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15 - 18 JANUARY 2001
The Bloody Sunday Inquiry (BSI) resumed after the Christmas break. This week, lawyers acting on behalf of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) appeared at the BSI and responded to some of the criticisms made of the MoD during the opening statements of some of the families and wounded.
1. SUBMISSIONS ON BEHALF OF THE MoD
1.1 LEGAL REPRESENTATION AT THE BSI
Mr Burnett said that counsel for the MoD had attended the BSI when invited by the Tribunal to assist on specific matters. He said that to have legal representatives present during the BSI would not help in answering questions because they would then have to go back to the MoD to get the answers.
He said that the Bloody Sunday Inquiry Unit from the MoD had a permanent presence at the BSI. (The Bloody Sunday Inquiry Unit is a special unit within the MoD that was established in 1998. It is made up of 5 civil servants and one of its main functions is to provide whatever assistance the BSI asks of it.) There is always one and sometimes two people from the Bloody Sunday Inquiry Unit sat in the Guildhall listening to the points raised.
Mr Burnett said that the Bloody Sunday Inquiry Unit was better equipped to deal with questions raised during the BSI than a lawyer acting for the MoD.
He said that the MoD of today has no case to put to the Tribunal or a position to defend. He contrasted the MoD’s position with the soldiers who he said did have a case to put and meet in connection with Bloody Sunday.
He said that the MoD is the most public face of the Government that established the BSI. All departments of state with relevant information for the purposes of the BSI have provided it with assistance. He said that it is not necessary or desirable for the MoD to appear as a party at the BSI in order to assist it.
1.2
ASSISTANCE TO THE BSI
Mr Burnett said that the Prime Minister had given an assurance that the Government would give the fullest possible co-operation to the BSI. He said that it is unthinkable that civil servants would try and frustrate the workings of the BSI.
Preliminary guidance was sent to all departments by the head of the Civil Service on how they should deal with enquiries from the BSI. This included allowing the BSI team access to files to decide what they wanted, waiving legal professional privilege in respect of advice given to Government departments about the events on Bloody Sunday, and not leaving former Ministers alone with material relevant to their involvement in Bloody Sunday.
Mr Burnett looked at the position of the missing documents, photographs and rifles.
1.2.1
Documents
Mr Burnett said that the memorandum referred to by Ms McDermott in the opening statement on behalf of the family of Patrick Doherty was withdrawn because it had been requested by the BSI rather than for any sinister reason. He said that the memorandum was later returned to the Public Records Office.
Mr Burnett said there has never been a MoD archive dedicated to preserving documents in connection with Bloody Sunday. The Bloody Sunday Inquiry Unit has co-ordinated the search for documents. He said that vast amounts of Government documents are routinely destroyed if they are not needed anymore. Any documents judged to be of long-term significance are archived. The archives are then subject to reviews at 5,10 and 20-year intervals. An assessment is made on the continued value of the document to the MoD. Mr Burnett estimated that of the material originally archived from Bloody Sunday, less than 3% would have survived.
Mr Burnett said that the civil servants who undertook the reviews would not approach their task as historians. They were more concerned with the administrative relevance of the documents. He said that reviewers would also have been aware of the Widgery Inquiry, which should have provided the definitive historical account of Bloody Sunday.
Mr Burnett listed a number of institutions where the MoD had carried out searches for relevant documents.
He said that intelligence material gathered by the Army was for operational purposes only rather than for long-term use. No records have survived about the handling of informers. He said that it is unlikely that records kept in the early 1970s would have been retained after an informer had stopped providing information to the Army.
Mr Burnett said that the lawyers who had criticised the MoD and alleged they were holding back documents could only make those arguments because of other documents provided by the MoD.
1.2.2
Photographs
In the 1970s there was no established policy or instruction on how to deal with photographs. There is no single archive of photographs within the Army or MoD. Whether photographs were preserved, depended on whether their keeper thought that they had some enduring historical value.
Mr Burnett said that the trail for photographs and film material went cold in 1972. He listed the institutions that the MoD had contacted to try and locate the material. He said that it seems certain that the overwhelming bulk of the photographic material that once existed was destroyed in 1972 or shortly after.
1.2.3
Rifles
29 rifles (28 SLRs and 1 sniper) were delivered to the Widgery Tribunal. They came from soldiers who admitted firing shots and were tested by Dr Martin for the Widgery Inquiry.
Two rifles were destroyed In January 2000; after the MoD had given assurances to the BSI that the five remaining rifles would not be destroyed.
Mr Burnett said that the two rifles destroyed after the MoD had given assurances might well not have been Bloody Sunday rifles. He said that even if the rifles had been found they would have been of limited use. Their forensic significance would depend on whether they had been rebarrelled in the interim. He said that whilst it was known that bullets from Soldiers F and G’s rifles lodged inside the bodies of Michael Kelly and Gerard Donaghy, bullets had not lodged in any of the other deceased or wounded.
Preliminary indications from the police inquiry into the destruction of the rifles suggest they were destroyed because of a computer glitch.
1.2.4
Other Help
Mr Burnett listed the other help the MoD has provided to the BSI. This included helping the BSI trace soldiers, searching personnel files to material that might be relevant to the credibility of military witnesses, provided detailed information on military equipment and training manuals, demonstrations of equipment, explaining communications links in operation in 1972 and explanations of the military chain of command and its connections with civilian institutions.
Mr Burnett asked for caution to be exercised before criticising the MoD or its officials. He said that vast amounts of time and manpower had been committed to the BSI. He said it was unfair to attribute bad faith to the MoD.
2
SEAN BARR’S EVIDENCE
2.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
2.1.1
Mass
Mr Barr attended 12 o’clock mass at St Eugene’s cathedral. At the end of mass, Father O’Neill told the congregation that paratroopers had been stopping people who had been to an earlier mass and harassing them. Mr Barr said that the priest warned the congregation to be careful on the way home.
2.1.2
William Street
Mr Barr saw soldiers moving across a wall behind the waste ground to the north of William Street. He recalls 3 to 5 youths throwing stones at the soldiers. He said it struck him as strange that the soldiers were carrying rifles but did not have any riot gear on. He could hear rubber bullets being fired further down William Street. He heard two, possibly three shots ring out but could not tell where they had been fired.
He saw John Johnston stumble as if he had been hit in the leg. Mr Barr helped Mr Johnston and then other people took over. He said that William Street was still fairly crowded at this stage as there were still hundreds of people coming from the tail end of the march. Someone amongst the crowd said that a boy had been shot.
2.1.3
Free Derry Corner
Mr Barr moved towards Free Derry Corner. As he passed the rubble barricade on Rossville Street he heard fairly sustained live gunfire and the noise of army vehicles. He presumed the gunfire was coming from the junction of Rossville Street/William Street. He recalls the soldiers advancing into Rossville Street, shooting rubber bullets and arresting young men.
Someone shouted that there was shooting from the walls. He could see the heads of 4 or 5 soldiers with their rifles pointed down. He did not see any of them shooting from the walls.
2.1.4
1972 statement
Mr Barr made a statement 2 or 3 days after Bloody Sunday. He understood it was to be used for the purposes of the Widgery Inquiry. He recalls being given a piece of paper and being told to write down his memories of the day.
2.2.
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
2.2.1
William Street
Mr Barr agreed he could not say that Damien Donaghy was innocent of any misbehaviour, as he had not seen him immediately before he was shot. He said the soldiers on the walls were getting into a good vantage point rather than into firing positions.
2.2.2
Rossville Street
Mr Barr disagreed when it was suggested he could have merged his hearing of army vehicles with hearing live rounds. He said that he remembered hearing them both at the same time.
3
NOEL MOORES’ EVIDENCE
3.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
3.1.1
Marches
Mr Moore had been on 2 or 3 marches before Bloody Sunday. There had never been anything more serious than stone throwing on the march. He said that he and his brothers decided not to go on the march because his father was concerned about it. He did not know anything about the warning his sister may have received from someone connected to the British Forces.
3.1.2
Barrier 14
Mr Moore was standing by McLaughlin’s hardware store and looked towards barrier 14. He said there were about 200 people in William Street but enough room for people to run back and forward along William Street to barrier 14. He saw young people throwing stones.
3.1.3
Rossville Street and Rossville flats car park
Mr Moore walked down Rossville Street towards Free Derry Corner. He heard 2 sharp, rapid shots. Everybody surged forwards trying to find some space to run. He could hear a man with a very loud English accent. He said that panic set in when people realised that somebody had been shot.
Mr Moore was shown photographs taken by Derek Tucker of the scene in the car park as the Army vehicles move down Rossville Street. Crowds of people can be seen running across the car park. Mr Clarke asked Mr Moore if he might be confused about the sequence of events. Mr Moore agreed that the English voices he heard could have been the shouts of the soldiers as they moved down Rossville Street.
Mr Moore ran towards the corner between blocks 2 and 3 of the Rossville flats. The shooting became more intense and he dived down and lay on the ground. He said the shooting was continuous and lasted for about 20 minutes. He lay flat on his stomach with his head down. He did not hear or see any fire at the Army. He did not see any gunmen, nail bombers or petrol bombers.
3.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
By the time he got up from the car park, the shooting was all over. He said he did not have a clear idea of the direction from which the shooting was coming from and agreed that the noise was in an echo chamber. He had not seen ‘Father Daly’s gunman’ at the gable end of Chamberlain Street.
4
SEAMUS BRADLEY’S EVIDENCE
4.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
4.1.1
William Street
Mr Bradley recalls seeing soldiers on the roof of the derelict building. His wife was overcome by gas so he pulled her out of the crowd. They walked on the pavement on the southside of William Street and a rubber bullet bounced between him and his wife. Mr Bradley pushed his wife into the waste ground and a live bullet was fired. He said the live bullet came from the Rossville Street direction.
Mr Bradley saw a boy fall on the laundry waste ground. The boy had been shot in the side of the upper thigh. He was carried to one point, where Johnny Lafferty, a Knight of Malta took over. The boy was picked up again and taken to Mrs Shiels’ house.
Mr Bradley went back to where his wife was waiting in the Abbey Street area. He heard more shooting and thinks it was from the Rossville Street direction.
4.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
4.2.1
William Street
He has no recollection of stone throwing going on immediately before Damien Donaghy fell. During the time he helped with Damien Donaghy he was not aware of John Johnson being shot.
4.2.2
Columbcille Court
Mr Bradley does not recall going inside Mrs Shiels’ house but he recalls some reporters arriving and the crowd getting hostile.
5
TERESA BRADLEY’S EVIDENCE
5.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
5.1.1
William Street
Mrs Bradley was badly affected by CS gas and her husband pulled her back up William Street. She fell to the ground and saw a boy a few feet away from her who appeared to have been shot in the leg. She did not see any rubber bullets as her eyes were streaming because of the gas.
5.1.2
Gunman at Kells Walk
Mrs Bradley followed the group that was carrying Damien Donaghy. She waited for her husband in the roadway to the back of the northend of Kells Walk.
She saw a gunman standing on the first floor balcony at the back of Kells Walk. She said that he fired a handgun several times in a northerly direction. The crowd around her became very irate and shouted at the man to stop shooting.
5.1.3
Barrack Street
Mrs Bradley waited for her husband. When he returned they reached Fahan Street West where she heard heavy gunfire and people telling others to turn back.
Mrs Bradley went down Joyce Street and flagged down a car that was driving towards her. She saw an injured boy in the back seat and a man supporting the boy’s head. Her 1972 statement records her seeing three cars approach the barrier. Mr Clarke suggested that over the years she might have grouped the three cars into one. Mrs Bradley agreed that she might be confused about which car she had seen the man run away from.
5.1.4
Car with rifles
Mrs Bradley came across a group of young boys who were standing by a car near Lecky Road and Anne Street. She looked inside the car and said that there were rifles stacked up on the back seat.
5.1.5
1972 statement
Mrs Bradley said that she had mentioned the gunman and the car with rifles when she gave a statement in 1972. She said that the statement taker only put into the statement what he thought was relevant. (Mr William Smith took Mrs Bradley’s statement in 1972. He has been contacted by NICRA and will provide a statement.)
She cannot now recall saying that the boy she had seen in the laundry waste ground had been wearing motorbike goggles.
5.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF SOLDIERS
5.2.1
Gunman at Kells Walk
Mrs Bradley did not hear APCs ‘screech’ into Rossville Street when she saw the gunman. She said there was a big crowd of people milling in the area and believes that other people would have seen the gunman. Mrs Bradley said that the man was not physically approached by the people because he was on a height and they were on ground level. The gunman disappeared.
5.2.2
1972 statement
Mrs Bradley cannot recall being given a copy of her 1972 statement at the time. She agreed that the statement-taker in 1972 must have indicated to her that he did not want to hear about the gunman or the car with rifles.
She said that she was not aware of people using motorbike goggles for protection in riots.
6
EUGENE LAFFERTY’S EVIDENCE
6.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
6.1.1
William Street
Mr Lafferty said that when he was in William Street it was full of people. He saw 2 or 3 young lads in the waste ground to the north of William Street. The boys were throwing stones in the direction of the church. He heard 2 shots and believed they had come from the direction of the Presbyterian Church where he had seen soldiers stationed. He did not see Damien Donaghy immediately before he fell.
Mr Lafferty went to barrier 14 and threw stones at the soldiers. He said that the water cannon was being used to hose people. He said there were about 20 or 30 people throwing stones and about 40 to 50 onlookers.
6.1.2
Rossville flats car park
Mr Lafferty ran towards the wall at the back of the Rossville flats car park. Mickey Bradley was to his right when Mr Lafferty dived head first over the wall. Mickey Bradley got over the wall but shouted that he had been shot. Mr Lafferty and someone else scooped Mr Bradley up and took him through the gap between blocks 2 and 3 of the flats. He did not see anything else that was going on in the car park during that time. Mr Lafferty took Mr Bradley to a house in Joseph Place.
6.1.3
Barney McGuigan
Mr Lafferty went to Barney McGuigan’s body and placed a blanket under his head. He helped to carry Mr McGuigan to the ambulance with 5 or 6 other people.
Mr Lafferty saw 2 bodies near the rubble barricade in Rossville Street. He thinks the bodies were still there when Mr McGuigan was placed in the ambulance.
6.1.3
Questions on the IRA
Mr Clarke asked Mr Lafferty about an extract taken from the book ‘Lost Lives,’ which records the names of all the people who have been killed in the Troubles. The book records the death of Mr Lafferty’s brother, Eamonn who was shot dead by the Army in 1971. The book cites a newspaper article, which claimed that Eamonn Lafferty had been a member of the Derry brigade of the IRA.
Mr Lafferty refused to discuss his brother’s death and to say whether Martin McGuinness had attended a commemoration ceremony. He said that, in the last 30 years, no one has asked him or his family about his brother and he had no intention of discussing him now. Mr Clarke said the reason he asked was because he wanted to know whether any branch of the IRA took any part in firing at the Army on Bloody Sunday.
6.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES
6.2.1
Barney McGuigan
Mr Lafferty saw Mr McGuigan’s body after the photographs had been taken.
6.2.2
Michael Bradley
Mr Lafferty said that Michael Bradley had been shot either before or as he jumped over the wall. Shots were being fired as he ran towards the wall. Mr Lafferty had not seen any form of threat to the soldiers.
6.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
6.3.1
William Street
Mr Lafferty thinks that both John Johnson and Damien Donaghy were on the waste ground when they were shot. He assumed the shots had come from the Presbyterian Church because that is where he had seen soldiers. He did not see any CS gas in the area at the time of the shootings. The gas was more noticeable as he got closer to Barrier 14.
6.3.2
Barrier 14 and rioting
Mr Lafferty left barrier 14 after he had been hit. He said that he did not know of occasions when gunmen had used riots as cover.
6.3.3
Rossville Street and the Rossville flats car park
Mr Lafferty saw army vehicles coming through barrier 12 in Little James Street. He did not see a gunman shooting from the gable end of Chamberlain Street and he did not hear anyone shouting at a gunman in this area.
7
MICHAEL McGUINNESS’S EVIDENCE
7.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
7.1.1
IRA participation
Mr McGuinness recalls going to the Rocking Chair Pub and the City Hotel with his brother and Dr McClean in the weeks preceding the march. He does not know whom Dr McClean would have spoken to in the bars. He does not recall any particular conversation about the IRA standing down but said that the overall opinion was that the IRA would not take part. He did not receive specific information from anybody in the IRA.
7.1.2
William Street
Mr McGuinness heard a rubber bullet being fired which hit the gable wall on the east side of the laundry waste ground. He went to pick up the rubber bullet and then heard at least two shots, which were sharper cracks. He saw Damien Donaghy lying flat on his back, holding his right leg. Mr McGuinness places Damien Donaghy at the gable end at the north west of the laundry waste ground. Mr McGuinness turned and saw John Johnston coming around the opposite corner. Mr Johnston was standing with his back to the gable end opposite to Damien Donaghy’s position.
Mr McGuinness and Charlie McGill carried Mr Johnston to Mrs Shiels’ house. Mr McGuinness said that the march had passed by that area at the time that Damien Donaghy was shot.
In his Sunday Times interview, Mr McGuinness said that at the time he suspected that Damien Donaghy had been throwing stones. He also said that he did not see any stones being thrown from the laundry waste ground. He thought the bullet came from the waste ground below the Presbyterian Church.
7.1.3
Columbcille Court
Mr McGuinness stayed in Mrs Shiels’ house for 10 to 15 minutes. He could hear the sound of muffled shots. When the shooting had finished, he left Mrs Shiels’ house. He cannot recall the 3 or 4 soldiers he described in his 1972 account as running across the garages beside Glenfada Park.
7.1.4
Abbey Park
Mr McGuinness saw Gerry McKinney lying on the steps between Glenfada Park and Abbey Park. He does not now recall the account in his 1972 statement, which said that he had seen some uniform when he had looked through an opening into Glenfada Park.
7.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
7.2.1
Rioting
Mr McGuinness said that rioting was a regular occurrence at the end of Rossville Street. He said that he believed the Army allowed it to happen because it was training for the soldiers. Mr McGuinness said that when people talk of ‘normal rioting’ it refers to periods when the stones were fairly ineffectual and there were very little injuries to the Army.
7.2.2
March
Mr McGuinness agreed that he did not know of or hear any announcement before the march about what route it should take.
7.2.3
Mrs Shiels’ house
Mr McGuinness said that he might have been inside Mrs Shiels’ house for 15 minutes before he heard the next shots. He put the difference in noise down to the fact that it was a built up area. He agreed with his 1972 account, that at the time he thought the shots were IRA fire. He said that he had been told since that it was not. Mr McGuinness said it was not the sound of the shots that made him think it was the IRA. He thought that the IRA were retaliating. He did not hear any shooting coming from inside Mrs Shiels’ house and he did not see any IRA men in the vicinity.
8
EDDIE DOHERTY’S EVIDENCE
8.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
8.1.1
William Street
Mr Doherty was standing in area of open ground behind Kells Walk and was looking out to the north of William Street. He could see Damien Donaghy on the waste ground who was standing with his back to him. Mr Doherty remembers a shot ringing out and he saw Mr Donaghy fall. He had not heard any other shots or rubber bullets at that time. He thinks that Mr Donaghy may have been drifting back and forth over the waste ground.
Mr Doherty said that the shot seemed to come from the roof of the GPO. He went to look at Damien Donaghy and said that John Johnston appeared on the waste ground. Mr Doherty thinks that Mr Johnston was facing the GPO and appeared to be remonstrating. Mr Clarke said that a lot of the evidence suggests that Mr Johnston was facing south rather than north when he was shot. Mr Doherty heard another shot which he thinks came from the GPO. As soon as Mr Johnston was shot, Mr Doherty ran away.
8.1.2
Lisfannon Park
Mr Doherty made his way to Lisfannon Park. He recalls hearing the crackling of gunfire in the air. Someone shouted that a young lad had been shot in the cheek and he saw Michael Quinn. Mr Doherty and others took Mr Quinn in the direction of Blucher Street. The reason they went to Blucher Street was because they were facing that direction and it was away from the direction of the firing.
8.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES
8.2.1
William Street
He said that there was one or two minutes between the shooting of Damien Donaghy and John Johnston.
8.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
8.3.1
William Street
Mr Doherty said that there were not a lot of people in William Street when Mr Donaghy was shot. He could not see the position of Abbey Taxis from the position he was in. He does not know whether Damien Donaghy had anything in his hand.
8.3.2
Lisfannon Park
He could not tell which direction the firing was going to.
8.3.3
Blucher Street
Mr Doherty thinks that the medical people in Blucher Street were Knights of Malta who had gone on the march.
9
JOHN McGEE’S EVIDENCE
9.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
9.1.1
Mrs Shiels’ house
Mr McGee said that William Street was packed when Damien Donaghy was shot. He was with the crowd that helped to carry Mr Donaghy to Mrs Shiels’ house. Whilst they were inside the house, John Johnston was carried in.
Mr McGee thinks he was in Mrs Shiels’ house for about half an hour. He could hear shooting and shouts coming from outside the house. At some stage, Dr McClean was told that others had been shot and Mr McGee left the house with him, Sean Duffy and Mickey McGuinness. Nobody tried to stop them leaving the house but people warned them to be careful.
9.1.2
Glenfada Park North
Mr McGee walked through the alleyway in the southwestern corner of Glenfada Park North and saw the bodies of Jim Wray and William McKinney. He knew both men. He does not recall seeing a third body. Mr McGee picked up a couple of pebbles and a small, brown-handled steak knife which were lying beside James Wray. He also picked up a pair of glasses belonging to William McKinney.
Mr McGee said that he saw people at the gable end of Glenfada Park North and by the rubble barricade. He did not see soldiers at this point.
9.1.3
Rocking Chair Pub
Mr McGee was a barman in the City Hotel and would sometimes help out at the Rocking Chair pub. He does not recall the occasion when Dr McClean went to the Rocking Chair Pub to find out information about the march. Mr McGee does recall that the gossip in the pub was that the IRA would stand down.
9.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES
9.2.1
Abbey Park/Glenfada Park North
Mr McGee saw the body of Gerry McKinney in Abbey Park. He did not see any soldiers but said that he could hear shooting at this stage. He could not tell where the shooting was coming from.
Mr McGee said that he stood next to Gerry McKinney’s body for a few moments and said that he was in a state of shock and was not thinking clearly at the time. He does not recall seeing anyone carried out of the alleyway before he went through it into Glenfada Park North.
Mr McGee sat next to the body of James Wray because he knew him. He picked up a watch belonging to Mr Wray.
9.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
9.3.1
William Street
Mr McGee said that when Damien Donaghy fell down in front of him, he had nothing in his hands. He agreed that he could not say that nothing Mr Donaghy had done could be misunderstood as aggression.
9.3.2
Mrs Shiels’ house
When Mr McGee was inside Mrs Shiels’ house someone said ‘the Brits are shooting.’ He did not think it was IRA fire. He knew that Damien Donaghy and John Johnston were in the house and thought there might have been a third casualty.
9.3.3
Glenfada Park North
Mr McGee does not know why he picked up the steak knife, watch, glasses and pebbles. Mr Glasgow suggested that Mr McGee took them because he wanted to ensure that it could not be said those who were killed had been doing anything wrong. Mr McGee said this had never entered his head.
Mr McGee said that James Wray might have been alive when he saw him. Mr Wray may have moved his head.
10
JIM DOHERTY’S EVIDENCE
10.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
10.1.1
Barrier 14
Mr Doherty saw soldiers standing in the second floor of the derelict building above McCools’ sweetshop. He was about 15 or 20 yards back from barrier 14. When the water cannon was used he took cover in a shop window. He said the water cannon and gas caused people to move back towards the junction with Rossville Street. Some people remained and continued to throw stones. The soldiers came through the barrier later.
10.1.2
Junction of Rossville Street and William Street
Mr Doherty now thinks he may be mistaken in placing John Johnson and Damien Donaghy as being shot at the junction of Rossville Street and William Street. He recalls hearing two live bullets and he saw Mr Donaghy fall. He then saw Mr Johnson, who was standing to the right of Damien Donaghy get shot. He thinks that it was a matter of seconds between the shootings. Mr Doherty said the noise of gunfire seemed to come from the troops on the roof of the GPO.
Mr Doherty followed the group carrying the injured men to Mrs Shiels’ house. He saw some camera crews being told by the crowd to go away.
10.1.3
Glenfada Park
Mr Doherty made his way to the Glenfada Park area and heard high velocity gunfire. He said the shooting seemed to be coming from William Street up towards the flats and from the walls. He said he saw soldiers in the gaps on the Derry Walls, looking at him through binoculars. When he looked at the northern end of Glenfada Park North, he saw soldiers and APCs pulling up on the waste ground at Pilots Row and Eden Place.
When he was at the gable end of Glenfada Park North he saw bullets striking the brickwork. Mr Doherty said at that time, people were running everywhere. He was shown a photograph of damage to the brickwork and thinks that this is the damage that he had seen. He cannot be sure of the exact position he was in when he saw the brickwork splintering.
Mr Doherty recalls hiding in a garden with Gerard McKinney. He thinks they may have been together for between five and 15 minutes. He said there were about 50 to 100 people trying to take cover. Mr Doherty left Glenfada Park when he heard that the soldiers were coming. He did not see any of the shooting in Glenfada Park North.
10.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
10.2.1
‘Aggro Corner’
Mr Doherty was questioned about his use of the name ‘Aggro Corner’ in his statement to the BSI. He said that the statement taker had used the term whilst taking his statement. It was not a name that he would normally use. He could not remember whether people in the community would refer to ‘Aggro Corner.’ Mr Doherty said that nobody had suggested there was anything sensitive about the name.
10.2.2
Damien Donaghy and John Johnston
Mr Doherty had not seen Mr Donaghy or Mr Johnston before they were shot. When the shots were fired, he did not see anyone in their direction, throwing missiles.
10.2.3
Gable end Glenfada Park North
Mr Doherty agreed that he would not have been on the Rossville Street side of the gable end when he saw the brickwork splintering.
11
MONICA McDAID’S EVIDENCE
11.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
11.1.1
William Street
Mrs McDaid saw about 14 to 18 people on the laundry waste ground. She saw a boy at the gable end of Nooks Bar who went to retrieve a rubber bullet after a shot was fired. There was another shot and the boy stumbled. Mrs McDaid turned away and when she looked back saw three or four men helping the boy.
A short time later, she heard two more shots. She was unable to say whether it was a matter of minutes or seconds. Mr Johnson, who was looking north onto William Street, stumbled.
11.1.2
Little Diamond
Mrs McDaid made her way to Fahan Street West and reached a makeshift barricade that was at the junction of Frederick Street and Little Diamond. Father Mulvey and Eddie McAteer were standing at the barricade. Some shooting started and Father Mulvey pulled Mrs McDaid down and said that the shooting was from the walls. Mrs McDaid said that the shooting seemed to go on for some time but she kept her head down. Mr Clarke said that Father Mulvey had not mentioned the shots from the walls in his evidence at the Widgery Inquiry.
11.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
11.2.1
William Street
Mrs McDaid said that she had been badly affected by the CS gas in William Street and agreed that others would have been suffering from it as well. She said that Damien Donaghy had not put his head around the corner of Nooks Bar to look into William Street.
11.2.2
Little Diamond
In Father Mulvey’s 1972 statement, he said he had heard at least one burst of automatic fire. Mrs McDaid recalls hearing plenty of sharp shots but she said that she would not know the difference between automatic fire and other shooting.
12
EILEEN DOHERTY’S EVIDENCE
12.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
12.1.1Mass
Mrs Doherty said that she had been told by other parishioners at mass that morning that the paras were in the area. She thinks that she attended 10am mass at St Eugene’s.
12.1.2
William Street and Kells Walk
Mrs Doherty was standing at the junction of Rossville Street and William Street when she heard one shot. She turned south and saw a man running from the alley by Kells Walk, shouting that someone had been shot. She heard more shooting from the Chamberlain Street area.
Mrs Doherty saw the body of a boy carried into a house in Kells Walk and somebody told her that it was John Young. She cannot recall what the boy was wearing. She recalls that there were a lot of people round him at that stage. Mrs Doherty said that Mrs Gumbleton came out with a blanket and the boy was carried into the house.
12.1.3
Rossville Street
Mrs Doherty recalls seeing soldiers running behind the crowd. She said the soldiers were shooting as they went. She ran south down Rossville Street and was conscious of the shooting. She cannot recall passing the rubble barricade. Mrs Doherty saw the body of Hugh Gilmore.
12.1.4
Blucher Street/Westland Street
Later, Mrs Doherty crossed the Bog Road to Blucher Street. She saw crowds of people running towards the Creggan and she could see the light of tracer bullets going up the street. She said the bullets seemed to be going over everybody’s head.
12.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
12.2.1
William Street/Kells Walk
There was no immediate activity when Mrs Doherty heard the first shot. The crowd had stopped and began to move again. Mrs Doherty turned south into Rossville Street. A man came out from Kells Walk and shouted that a boy had been shot. Mrs Doherty said that suddenly, there seemed to be shooting all around.
12.2.2
First Aid Posts
Mrs Doherty did not know anything about the first aid posts set up on Bloody Sunday. In 1969, she had been a member of a group set up in the Bogside, called the Civil Defence Association. She was no longer a member of the group at the time of Bloody Sunday.
13
THOMAS McDAID’S EVIDENCE
13.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
13.1.1
William Street
Mr McDaid saw soldiers in the Abbey Taxis building in the windows facing Rossville Street. He heard at least one, possibly more rubber bullets fired. He then heard a live bullet. He said that both he and his wife were amazed because there was no activity in the area. Mr McDaid said that Damien Donaghy was the only boy in the area, the rest were adults.
Mr McDaid said that everyone was startled when they heard the live shot. He said Damien Donaghy went to move but his legs buckled. Two more shots rang out and he saw John Johnston, who was standing facing north, get shot in the leg and arm. Mr McDaid said that it was a matter of seconds in between the two shootings.
13.1.2
Little Diamond
Mr McDaid recalls Father Mulvey telling his wife to get down because of shooting from the walls. He said that these were the first shots he heard after the shooting of Damien Donaghy and John Johnston. He did not get the impression; the shooting was directed at him.
Mr Clarke put Father Mulvey’s evidence to Mr McDaid. Mr McDaid could not say for definite that he had heard automatic fire. He cannot recall Father Mulvey looking to see whether there was a sniper on top of the high flats. He said that they were only at the Little Diamond for five minutes.
14
FRANCIS BROLLY’S EVIDENCE
14.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
14.1.1
IRA
Mr Brolly had never experienced a civil rights march where the IRA used the crowd as cover.
14.1.2
William Street
News started to filter back through the crowd that the Army were firing live bullets. Mr Brolly said that people dismissed this as rumour and he thinks that people were reluctant to believe it.
Mr Brolly made his way back up William Street and he saw a young man being carried by 3 or 4 men. The boy was lying on his side and his ear was full of blood. He does not know how the boy had been injured but got the impression that when people said he had been shot, they meant by a live bullet. Mr Brolly does not know where the boy was taken to and said that Michael McGuinness had not been one of the men carrying the boy. By this stage, the march had largely dispersed.
14.1.3
Cathedral
Mr Brolly walked to the cathedral to try and get back to the Strand Road bus station. Soldiers spread-eagled him and others against the railings of the cathedral. He said that the soldiers seemed agitated. Mr Brolly said that normally the Security Forces would tell the detainee when they were allowed to go. In this case, Mr Brolly said the soldiers just seemed to melt away. He said that he stayed spread-eagled against the rails until he thought it was safe to go.
14.1.4
City Hotel
Mr Brolly said that the City Hotel was a place where people connected with the civil rights movement would meet with journalists. When he discovered that no one else had returned to the coach, he went to look for them at the City Hotel. As he entered the hotel bar, Brendan Duddy was arguing with Martin Lewis of ITN over the content of his report.
15
EAMONN GALLAGHER’S EVIDENCE
15.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
15.1.1
Mass
Mr Gallagher attended mass at the cathedral. He recalls Father O’Neill telling the congregation that the cathedral was surrounded by the Army and that they should go home quietly. The priest did not refer to the march.
15.1.2
Kells Walk gunman
Mr Gallagher saw a man with a rifle by the north entrance of Kells Walk. A group of 4 or 5 men took the rifle off the man and dismantled it. Mr Gallagher heard one of the men say ‘there is going to be no shooting here today.’ All of this took place at ground level. Mr Gallagher did not know any of the men but got the impression that they knew the man with the rifle because of the way he handed the rifle over to him. Just after the men had dismantled the rifle, shooting started from another area. Everybody began to run across Rossville Street.
15.1.3
Injured man, bodies thrown into APC and arrests
Mr Gallagher ran around the back of Columcille Court. He believes that he went inside a house that faced onto Rossville Street. Mr Gallagher said he looked out from the house and saw someone fall. Nobody would go outside to get the man because they were scared. He saw soldiers moving along Rossville Street, with rifles at the ready. He also saw two APCs on the waste ground around Eden Place. Mr Gallagher saw soldiers throwing bodies into the APCs. He thought the bodies were soldiers because they were being put into an APC.
Mr Gallagher said that he saw men walking northwards up Rossville Street. He could see soldiers walking infront of the group of men. Two of the men inside the house went outside and carried the man he had seen fall earlier. He was told later that this man was William McKinney.
Mr Gallagher said that he was not familiar with the area when Mr Clarke suggested he might have taken cover in a house in Abbey Park rather than one on Rossville Street.
15.1.4
Sunday Times archive
The Sunday Times archive contains notes of an interview of Mr Gallagher by journalist John Barry. Mr Gallagher said he remembered speaking to a man from the Sunday Times in the City Hotel but he does not remember having an interview.
Mr Gallagher said that he is certain he did not say parts of the Sunday Times account. He was not present when rubber bullets were fired at youngsters. He had not said the man with the gun wanted to go on the roof. He did not hear anyone say ‘where are the IRA now.’
The notes record Mr Gallagher having said he saw two soldiers walk across his line of vision whilst he was in the Glenfada Park/Abbey Park area. The soldiers appeared to be in Rossville Street and both had rifles at their hips. He clearly recalls seeing a young man suddenly swing around the corner of the alley towards him and fall in one movement. He also recalls a soldier stepping over the body.
15.1.5
Locations
Mr Gallagher said that he was definitely in the house that William McKinney was taken into but he is unable to specify the name of the street. Mr Clarke said that it would have been possible to see a portion of Rossville Street from Abbey Park.
He recalls seeing another body on the left hand side of the house that he was in. He recalls hearing someone say that they should take the body to Cardonnagh hospital. The Sunday Times notes record that Mr Gallagher assumed that the gunman had been wounded. Mr Gallagher said that he definitely had not said that. He would have no idea where people with gunshot wounds were taken.
15.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES
15.2.1
Locations
Mr Gallagher had not seen the Sunday Times notes when he gave his statement to the BSI and had not read through them before giving oral evidence.
Mr Finnegan suggested that the young man that Mr Gallagher had seen coming around the corner was James Wray and that he was mistaken in assuming it was William McKinney. He also suggested that the soldiers Mr Gallagher had seen were in Glenfada Park North rather than Rossville Street.
Mr Gallagher disagreed with Mr Finnegan’s suggestion that
his 1972 account, which said that he had heard three shots before he had seen
the gunman at Kells Walk, was more likely to be accurate than his BSI statement.
In his BSI statement Mr Gallagher has said that there was no shooting
before he saw the gunman.
16
FRANK BRADLEY’S EVIDENCE
16.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
16.1.1
William Street
Mr Bradley was in an alleyway off William Street when he tried to take a shortcut by climbing over a wall. When he saw soldiers to the south of William Street he ran down into Rossville Street.
16.1.2
Rossville Street
Mr Bradley saw a body on the ground in between Pilot Row and the entrance to the car park of Rossville Flats. He did not know whether the person had been shot or hit by a gas canister.
He continued to run down Rossville Street. Before he crossed the barricade he could see people lying flat on the ground, taking cover.
He said he heard cracks and saw bullets ricocheting off the walls at Glenfada Park North.
He recalls seeing a man running from block 2 of the flats in a crouched position. He said that he learned later that this was Mr McGuigan.
16.1.3
1972 statement
Mr Bradley said that he had told the statement taker in 1972 that he had seen troops inside the Bogside but they had not taken it down.
16.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF NICRA
16.2.1
Barrier 14
Mr Bradley said that he was at the bottom of William Street when the march stopped. He heard rubber bullets being fired and felt the effects of gas. Mr Bradley said that people started to run and came back saying the troops were stopping them from getting out of the areas.
16.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
Mr Glasgow said that he adopted the suggestion that Mr Bradley could be mistaken in thinking troops were to the south of William Street at the time that the march stopped.
Timetable proceedings
Monday 15 Para 1 to Para 3
Tuesday 16 Para 4 to 7
Wednesday 17 Para 8 to 11
Thursday 18 Para 12 to end
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
