and McCartney & Casey Solicitors, who represent many of the families of the deceased and injured, could not pursue allegations they have raised regarding Colonel Overbury’s role in the preparation of evidence for the Widgery Tribunal. Detailed submissions regarding Colonel Overbury appear in Weekly Report 111.
Paul Desmond Mahon
Made Statement to the Inquiry on 20 November 2003 [AM0019.0001]
Paul Mahon said he came from a political family in Bootle, Merseyside. His grandfather was Alderman Simon Mahon Snr JP, OBE. His grandfather, father and two uncles were all Mayor of Bootle. His father, Alderman Peter Mahon JP was also Member of Parliament for Preston South between 1964 and 1970. His uncle was also Member of Parliament for Bootle 1954 to 1979. He joined the Liberal Party himself in 1972 and was elected to Liverpool City Council in 1973. He was the Liberal candidate for Liverpool Kirkdale in 1974 and 1979.
Copying Photographs
In 1994 he began a degree course in contemporary politics at Edgehill University College in Ormskirk. One module was entitled ‘Northern Ireland and the British State’. As part of that course he spent some time in Derry. In 1997 he wrote a dissertation on the events of Bloody Sunday. In researching his dissertation he examined 60 files of Widgery Tribunal documents at the Public Records Office (PRO) in Kew. He says they allowed him to copy hundreds of photographs which he did with a professional photographer. Mr. Mahon said in evidence he did not know how many photographs he had copied but he said they were the series indexed by the Inquiry under the code ‘EP’.
Photograph of Father Daly’s Gunman
In evidence Mr. Mahon claimed that the only known photograph of an IRA gunman on Bloody Sunday, that of OIRA 4/Father Daly’s gunman [P0560], was missing from the PRO. He said he knew this because the photographs were numbered and there was reference to one being missing. He did not explain how he knew the missing the photograph was the photograph of OIRA 4. The Inquiry has never established that the photograph was ever at the PRO. The Sunday Times Insight team alleged the photograph was taken by Mr. Grimaldi but he has denied this. John Barry, editor for Insight, says they got the photograph from Grimaldi and used it in an exhibition to commemorate 150 years of the Sunday Times. However it was not in the Sunday Times archive disclosed to the inquiry. Mr. Mahon denied he was confused between the Sunday Times archive and the PRO.
Mr. Mahon also made copies of all the photographs in the possession of the Derry Journal with the assistance of Larry Doherty. He also obtained photographs from the Daily Mirror. He invoiced Madden & Finucane for a copy of all the material in December 1997 [AM0019.0404].
Under Wraps
Mr. Mahon said he had asked academic authorities to keep his dissertation under wraps but claimed a copy ‘”arrived in Derry” within weeks. He was invited to a meeting of the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign (BSJC) where he articulated his findings.
£100,000 Sponsor
Mr. Mahon said that after his degree he sought and found a sponsor to further his research. An English businessman who asked to remain anonymous gave him £100,000. Mr. Mahon was asked by Bilal Rawat, counsel to the Inquiry, and Lord Saville what his sponsor expected from the research. Mr. Mahon said he expected nothing. He was to try to establish the truth of what had happened and had the Saville Inquiry not been established he would have sought to publish his findings in some way. He made no records of his expenditure and gave no progress reports to his sponsor. In his statement to the Inquiry he said the £100,000 was for four years work but he agreed under questioning from counsel for the family of James Wray that he spent it in only two years between the summer of 1997 and summer 1999. He did not declare the money to the Inland Revenue because he said it was not income.
$14,500 Cash
Mr. Mahon said he also received $14,500 in cash from an Irish businessman who also asked to remain anonymous. In his statement and on his first day of giving evidence he said this money was spent researching events in Belfast but later in evidence he said this money sustained his research in Aldershot in England after he had been sacked by Brendan Kearney, Kelly & Co. Solicitors. He added that the $14,500 he received was only part of $50,000 given by the businessman to OIRA 10. He said he would have to think about it before giving the name of the businessman to the Inquiry. OIRA 10 said the total sum was only $20,000.
Access to Statements
Mr. Mahon obtained access to all the eyewitness statements in the hands of the BSJC. He said he believed their material was incomplete and, knowing the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL) had played a part in collating the statements, he approached Liberty (NCCL’s successor) in London. Around December 1997 he telephoned John Wadham at Liberty [AM0019.0267] and gained access to the NCCL’s archives at the Brynmore Jones Library at the University of Hull. Again he copied all the files relating to Bloody Sunday, including correspondence and all documents that passed between NCCL and the Widgery Tribunal. This may have included a list of those shot. NCCL had sent a delegation to Derry on 30 January 1972 but they were stopped by the RUC and army 5 times on route and did not get to Derry until about 18:00. They then helped to coordinate the statement taking process. Michael Havord, a former Civil Rights Association activist, also provided Mr. Mahon with copies of eyewitness accounts in his possession.
Access to Witnesses
With the assistance of Michael Bradley Mr. Mahon set about tracing original eye witnesses identified in the 1972 statements. He then began interviewing witnesses on video. He also made audio tapes of the interviews as a back up. He said he began by looking at events in Glenfada Park. He was surprised to find he was one of the first ever to speak in depth to many of the wounded about their experiences. John Kelly and Liam Wray, who both lost brothers on Bloody Sunday, also assisted him with contacting witnesses.
One of the witnesses he spoke to was Mrs Porter, window of John Porter who recorded the army’s radio transmissions on Bloody Sunday [interview X4.0034.0001]. He had written to James Wray’s father to say he had discovered the name of the soldier who had killed his son. Mr. Mahon said he searched Mrs. Porter’s loft for her husband’s files but said he found nothing.
Heli Teli
In March or April 1997 Mr. Mahon managed to persuade the Ministry of Defence to authorise him to obtain a copy of the film shot from the army helicopter on Bloody Sunday [AM0019.00403]. He also obtained copies of the film shot by BBC and ITN crews.
The Grimaldi/North Tape
Mr. Mahon said he learnt of the existence of the audio tape made by Italian journalist Fulvio Grimaldi and Susan North when part of it was played at the 25th Anniversary ceremony held in Glenfada Park North. Months later he asked John Kelly to help obtain a copy of the recording. This he says is the Inquiry tape Audio 9.
Mr. Mahon passed a copy of the tape to Lena Ferguson at Channel Four. She subsequently travelled to Rome to interview Grimaldi and North. Mr. Mahon says she obtained a copy of the original tape from them but refused to give him a copy. Extracts were used in the 1997 Channel Four News programme. Some of the extracts were not on his copy of the tape so Mr. Mahon flew to Rome himself and obtained the original tape from Grimaldi and North. He later gave the tape to the Inquiry’s assistant solicitor Donny Scott.
In about October 1997 Mr. Mahon met with Lena Ferguson in London to view her interviews with soldiers (used in the Channel Four television programmes in 1997 and early 1998). He tape recorded his meeting with Ms. Ferguson and from the recording made transcripts of the soldiers’ interviews. He said he never became aware of the identities of the soldiers who Ms. Ferguson referred to as A, B, C, D and E.
Soldier 027
Mr. Mahon pressurised the families into persuading Madden & Finucane to provide him with a copy of Soldier 027’s statement which had formed the basis of the Irish Government’s re-assessment of Bloody Sunday. The statement was provided in about January 1998 on the basis that Mr. Mahon focus his research on corroborating 027’s account. Mr. Mahon said the condition was imposed by Liam Wray and Charlie McGuigan because they were concerned about him interviewing witnesses now the Bloody Sunday Inquiry was under way.
38 Civilians Murdered by Parachute Regiment
One of the matters mentioned by Soldier 027 was the incident on 9 August 1971 in Springfield Road, Belfast in which six people including a priest and young boy were shot dead by the Second Battalion Parachute Regiment. Mr. Mahon went to Belfast to research this incident and others with the assistance of OIRA 10. A summary of the 9 August 1971 research appears at AM0019.0025.0001. Mr. Mahon said there were 38 civilians murdered by the Paras between 1971 and 1976. He said he would give all his research regarding these matters to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Brendan Kearney, Kelly & Co. Solicitors
In July 1999 Mr. Mahon began working for Brendan Kearney, Kelly & Co. Solicitors examining material provided to them by the Bloody Sunday Inquiry in connection with their clients Michael Bridge and Michael Bradley. In that capacity he also produced his own analysis of the Grimaldi/North tape and the ‘Capper’ tape. He has no special expertise in analysing audio tapes or ballistics and has drawn some very contentious conclusions.
Grimaldi/North Tape - 29 January 1972 [Inquiry transcript at E0011.0069]
Mr. Mahon says the beginning of the Grimaldi/North tape records a Provisional IRA nail bomb operation that took place in William Street the day before Bloody Sunday. Someone on the tape mentions that the time is 4.30pm. In his statement Mr. Mahon says it is possible to distinguish the sounds of 2 nail bombs followed by 2 high velocity gunshots. However in evidence he said he believed the shots, which hit Peter McLaughlin and Peter Robson, came before the nail bombs. He also said he interviewed Gerard ‘Mad Dog’ Doherty who he claims admitted throwing the nail bombs at an army vehicle in William Street. Mr. Mahon says he played Mr. Doherty the tape and he explained what happened even identifying whistles from lookouts who told him when to throw the bombs. Mr. Mahon says his recording of his interview with Mr. Doherty was stolen from the offices of Brendan Kearney, Kelly & Co. Solicitors.
Grimaldi/North Tape - 30 January 1972
Mr. Mahon claims he can also tell from this tape that OIRA 4 (Father Daly’s gunman) fired 5 or 6 shots because he says they are recorded by Susan North whilst she is sheltering at the south end of Chamberlain Street. Mr. Mahon’s annotated transcript of the Grimaldi/North tape appears at [AM0019.0026]. In his interview with Mr. Grimaldi and Ms. North in Rome [X4.0048.0071] Mr. Mahon insists Martin McGuinness’s voice can be heard on a portion of the tape recorded in a flat in Block 1 of the Rossville Flats. Mr. Grimaldi and Ms. North say Martin McGuinness was not there and had he been they would remember but Mr. Mahon continues “Yes but people have identified that as his voice.” In evidence he said the “people” was John Kelly but Mr. Kelly denies this. Mr. Mahon then said he did not believe it was Mr. McGuinness’s voice. He said Mr. McGuinness had agreed to give him an interview but he (Mr. Mahon) never got around to it.
Mr. Mahon went to Dundee University in December 1997 where Dr. Iain Murray analysed the tape for him but Mr. Mahon said this was not pursued [AM0019.0430].
Capper Tape [Inquiry Transcript at E0003.0075]
Mr. Mahon did an analysis of another audio tape, that made by radio journalist David Capper. He says the transcripts of this tape prepared by the Inquiry’s acoustics expert Chris Mills are inaccurate. He disputes the evidence of Mr. Capper who said the recording was made as the Paras entered Rossville Street and claims it covers the earlier shootings of Damien Donaghy and John Johnston in William Street. His conclusions in relation to this part of the tape were included in his Response to Counsel to the Inquiry’s Report No. 1 (hereafter The Response). This was written by Mr. Mahon whilst he was working for Brendan Kearney, Kelly & Co. Solicitors. Mr. Mahon said The Response was submitted to the Inquiry 6 months later on the instructions of Declan Morgan QC. They subsequently asked for it to be returned but it had already been distributed to all the other parties. They then sent an addendum to the Response [AM0019.0428] arguing recent evidence contradicted the claims regarding OIRA 1 having fired first.
Mr. Mahon claims the tape proves that the IRA fired before the Paras. He says the first shot in the sequence is that fired by OIRA 1 from Colombcille Court and that this is followed by 2 shots from motor platoon injuring Damien Donaghy and John Johnston. He not only rejects the evidence of Mr. Capper, Mr. Mills, OIRA 1 and OIRA 2 but also the evidence of Soldier A and Soldier B. They admit to having fired a total of five shots but if his theory is correct they can only have fired 2. His contention is that other sounds are in fact echoes and bases his claim that the first came from Colombcille Court on the fact that it is not followed by an echo. He also claims the three wounds to Damien Donaghy and John Johnston were caused by only 2 bullets. However Mr. Mahon denies his analysis amounts to a contention that the IRA fired the first shot on Bloody Sunday because he claims another distant shot can be heard sometime before. Finally he claims to have identified automatic fire on the tape amidst high velocity gunfire when the Paras deployed into Rossville Street.
Alleged Threats
Mr. Mahon claims he became the subject of “vilification and threats” after Greg McCartney, solicitor to the Wray family, leaked the contents of The Response to the Irish News. Mr. Mahon was not named in the Irish News article. However he was named in later articles by Eamonn McCann and Don Mullen. Mr. McCann asked Mr. Mahon for a comment but he refused to give one. Mr. Mahon says he was threatened by both the Official and Provisional IRA as a result of publication of his role in The Response document.
Mr. Mahon said the first threat was at the offices of Brendan Kearney, Kelly & Co. Solicitors. On 4 January 2000 he was asked to explain his conclusions to their clients Michael Bridge and Michael Bradley. The meeting was interrupted when the receptionist advised that OIRA 1 had arrived at the office and wanted to see the clients. Mr. Mahon described this as a set up and took it to be a threat. He was not directly threatened and did not even see or speak to OIRA 1.
The next day he says Brendan Kearney told him serious threats had been made against him. Mr. Kearney was not specific and refused to say who had made the threats. However Mr. Mahon said OIRA 10 subsequently told him the threats came from ‘Red’ Mickey Doherty. He also said he understood Mickey Doherty had been shot on Bloody Sunday and treated over the border at Mary Holland’s house in Fahan. He said he did not know where he got this information. OIRA 10 said he did not know if Mr. Mahon had been threatened but he understood the families had lost confidence in him after Eamonn McCann published an article identifying his authorship of The Response.
As a result of publication of his conclusions regarding the Capper tape Mr. Mahon’s relationship with Brendan Kearney, Kelly & Co. Solicitors broke down and he left their employment in January 2000. He left around 50 video tapes and more audio tapes at their offices. It was understood they belonged to him, not Brendan Kearney, Kelly & Co. When he eventually picked up this material some of the tapes were missing. All the material he did have was subsequently provided to the Inquiry as the result of the Inquiry issuing a subpoena for its production.
Mr. Mahon claims another threat consisted of Liam Wray coming to the pub where he drank in Fahan and telling him PIRA 1 and Mr. Doherty were concerned they would be blamed for Mr. Mahon’s contribution to the Response document. They feared this because they had told him about OIRA 1 and the confrontation with him in Colombcille Court. Mr. Mahon claimed Liam Wray said “You’ve got a problem” and indicated there was a direct threat from the Provisional IRA. However he said he did not think Mr. Wray was being used as a messenger to convey the threat and he did not clarify what exactly the threat was. Mr. Mahon agreed it was he who telephoned Mr. Wray to discuss the Irish News article but denied asking to see Mr. Wray. He says Mr. Wray came looking for him. He did not report the matter to either the RUC or the Gardai but says he did mention threats he had received to DC Kelly (RUC) and officers from Gardai Special Branch. Mr. Mahon said there was another incident when people banged on his doors and windows. He called the police and said he made a statement to Gardai Special Branch.
Families’ Lawyers
When questioned by Lord Gifford QC Mr. Mahon agreed he had not moved house or stopped drinking in the pub as a result of the threats. He then launched into a verbal attack on the families lawyers. He accused “Derry solicitors and Madden & Finucane” of perverting the course of justice in failing to inform the Tribunal as to the identity of Red Mickey Doherty. When asked if he had told the Tribunal about Mickey Doherty he said they had not asked. He also said Greg McCartney, solicitor to the Wray family and Lord Gifford’s instructing solicitor, had telephoned his landlord Francis O’Loughlin and said he had had to get rid of Paul Mahon because he knew too much. Mr. McCartney is alleged to have asked if the house was available for Lord Gifford, who, being a “tax exile” from Jamaica, could do with living just over the border in Donegal.
Mr. O’Loughlin made a statement to his own solicitors the evening after Mr. Mahon made the above allegations [AO0083.00001]. The next day Mr. Mahon was asked to comment on it. Mr. Mahon agreed he owed Mr. O’Loughlin over £2,000. He agreed he told Mr. O’Loughlin he had lost his job at B.K.K. and that he asked Mr. O’Loughlin if he could help. However he said Mr. O’Loughlin was lying when said he knew nothing of Greg McCartney saying he wanted to get rid of Mr. Mahon or mentioning Lord Gifford being a tax exile. He agreed he had met Greg McCartney’s father, Billy McCartney, and that when Mr. McCartney said B.K.K. had stitched him up he responded by saying it was his son who had stitched him up. He accepted he had called Greg McCartney a scumbag and had to be told to calm down by his wife.
Mr. Mahon claimed he had been forced out of Derry and had to leave the country. He said he sent his wife and daughter to England for 9 weeks during 2000. He denied he was embittered. He said: “I feel very, very sore indeed, what my family was subjected to: threats, having to leave this country because people did not have the guts to come and talk to me, to be sensible about situations. It is the old story, is it not: threats, more threats, the tough guys always win.”
MI5 Agent
Mr. Mahon said a further part of “the overall witch hunt” involved a meeting between OIRA 3, OIRA 4, OIRA 10, a woman known to OIRA 10 (not named publicly by the Inquiry) and another man unknown to OIRA 10. The meeting was reported to him by OIRA 10. At the meeting the woman suggested Mr. Mahon was an MI5 agent. OIRA 10 assured them he was not but said they were interested to know the source of his funding. Mr. Mahon said OIRA 10 told him the man he did not know at the meeting was a Devil’s Advocate, an independent intermediary used by the IRA to resolve disputes. OIRA 10 denies Mr. Mahon’s account of this conversation (see his evidence below).
Missing Tapes
On 25 May 2000 Mr. Mahon met John Kelly and Michael Bridge and he raised the issue of the missing tapes. Michael Bridge admitted removing tapes saying they did not belong to Mr. Mahon but the victims. Later that day Mr. Mahon reported the matter to the RUC and made a statement to a DC Kelly alleging the tapes had been stolen [AM0019.0375]. In his statement to the Inquiry Mr. Mahon alleged all the tapes concerning those wounded on Bloody Sunday had been stolen but in fact when asked he could not specify what had gone missing. In his statement to DC Kelly he alleges about 20 video tapes and 30 audio tapes were stolen.
The Inquiry has prepared a list of the video and audio tapes Mr. Mahon has provided to the inquiry [AM0019.00407]. Mr Rawat established that the only tapes which appear to be missing are: the recordings of the interviews with Gerard Doherty, George Downey, Pearse McCall, Michael Bridge and Danny McGowan. However there is no note in the notebooks of their ever having been an interview with Mr. McGowan. Mr. Mahon insisted he did interview him.
Guns in Glenfada Park
Mr. Mahon also claims that in a conversation in 1999 Liam Wray told him he was approached many years after Bloody Sunday by a member of the Official IRA. The IRA man apologised for the death of his brother Jim and explained that people were delayed in exiting Glenfada Park because there were two Official IRA men carrying weapons at the south west corner. Mr. Mahon’s conversation with Liam Wray allegedly took place in a pub. Mr. Mahon never made a note of it and never conducted a formal interview with Mr. Wray. Mr. Mahon agreed this evidence was uniquely important but denied that there was any necessity for him to have noted it. In a recent supplemental statement [AW0029.0025] Liam Wray has refuted that any such conversation took place either with Mr. Mahon or between him and a member of the Official IRA. Mr. Mahon accused Mr. Wray of lying.
Lord Gifford QC, representing the family of James Wray, pointed out that the alleged comments by Liam Wray closely correspond to remarks in the Sunday Times Insight article published in April 1972 [L0211]. Mr. Mahon agreed he would have read the article at an early stage of his inquiries. He accepted he must have discussed it with Mr. Wray. However Mr. Mahon said he never appreciated the similarity and that he had forgotten about the Sunday Times article.
In an interview with Mr. Mahon John Barry Liddy said that when he was arrested in Glenfada Park North on Bloody Sunday a sergeant told him he had seen guns in a car in the courtyard. He made no mention of seeing or being told of IRA gunmen in Glenfada Park.
INQ 2003
INQ 2003 was a soldier in 1 Para but is recorded as not having been in Derry on Bloody Sunday. He confirmed this when he gave evidence to the Inquiry. He has however claimed on occasions that he was there. He admits to being an alcoholic and he has given a number of inconsistent accounts. Mr. Mahon interviewed him at great length after INQ 2003 approached McCartney & Casey Solicitors. Mr. Mahon says Liam Wray asked him to contact INQ 2003. Mr. Mahon flew to England to interview INQ 2003 and interviewed him for about two days during which time he booked him into a hotel. The hotel bill came to over £1000 and this was paid by Mr. Mahon’s English sponsor.
OIRA 1/Colombcille Court
On page 4 of his first notebook [AM0019.0182] Mr. Mahon made the following note: “Castle laundry, Official IRA man, blue Hillman Avenger, Springfield rifle .306. He said he hit coloured soldier. Within 10 minutes 2 Provisional IRA members, Colm Keenan ordered him out of the area.” Mr. Mahon claimed he could not remember where this information had come from.
On 22 July 1998 Mr. Mahon interviewed PIRA 1 who told him ‘off the record’, i.e. when the tape was switched off, that he and Sean Keenan had been involved in the confrontation with OIRA 1 in Colombcille Court. He made a note of PIRA 1’s comments in his forth notebook [AM0019.0220]. In another note he recorded OIRA 1 as having been described as a “maverick”
Mr. Mahon said he confirmed that OIRA 1 had fired from Colombcille Court by speaking to PIRA 1, Gerard Doherty, George Downey and Michael Bradley. He said the tapes of his interviews with Mr. Doherty, Mr. Bradley and Mr. Downey had been stolen. Mr. Downey had taken him to Colombcille Court and shown him the location.
Martin McGuinness, the Bookies and OIRA 4
In another notebook (3 page 3 [AM0019.0243]) he wrote: “Martin McGuinness down High Street. Used to be bookies at junction of Chamberlain Street. He and another trying to kick door in. Combat jacket bulging, people think with nail bombs.” He has given the name and address of the source of this information to the Inquiry and says the source claimed to have witnessed these events himself. He also said the source told him there was a Provisional IRA bomb against the gable wall of the bookies having been placed there the day before.
In his statement to the Inquiry Mr. Mahon added that OIRA 10 had told him that he had been told by OIRA 4 that Fulvio Grimaldi, Susan North and OIRA 4 were all with Martin McGuinness in the betting office. Mr. Rawat asked Mr. Mahon if he had not considered it strange that members of the command staff of both wings of the IRA were alleged to have been present. Mr. Mahon replied: “I never really thought of it in that way. I knew that there was great antipathy between the two different wings of the IRA. Whether or not they would end up in that situation, together, they obviously did, but I believe there was a lot of people in the bookie's shop that day.” OIRA 10 says Mr. Mahon made up the alleged conversation, OIRA 4 never told him any such thing. Mr. Mahon made no note of the alleged conversation even though he did note the conversation with the first source.
Interviews
Mr. Mahon began interviewing witnesses in Derry in January 1998 the month the Bloody Sunday Inquiry was established. He had previously interviewed John Kelly, Denis Bradley and Gerry Duddy in 1997 for his degree dissertation. He made 52 taped recorded interviews (on video and or audio tape) of eyewitnesses and these interviews have now been transcribed by the Inquiry [X4 series]. Mr. Mahon did not transcribe any of the interviews himself. He gave a variety of explanations to those he interviewed as to his precise motivation and what would happen to the tapes. He told Frank Dunne [X4.0008.0002] that the tapes would only go to the solicitors representing the families. In the same interview he said he was doing research for a Phd. [X4.0008.0065]. Mr. Mahon conceded he never even wrote a proposal for the Phd. He said he had an understanding with the families that he would voluntarily give copies of the tapes to the families lawyers. He said Patrcia Coyle at Madden & Finucane interfered with his Phd, alleging he was harassing witnesses, causing a break down in his relationship with his tutor, Dr. Mark McGovern. This was disputed by Barry Macdonald QC, instructed by Madden & Finucane, who said Ms. Coyle rang the college in order to try and establish that Mr. Mahon was who he said he was.
Mr. Mahon told William Harley, interviewed in June 1998, that he was conducting informal interviews for Bloody Sunday archives and for academic research. He was specifically asked by Mr. Harley as to whether or not the tapes would go anywhere beyond his own private research [X4.12.2 and X4.12.64]. Mr. Harley refers to seeing OIRA 4 firing in the Rossville Flats car park. He was surprised to learn it was not in his 1972 account.
In an interview with Michael Bradley [X4.2.41] Mr. Mahon says he knows who issued the gun to OIRA 4 and who took it off him. However he now says he cannot remember the former, and the latter (although claimed to be Gerry Doherty) does not appear to have happened. At some stage during the interviewing process some people started raising concerns about the emphasis Mr. Mahon was placing on investigating IRA activity on Bloody Sunday. Consequently John Kelly asked him to back off that aspect for the time being. He had been given the Soldier 027 statement on the strict understanding he was to concentrate on verifying its accuracy. The conversation with John Kelly was said to have occurred in June 1998 but at the end of that month Mr. Mahon interviewed Arthur Martin and was still asking about IRA activity [X4.0018.0044].
In his interview with John Barry Liddy [X4.0049.0108] Mr. Liddy refers to a young man in Altnagelvin Hospital who had a 9mm Luger pistol under his pillow. Mr. Liddy took the boy home with him when he was discharged on 31 January 1972. He subsequently died in a car accident. The man’s name appears in on the tape but has been redacted from the transcript by the Inquiry.
Mr. Mahon said he also interviewed Joe Mahon but that interview was videoed by Michael Bradley because he did not have his recorder with him. Joe Mahon subsequently asked Michael Bradley for the tapes.
Missing Wounded
In an interview with Michael Havord conducted in May 1998 Mr. Havord makes reference to Paddy Devlin MP lending his car for a wounded man to be driven to Letterkenny hospital in Donegal. Mr. Havord said he thought the man had been shot in the arm. Mr. Mahon said he never discovered the identity of this man.
Mr. Mahon has a note [AM0019.0352] stating Hugh Hegarty, who was injured on Bloody Sunday by a CS gas canister, was taken to Letterkenny.
Presentation to Families’ Lawyers
After the Bloody Sunday Inquiry was established Mr. Mahon did a multi-media presentation to the Madden & Finucane team of lawyers. He told them he had seen a photograph of a female photographer dressed in army uniform on Bloody Sunday however he has been unable to locate the photograph. He said Peter Madden had asked him not to go into IRA activity at the presentation.
Notebooks
Mr. Mahon said he kept four pocket notebooks which he seems to have used somewhat interchangeably. There are very few dates in the books but by a process of elimination Mr. Rawat established their approximate order/dates.
Book 3 - November 1997 to March 1998
Book 1 - March 1998
Book 4 - April 1998 to July 1998
Book 2 - August 1998 to September 1998
Answering questions from Lord Gifford Mr. Mahon said these were the only notebooks he had.
Mr. Mahon claimed his research began by looking specifically at the circumstances of James Wray’s death in Glenfada Park. This was at the request of Liam Wray, Jim’s brother. However Lord Gifford QC pointed out that 4 of the first 6 pages of his first notebook all refer to IRA activity, none of which occurred in Glenfada Park [AM0019.00181 to 0184]. Furthermore, aside from the 50 interviews he did, none of which he transcribed, the only product of his research were his 4 notebooks and his analysis of the Grimaldi/North and Capper audio tapes. These he used to write the B.K.K. Response in which he concluded the IRA fired first. Mr. Mahon agreed he had produced absolutely nothing in writing regarding the events in Glenfada Park.
Mr. Mahon appears to have made no notes at all between July 1998 and joining B.K.K. in July 1999.
In his third notebook Mr. Mahon refers to OIRA 7 taking Joe Mahon’s coat off him and says he is pictured at the gable end of Glenfada Park North. The note goes on “Page 194 and 195, possible sighting in combat jacket.” Mr. Mahon said he did not know where he got this information or to what it referred. He said he did not know and had never met OIRA 7.
In March 2002 Paul Mahon was subpoenaed to hand over all his material to the Inquiry. This followed a long meeting he had with the then solicitor to the Inquiry, John Tate, in London. The material was handed over in about June 2002.
Madden & Finucane Solicitors
Mr. Mahon denied ever having been employed by Madden & Finucane or receiving a letter addressed only to Paul Mahon, Manchester, England [AM0019.0412]. He alleged the letter was written for their file and never given to him. He has never had any connection with Manchester. Peter Madden of Madden & Finucane claims he handed the letter to Mr. Mahon in May 2000. Mr. Mahon denies legal privilege attached to any of his material save Soldier 027’s statement which was passed to him under conditions. On his third day of evidence and having told Lord Gifford he had handed all his notebooks to the Inquiry Mr. Mahon produced what he called an “office” notebook containing a detailed note of a telephone conversation with Peter Madden on 30 November 1999. The note records an argument over the status of Mr. Mahon’s material, Mr. Madden asserting that legal professional privilege attached because Mr. Mahon was engaged by his firm. Mr. Mahon disputed ever being employed by Mr. Madden and put the phone down. Mr. Mahon agreed to hand the notebook to the Inquiry and check whether he had any others.
Mr. Mahon also alleged Madden & Finucane sent the Inquiry “a very large bill” for documents he had supplied to them. When asked about this by Mr. Macdonald Mr. Mahon said he was told Madden & Finucane’s bills were being scrutinised by the Inquiry but was unable to substantiate the allegation.
Two More Shootings
Towards the end of his evidence Mr. Mahon said he had just remembered two more instances of IRA gunfire on Bloody Sunday he had omitted to mention in his statement or in evidence. He then referred a Provisional IRA gunman firing from a balcony near Westland Street and a Official IRA gunman firing (or attempting to fire) at an army helicopter from Meenan Square. He provided the Inquiry with the names of his sources for these two incidents. He said he never learnt the identity of either gunman.
OIRA 10
Official IRA Volunteer, Belfast, 1972
Made Statement to the Inquiry [AOIRA0010.0001]
OIRA 10 was an Official IRA volunteer in Belfast in 1972. On 19 September 1998 he was approached by Paul Mahon who asked if he would help him investigate the activities of the Parachute Regiment in Belfast in 1971. He was researching Bloody Sunday and wanted assistance specifically in relation to what Soldier 027 had said about other deaths involving the Paras. Paul Mahon is English, he needed OIRA 10’s help because he was from Ballymurphy and would be trusted by the families and witnesses. They worked together for about 18 months from 8 October 1998. OIRA 10 introduced Mr. Mahon to the families of the deceased and wounded and to eyewitnesses. He told Mr. Mahon he was a former member of the Official IRA.
Funding
Mr. Mahon says OIRA 10 received $50,000 from an anonymous Irish businessman for the research in Belfast and that he only received $14,500 of this. OIRA 10 says the money came from a Liverpool businessman acquaintance and the total was only $20,000, $14,500 of which went to Mr. Mahon. The acquaintance worked for another businessman who was funding research into the Dublin bombings.
Interviews
Together they interviewed over 40 eye witnesses. OIRA 10 was present at each interview and the interviews were tape recorded by Mr. Mahon. A brief sample of Mr. Mahon’s interviews in relation to the events of 9 August 1971 appears at AM0019.0025.0001. Six people were killed including a priest and a young boy. OIRA 10 said Mr. Mahon’s attitude was focused on his own research, he saw the families as assisting him rather than the other way around. OIRA 10 played no part in Mr. Mahon’s Bloody Sunday research but he said the two events could not be seen in isolation. He said “a line runs through the involvement of the Parachute Regiment. I have no doubt there was a shoot to kill policy.” What happened in Ballymurphy is not as well known as the events of Bloody Sunday because the World’s press were not there.
After working together for some months OIRA 10 said “the thing died a death” and he has not seen Mr. Mahon on more than one or two occasions in the last three years.
Comments on Paul Mahon’s Evidence to the Inquiry
OIRA 10 denied ever telling Mr. Mahon about an incident in the bookmakers in Chamberlain Street/High Street involving Martin McGuinness and OIRA 4. OIRA 10 said he knew OIRA 4 and he had never told him such a story. He accused Paul Mahon of making it up.
Mr. Mahon did ask him if he would help put him in touch with former Official IRA members in Derry. OIRA 10 said he may have agreed to make approaches but said he never followed them up.
Fall Out
OIRA 10 said he was never aware that Mr. Mahon was threatened and he never told him he was. He did mention someone banging on his windows but OIRA 10 told him this was probably just kids. He said he was told Mr. Mahon lost tapes stored at the offices of Brendan Kearney, Kelly & Co. Solicitors and that he reported them as stolen to the RUC. OIRA 10 said it was a mistake for Mr. Mahon to have spoken to the RUC, he lost any credibility in Derry as a result. The families in Belfast were also getting fed up and after Eamonn McCann’s article about Mr. Mahon they dropped him. OIRA 10 pulled out at the same time.
MI5 Allegation
Sometime later he had a meeting in Donegal with OIRA 4 and OIRA 1 (not OIRA 3 as alleged by Mr. Mahon). There was also a woman with them. OIRA 10 said they raised the possibility that Paul Mahon was an MI5 Agent but he dismissed the suggest by saying he would not be working with an MI5 Agent.
OIRA 10 agreed OIRA 1, OIRA 3 and OIRA 4 are all friends of his but he claimed he had never discussed with them what they had done on Bloody Sunday. However in answer to a question from Edmund Lawson QC, representing many of the military witnesses, OIRA 10 admitted he would not tell if he did know what they had done. He was not in Derry himself on Bloody Sunday but subsequently came to live in the city.
OIRA 6
Official IRA Volunteer, Creggan Unit, 1972
Made Statement to the Inquiry on 19 January 2004 [AOIRA0006.00001]
OIRA 6 said he joined the Official IRA in the mid 1960s when there were was very little going on and very few members. There were only 3 or 4 of them in Derry when he joined. By 1972 there were more members and he was probably the oldest of them. He was not the longest serving. He had stayed with the Official IRA when the Provisional IRA split off because of loyalty to those he was with. He said he was not into politics and joined out of fantasy and possibly to prove something to himself. By 1972 the IRA had already trained him in weapons. It was only as the Civil Rights marches started in 1968 that he started to appreciate what was happening in Northern Ireland.
OIRA 6 said he was never on the command staff and denied ever being the training officer. He did train some of the volunteers in his section in weapons but was never responsible for training. He was asked to train volunteers in his own section because Reg Tester, the quartermaster, knew he was trained in weapons. He said intelligence documents which referred to him as the training officer [INT0002.0053] or assistant training officer [INT0001.0368] were incorrect. He was just a volunteer in one of the two Creggan sections. One section did patrols at night the other during the day. OIRA 7 and 8 were also in his unit. He refused to name his section leader who died some years ago. He did not know who was on the command staff but probably knew OIRA 3 was the officer commanding. He respected OIRA 3 even though he was quite a bit younger than him.
Weapons
OIRA 6 said that so far as he recalled the Creggan unit had a Thompson sub machine gun, two .303 rifles, a .22 rifle and possibly a .45 revolver. He thought only about three of the weapons were in working order. The others were just for show. He also heard there was a .306 rifle with a telescopic sight but he never saw it. He also heard there was an M1 carbine. He said he never heard of there being a Beretta or a .32 revolver referred to in INT0001.00365. There could have been other weapons he did not see. The weapons were rarely removed from the cars.
OIRA 6 denied there were any mavericks in the Official IRA.
Orders
OIRA 6 said his standing orders were to defend the Creggan. So far as he was concerned he considered himself justified to fire on any British soldier by virtue of their presence as an occupying force with whom they were at war. However he could not and would not fire without specific authority from his section leader. Retaliation, as opposed to defence, was a matter for the command staff. He said he would expect his section leader to authorise him to fire on any member of the British army if he had an opportunity to do so whilst on patrol.
30 January 1972
OIRA 6 said he was told a couple of days before Bloody Sunday that there would be no operations that day. He said the section leader spoke to the whole section and said they could go on the march if they wanted to but they were not to take weapons with them. OIRA 6 said he assumed however the regular patrol would have been out in the Creggan.
They were taught not to ask questions in case they were arrested so he had little knowledge of what the Bogside section were up to. He assumed they were stood down that Sunday. He had no real contact with the Provisional IRA, although he knew one member. There were never any joint operations and there was some animosity between the organisations.
OIRA 6 said he was not interested in politics and not a member of the Civil Rights Association. However he said everyone in Derry had a duty to go on the march and he did so. He did not remember who he was with on the march but does not recall seeing anyone from the Official IRA. He said everyone knew the march would be stopped in William Street and that young fellows would break away and take on the soldiers. However he followed the march down Rossville Street to Free Derry Corner.
Free Derry Corner
OIRA 6 said he sat on a small wall on the west side of Rossville Street near Free Derry Corner. He could see the platform from there. He says he was there when people started running past him to the south. However he took little notice because the army often revved engines to scare people into running away and he assumed whatever was happening was back up in William Street.
There were people running and screaming the army was shooting but OIRA 6 claims he cannot recall hearing any gunfire. When he heard people say they were shooting live rounds he ran with everyone else towards the Bogside Inn. He was trying to get to safety and says he had no thoughts of trying to find other volunteers. He said he cannot remember anything except people saying that people had been killed. He said it was hard to believe and he struggled to take it in. Someone who knew he was in the Official IRA said to him “Where’s the fucking IRA when you need them?” They were angry.
Sunday Times Notes [KC0012.0071]
One of the Sunday Times notes from 1972 records that Ivan Cooper claimed he had heard that OIRA 6 had fired a revolver in Glenfada Park and that George McEvoy told him OIRA 6 was running around with a revolver and had fired very, very early. Ivan Cooper has repudiated the alleged contents of the interview and OIRA 6 said he never had a weapon on Bloody Sunday. He said he did not know George McEvoy or Ivan Cooper although he had heard of Mr. Cooper. He said he had never heard of the allegation before it was raised with him in his interview with Eversheds when making his statement to the Inquiry.
Witness X
OIRA 6 said he knew nothing of the allegations made by someone known to the Inquiry as Witness X. In a statement to RUC Special Branch [AX0001.0002] Witness X alleges he fired two magazines of ammunition from an M1 carbine in Glenfada Park in a joint operation with both wings of the IRA. He also said OIRA 4, OIRA 6 and Reg Tester were the only Stickies (i.e. members of the Official IRA) that he knew. OIRA 6 said he did not see Reg Tester or OIRA 4 on 30 January 1972. He said he knew nothing about any firing in Glenfada Park. He said any volunteer who had two magazines of ammunition was very lucky indeed given both weapons and ammunition were in such short supply. Nor did he see Martin McGuinness or any other Provos. He did not see any IRA vehicles arrive from the Creggan. It was only when he got back to the Creggan and saw the television reports that he had any idea what had happened. He said he does not recall any meetings that evening. The section only got together after the funerals.
OIRA 6 said he heard through the Derry grapevine that someone (OIRA 4) had fired in the Rossville Flats car park but he said he did not know of OIRA 1’s shot until this Inquiry. He also said he had not learnt of ‘Red’ Mickey Doherty having fired until it was mentioned at the Inquiry. He did know Red Mickey had been injured but did not know he had been shot.
Fianna
OIRA 6 said he was in the Fianna in the early 1960s but it was just like the boy scouts. He denied they were ever trained in the use of weapons or that he was involved in training them. He said the Fianna had no link with the IRA. He said he knew Dermot Liddy because he lived close to his father but he could not recall Patsy Moore.
Aidan Hegarty
North Derry Civil Rights Association 1972
Made Statement to the Inquiry on 17 December 2003 [AH0059.0001]
Mr. Hegarty was 23 in January 1972 and a senior member of the Official Republican Movement in Dungiven but had little contact with the James Connelly Republican Club in Derry. He said the Republican Clubs and Official IRA were separate organisations. The first was a political organisation, the latter was military. He said the Officials were more dogmatic and politically aware than the Provos. There were simply concerned with the nationalist question and uniting Ireland, the Officials were more interested in Marxism.
He was instinctively drawn to the Civil Rights movement and said the Official Republican movement encouraged members to join the Civil Rights Associations. There was a realisation, albeit it a belated one, that they were a good vehicle to put across their politics. He said many SDLP politicians and others had launched their careers through involvement in the Civil Rights Associations and mentioned Ivan Cooper, John Hume and Paddy O’Hanlan. He said the Officials were slow to recognise the potential for using the Civil Rights movement which was very much on the wane by 1971. It was however revitalised by the introduction of Internment.
Whilst he accepted there was a desire to use the Civil Rights movement to advance their politics he denied that the Derry Civil Rights Association was run by them or the Official IRA. He said such participation as there was was quite open and there was no subterfuge involved. He was vice chair of the North Derry Civil Rights Association at the time and his Republican politics were widely known. He said he did not remember ever acting as a steward on a Civil Rights march. He did not recall any serious rioting on or after a Civil Rights march.
Mr. Hegarty said Ivan Cooper’s remark that the Derry City Civil Rights Association was “dominated by Officials” was an exaggeration probably motivated by mutual political mistrust. He said Mr. Cooper and others were more successful than them in exploiting the Civil Rights Association. He said he could not comment on Official IRA involvement in the City Association but of 5 Officials named in a newspapers article at the time (its date and name were not revealed so as to protect the identities of those named) he described 2 as political activists, one as IRA, another as both and he did not know the fifth.
He said the Fianna at the time was more associated with the Provisionals than the Officials. He said he thought it unwise to take anyone as young as 14 or 15 into confidence but said he did not know whether or not the Provos did so.
British Intelligence Fabrication
Gerard Elias QC, representing many of the military witnesses, asked Mr. Hegarty to comment on an MI5 document dated 14 January 1972 [KJ0004.0066]. It was a file note made by the MI5 officer known to the Inquiry only as ‘Julian’. The note read:
"Source 1 rang again on the 13th with the following message. He had spent a couple of hours in Londonderry that morning and there was still no sign of any march on Sunday. He thought there was a large meeting with the officials from Magherafelt and other areas which took place on 12th January, in the evening in Magherafelt, might possibly have some bearing on the matter."
Source 1 is known to the Inquiry as Observer D.
Mr. Hegarty said the information sounded like fabrication. He said no part of either wing of the Republican Movement ever had any association at all with Magherafelt. He said it had no Republican leanings at all and he had never been to a meeting there. It was not a place ever used for meetings.
Reg Tester
Quartermaster, Official IRA, Derry 1972
Made Statements to the Inquiry on 26 March 2000 [AT0006.0001] and 10 November 2003 [AT0006.0006]
Reg Tester is originally from Nottinghamshire and served in the British navy. On 30 January 1972 Mr. Tester was the quartermaster for the Official IRA in Derry. He was also on the command staff. He had previously been intelligence officer. Command staff members rotated jobs in case someone was killed. In his first statement to the Inquiry he estimated that there were about 30 to 40 Official IRA volunteers in 1972 but in his later statement he revised this figure to 20 to 30. He knew most of the volunteers by sight but did not know their surnames.
Weapons
Mr. Tester said that most Official IRA weapons were very old, some dating back to before World War II. Most were in working order but one of the two Thompson sub machine guns they had was worn out and unusable. The other was rarely used because it was difficult to get the right ammunition. They also had an antique Sten gun which he said he could not remember ever being used. These weapons were only for show. Mr. Tester described an event long before Bloody Sunday when an old Browning heavy machine gun retrieved from the wreck of an aeroplane in Loch Foyle was paraded to suggest they had a Browning. They even stationed it in sandbags outside the Bogside Inn.
The weapons that did work consisted of some old Lee Enfield .303s, some .22s, a .306, a Garrand, some shot guns, a Sterling sub-machine gun and a selection of pistols and revolvers. They did not have ammunition for all these. There was also a new M1 Carbine which they had just received. There were less than thirty weapons in total.
Mr. Tester was also in overall charge of explosives however these were very hard to obtain at the time. It was generally gelignite like Gelamex and could not be stored for long. It would start to weep and had to be used quickly. He said he did not think they had any on Bloody Sunday.
Provisional IRA
Mr. Tester said the Official IRA were more political and less military minded than the Provisional IRA. He said OIRA 3, the officer commanding (OC), was not a military person and was there because of his political ideas. They did not like to show public hostility towards each other but Mr. Tester said he did not like the Provos. He said they sometimes behaved like “cheap two bit gunmen” and they would often have to help them out when they got into trouble. He referred to them firing weapons in fields at the backs of houses for no particular reason. They also stole Official IRA weapons and ammunition. They might acknowledge each other in the street but he did not trust them.
Mr. Tester was asked to comment on views expressed by Denis Bradley, a Catholic priest arrested on Bloody Sunday. He said [H0001.0007] the Official IRA were disliked by Catholics because they were seen as Marxist. He said some were very irresponsible and that the Provos were more disciplined. Mr. Tester disagreed.
Orders for 30 January 1972
Mr. Tester said in the week before Bloody Sunday he received an order that all weapons were to be collected and taken to the Creggan. This came from the OC, OIRA 3. However in evidence Mr. Tester clarified this by saying although most of the weapons were placed in the patrol cars in the Creggan those already in safe dumps were not moved. Therefore some weapons may have been in safe dumps on the Creggan estate. In addition, because of the dangers in moving weapons between the Bogside and the Creggan, the Bogside unit had been issued with their own weapons which remained under their control. Mr. Tester said he did not know who was responsible for those weapons at the time.
Mr. Tester said he could not recall speaking to Sunday Times journalist Peter Pringle in 1972 but he agreed his note [S0034] accurately reflected the position. This records that weapons other than those in safe dumps in the Bogside were to be in two cars in the Creggan. No one was to initiate firing on the army.
Defence and Retaliation Policy
All Official IRA witnesses to the Inquiry have confirmed the policy of the organisation at the time was defensive although retaliation was permitted. However the interpretation of that policy has differed. Mr. Tester said the policy permitted a volunteer to return army fire but only where there was no risk to civilians. Referring to the incident at Colombcille Court he said he thought OIRA 1 was entitled to believe he could return fire but that had it been him he would probably not have done so.
Liam O’Comain
Mr. Tester said Mr. O’Comain might have been on the fringes of the Official movement in 1972 as a note of an alleged conversation between him and Kathryn Johnston claims. The note records O’Comain alleging there was an element within the Officials that had decided to fire on Bloody Sunday because they felt a death might improve their standing [AO0082.0005]. Mr. Tester said that was “a total lie”.
Weapons Unaccounted For
In his first statement Mr. Tester referred to their being two weapons that he had not been able to account for; a pistol belonging to the OC and a sporting .303 rifle. However he conceded that since he did not know where the weapons belonging to the Bogside unit were there were other weapons for which he could not account. He said he did not know that Red Mickey Doherty had a rifle on Bloody Sunday, nor did he know OIRA 4 had a pistol. However he said he had assumed, when he learnt of the firing in the Rossville Flats car park (Father Daly’s gunman), that someone had taken OIRA 3’s pistol. He said he assumed this because he knew OIRA 3 would not have fired and he thought this was the only pistol not in a dump or in the Creggan.
He said he was not aware Mickey Doherty had been stationed in Barrack Street or that there was a patrol in the Brandywell on Bloody Sunday.
30 January 1972
Mr. Tester said most of the weapons were in his car and another. He said they may have been parked outside the Head Quarters in the Creggan at the beginning of the march. He drove his car with two others and there were 2 or 3 volunteers in the other car. They drove around and did not hear any of the gunfire as the Paras entered the Bogside. The engine must have drowned out the noise. At some point they stopped on the New Road and heard reports of what was happening. Some people asked what they were doing in the Creggan when they should be in the Bogside. They dismissed some accounts but eventually decided to go down.
When he realised the army had shot people he was angry and wanted to hit back. He drove down Westland Street which was still full of people. He said he thought the other car remained in the Creggan. He said his recollection was of parking in Westland Street and going straight into a block of flats on the north side. However contemporary accounts to Sunday Times journalists suggest they parked behind the Bogside Inn and three of them got out. Mr. Tester said the two others may have got out after him and he would not therefore have known. However his recollection was that they waited for him in the car in Westland Street.
Paras on Rossville Street
In any event Mr. Tester took the new M1 out of the boot and entered the flats. He thinks he went to the top floor balcony [see AT0006.0020] and tried to fire at a soldier he saw in Rossville Street. He said he saw a soldier and a pig near the rubble barricade in Rossville Street. He said he aimed but the weapon jammed and he was unable to fire. Mr. Tester said he was glad the gun had jammed because he realised there were civilians nearby at the south gable end of Block 1 of the Rossville Flats and he could have put them in greater danger.
Mr. Tester said he had taken the M1 even though he was unfamiliar with it because it had a higher rate of fire than an ordinary rifle. However because he had not used the gun before he was unable to unjam it. He said he then returned to the car. He said people had cheered when he got the gun out of the car and this encouraged him that he was doing the right thing. There were around 200 civilians in the area but he could not remember recognising anyone. He was on the balcony for 5 or 6 minutes. He did not hear any shooting whilst there. It was not planned, he just reacted to the situation.
Mr. Tester said he thinks he did see some Provos in the area but he did not see them with any weapons. In the 10 to 15 minutes he was in the area he did not hear any shooting.
Sunday Times Interviews/Official IRA Activity
Mr. Tester said he was friendly with Peter Pringle and he had visited Mr. Tester recently when he came to give evidence to the Inquiry. However he could not specifically recall the interviews Mr. Pringle says he conducted with him. He agreed the reference to him driving down Westland Street and getting out with an M1 [S0035] was accurate but he said other parts were not. He did not turn right off Lecky Road and the others did not get out of the car so far as he recalled. He did not have two banana clip magazines. He does not recall being behind the Bogside Inn with other volunteers.
The Sunday Times notes refer to someone, presumably Mr. Tester, being cheered as he crossed Westland Street from the Bogside Inn and going to the first floor balcony overlooking Rossville Street. The note says he fired one shot before the rifle jammed. Mr. Tester said he may be mistaken in believing he did not manage to fire a shot. There is also a detailed description of how the rifle jammed and an account of the crowd shielding the gunman as he ran back to the Bogside Inn. Mr. Tester said he believed the car was in Westland Street and he put the M1 back in the boot. He agreed however it was very unlikely Peter Pringle would have invented the story. An Official IRA man firing a single shot up Rossville Street is also mentioned in the Observer Galley Proofs in 1972 [ED0024.0009] ( the story was never published for fear of being found to be in contempt of the Widgery Tribunal).
The Sunday Times notes [S0037] also refer to Mickey Doherty firing in Barrack Street and another Official firing 2 shots from a .32 pistol towards the army observation post at the Walker Monument on the city walls from behind Joseph Place.
John Barry’s notes of his alleged 1972 interview with OIRA 1 also refers to 5 or 6 Stickies (OIRA) in Glenfada Park North as the Paras drove down Rossville Street. OIRA 1 is alleged to have ordered the removal of a car full of weapons but when they realised they did not have time to move the car they unloaded the weapons and carried them out. One man is alleged to have fired at advancing Paras with a .22 automatic from the north west corner of Glenfada Park North. Mr. Tester said he knew nothing about any of this and said he would have heard of it had it happened.
Command Staff Meeting
Mr. Tester said he had no recollection of a command staff meeting that evening. He said there probably was one but he thinks he could not have been there. He said this because he was not aware at the time that OIRA 1 had fired from Colombcille Court, OIRA 4 firing in the Rossville Flats car park or Mickey Doherty being shot after he shot a soldier in Barrack Street. Others have said some or all of this was discussed at the meeting that night.
Mr. Tester was unclear as to exactly when it was that he did hear about others who had fired on Bloody Sunday. He said he did become aware some years ago that someone had fired in the car park and a shot had been fired across William Street. However he said that until evidence emerged at this inquiry he thought it was Mickey Doherty, not OIRA 1, who had fired from Colombcille Court. He also said he was unaware Mickey Doherty had been shot or that OIRA 4 was Father Daly’s Gunman. He said he was not involved in the administrative side of the command staff, he was a technical officer with a specific job. He accepted that he could not dispute what OIRA 3 and OIRA 4 have said regarding the fact that it was not OIRA 3’s gun that was used by OIRA 4. Mr. Tester said he also had no knowledge of the confrontation between OIRA 1 and members of the Provisional IRA in Colombcille Court after he fired. He had no recollection of the rifle OIRA 1 used ever be brought to him for repair. Mr. Tester said he had never heard of anyone firing in Glenfada Park. He said he has never heard anything of any Provisional IRA activity on Bloody Sunday.
Families Sought Truth
Mr. Tester admitted that the Official IRA had suppressed the fact that they had fired on Bloody Sunday. He said the Army Council in Dublin decided at the time there were to be no admissions so as not to provide any excuse or justification for the actions of the Paras. He said the official line never changed but that during the Inquiry the families made approaches and asked that the truth be told.
Kidnapped Soldier
On 18 January 1972 a soldier was captured by the Official IRA whilst visiting his girlfriend in the Creggan. Mr. Tester said he was present when the man was taken captive. He denied that he was threatened or harmed in any way. He said he spoke to the soldier and reassured him that he would be released. He said that the decision to release him was taken once it was realised he was only there to visit his girlfriend and presented no threat. He was detained because he was a British soldier in plain clothes inside the ‘no go’ area. Mr. Tester said he and others made sure the man was released unharmed and agreed there were Provisional IRA men in the area who would probably have killed him. So far as he knew Martin McGuinness was not one of them. He said there was also one of their own volunteers who disagreed with the decision and subsequently joined the Provos. Mr. Tester said the decision to release him was quite right. He could not remember but OIRA 3 may have been there.
Mr. Tester said he did not remember there being an Official Fianna.
Mr. Tester was a member of NICRA but denied there was any significant Official IRA influence over the organisation. It was a very broad church. He said he understood that NICRA had asked both wings of the IRA not to operated during the march and his belief was that the each separately agreed.
Mr. Tester said he did not know Paddy Ward and has no recollection of him on Bloody Sunday.
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
