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19 - 22 NOVEMBER 2001
This week, the Tribunal heard evidence from Joseph Mahon who was shot in the leg in Glenfada Park North and Eibhlin Lafferty, the Knight of Malta who ran into the courtyard and ordered the soldiers to stop shooting.
John Kelly, the brother of Michael Kelly, gave evidence about the soldiers’ treatment of the bodies brought to the morgue.
Ursula Clifford who, with Dr Swords, attended to Gerard Donaghy in a house in Abbey Park told the Tribunal that she did not see any nail bombs on Mr Donaghy. John Stevenson was in the room when Dr Swords examined Mr Donaghy. He said that Mr Donaghy’s pockets had been searched for identification and there were no bombs in them.
The BSI is investigating matters which have arisen from a book recently published by the northern editor of the Sunday Times. The Tribunal was told that the book contains material about Bloody Sunday which has not previously come to the attention of the BSI.
A full transcript of proceedings is available at http://www.bloody-sunday-inquiry.org.uk
1
JOSEPH MARTIN GALLAGHER’S EVIDENCE
1.1 QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
1.1.1
Magilligan
Mr Gallagher saw paras beating people into the sand at Magilligan. He is not sure whether that was before or after the crowd had entered the prohibited area beyond the wire fence.
1.1.2
Glenfada Park North
Mr Gallagher saw a man lying on the ground against a fence along the southern side of Glenfada Park North. He did not see any blood on the man and said that it was possible that the man was hiding.
Mr Gallagher saw Jim Wray falling in front of him. Mr Gallagher carried on running past Mr Wray and the first person that he had seen lying against the fence.
There were people running everywhere but he does not remember anyone immediately around Mr Wray. Mr Gallagher recognised Jim Wray.
Mr Gallagher saw a soldier come into Glenfada Park North from Columbcille Court. The soldier was shooting from his waist and was firing steadily. He was not aiming or looking through the sight of his gun.
The soldier had fair hair. Mr Gallagher is not sure whether he saw the soldier before or after he saw Mr Wray fall.
Mr Gallagher bent down and tried to drag Mr Wray but he did not manage to get hold of him because when he bent down, he felt a shot go through his hair. Two more shots were fired at him and they hit the wall two or three feet away from him.
Mr Gallagher said that another man was shot in the courtyard who he now knows to be Joe Friel. He is not sure if Joe Friel was shot before or after Jim Wray. He saw blood pumping out of Mr Friel’s mouth.
Mr Gallagher said that he could not estimate the number of shots fired whilst he was in the courtyard. There could have been more than one soldier.
1.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
1.2.1
Barrier 14
Mr Gallagher said that he is in no doubt that he heard live shots as the soldiers ran from William Street down Rossville Street.
1.2.2
Glenfada Park North
Mr Gallagher recalls one soldier shooting. He agreed that if the soldier was in the position that he had marked on his map, he would not have been able to hit the wall.
Mr Gallagher said that when he saw Mr Wray fall, there was still a number of people around Glenfada Park North. They were all running.
2 WILLIAM NELIS’S EVIDENCE
2.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
2.1.1
Aggro Corner
Mr Nelis was on the march with two of his sons, Donncha and Peter. He lost sight of them and decided to look for them. He saw his youngest son in a group of youths at Aggro Corner with Joseph Mahon. He did not see any of the youths throwing stones but said that this would have been their aim. Mr Nelis took his son away and said that Mr Mahon was still there when they left.
Mr Nelis said that he would have described the junction of William Street and Rossville Street as ‘Aggro Corner.’ Little James Street.
2.1.2
Columbcille Court and Kells Walk
Mr Nelis saw two gas canisters land at each exit of Columbcille Court. He thought that the gas was fired from Little James Street.
As he ran down the ramp in Kells Walk leading to Glenfada Park North, he heard two high velocity shots. There were no other civilians in that part of Columbcille Court, apart from Mr Nelis and his son.
2.1.3
Lisfannon Park and Abbey Park
Mr Nelis went inside a house in Lisfannon Park and saw a young man lying on the floor with a gun shot wound to his chest. The young man was about 17 or 18 years old.
Mr Nelis then went into a house in Abbey Park. He saw Joseph Mahon who had been injured.
Mr Nelis identified himself in a photograph of the group that was gathered around Gerard McKinney’s body on the steps at Abbey Park.
2.1.4
South of the Rossville Flats
Mr Nelis saw the body of Bernard McGuigan on the south side of the Rossville Flats.
2.1.5
IRA
Mr Nelis said that at the time of Bloody Sunday, neither he nor any member of his family had any connection with either branch of the IRA.
2.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
2.2.1
Joseph Mahon
Mr Nelis said that he is not entirely sure of the number of the house that he saw Joseph Mahon in.
3 PATSY MURPHY’S EVIDENCE
3.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
3.1.1
Glenfada Park
Ms Murphy lived in Dublin at the time of Bloody Sunday. She came to Derry for the march and went with her friends, Nell McCafferty and Nuala O’Donnell.
Ms Murphy remembers a lot of confusion and followed Ms McCafferty and Ms O’Donnell to a small balcony.
Ms Murphy said that people in the crowd started shouting that the Army were shooting. She ran into a house in Glenfada Park North. She heard gunfire which did not seem too far away. She remembers an old lady making tea and some young men who ran through the front of the house and then out of a window. Ms Murphy does not recall hearing a bathroom window shattering.
Ms Murphy saw a motionless body lying face down on the courtyard. She could see two figures who she thought were soldiers who were looking around a corner.
Ms Murphy went outside with Ms McCafferty and Ms O’Donnell and they went to the body lying in the courtyard.
3.1.2
Praxis notes
Ms Murphy remembers talking to a man from Praxis over the telephone. She does not remember saying that people in the crowd had opened up on the soldiers first. She did not see people lying on the ground at the rubble barricade. Ms Murphy did not see any civilian gunmen on the day.
3.1.3
Nell McCafferty’s statement
Ms Murphy was asked about Nell McCafferty’s statement to the BSI. In the statement, Ms McCafferty said that she had seen two teenagers with rifles and had told them to put their rifles away. The two boys disappeared and shortly afterwards Martin McGuinness had arrived. Ms Murphy does not recall this and said that she would not have recognised Martin McGuinness at the time.
3.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
3.2.1
Civilian gunmen
Ms Murphy said that she had not talked to Ms McCafferty and Ms O’Donnell about Bloody Sunday. She had never heard the suggestion that they should keep quiet about the two young men that Ms McCafferty had seen with rifles.
Ms Murphy remembers watching the evening news broadcasts on Bloody Sunday. She said that there were a lot of people in Nell McCafferty’s house and there was outrage at the media representation of the events.
Ms Murphy said that Nell McCafferty did not say anything about keeping quiet about the two young men with rifles.
4 URSULA CLIFFORD’S EVIDENCE
Mrs Clifford was a nurse at Altnagelvin Hospital at the time of Bloody Sunday.
4.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
4.1.1
Free Derry Corner
Mrs Clifford went to the meeting at Free Derry Corner with her aunt, Bridie Sharkey. Gunfire started and the two tried to make their way back to Miss Sharkey’s flat in Glenfada Park South.
Mrs Clifford said that she was not conscious of gunfire as they left Free Derry Corner.
4.1.2
Gerard McKinney
Mrs Clifford said that she came upon the body of a man she believes to have been Gerard McKinney. The people around Mr McKinney said that he had had a heart attack. Mr McKinney was lying on his back with his eyes closed. Mrs Clifford believed that she felt a faint pulse.
Mrs Clifford said that she believes that the man was Gerard McKinney because of his age group and the type of gloves that she remembers him wearing. (Mrs Clifford had located the position of Mr McKinney as in Glenfada Park North on the map she provided with her statement.)
4.1.3
South of the Rossville Flats
After she had tended to Mr McKinney, Mrs Clifford went into her aunts flat. She looked across to the Rossville Flats and saw two bodies. Mrs Clifford’s aunt crossed the road with two blankets to place over the bodies which were lying south of Block 1.
Mrs Clifford placed a blanket over the body of Hugh Gilmore. She is not sure whether she did the same with Bernard McGuigan. She was shown a sequence of photographs of Mr McGuigan. Mrs Clifford recalls removing a jacket that had been placed over Mr McGuigan.
Father Mulvey came to tend to the bodies and Mrs Clifford crossed back into Glenfada Park North.
4.1.4
Glenfada Park North/Abbey Park
Mrs Clifford met Dr Swords and an ambulance arrived. She called to the ambulance man to bring the ‘minute man,’ which was a piece of equipment for resuscitation.
Mrs Clifford went with Dr Swords to see a patient in a house in the Abbey Park area. She saw a youth lying face down in the hallway. He was lying with his arms up above his head. The youth had been shot in the back and was dead. Mrs Clifford never found out what the youth was called.
4.1.5
Gerard Donaghy
Mrs Clifford was asked to look at another person. She was taken to a sitting room which may have been in the house where she had seen the man in the hallway or a different house.
She saw a youth lying on his back on a couch. He looked about 13 or 14 years old and was wearing tight blue jeans. The boy was wounded in his abdomen and Mrs Clifford confirmed that they matched the diagram that the BSI has which indicate the position of Gerard Donaghy’s injuries.
Mrs Clifford said that the zip on the boy’s jeans was fully open to allow access to his abdomen. She does not recall Dr Swords turning Mr Donaghy to feel for other injuries. She saw nothing bulky in his pockets. Mrs Clifford was kneeling over Mr Donaghy, assisting Dr Swords.
Mr Donaghy was carried out of the house and taken to a car. She was in the house for about 10 to 15 minutes until the car arrived. She stayed with Mr Donaghy the whole time. She said that if she had seen anything like a nail bomb in Mr Donaghy’s pockets she would have either removed it herself or would have asked someone else to.
4.1.6
Altnagelvin Hospital
Mrs Clifford went back to Altnagelvin that evening. She has no memory of who she treated.
Mrs Clifford said that she was aware of doctors and nurses treating people at first aid stations in the Bogside during the Battle of the Bogside in 1969. They were mostly treated for the effects of CS gas. She has no knowledge of people being treated outside of that.
Mrs Clifford said that after Bloody Sunday, a form had to be filled in if the staff suspected a patient had been involved in civil disturbance.
4.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
4.2.1
Free Derry Corner
Mrs Clifford said that she was waiting to hear Lord Brockway speak at Free Derry Corner. Then she heard continuous firing.
Mrs Clifford identified herself and her aunt in photographs of the scene at Free Derry Corner.
4.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
4.3.1
Free Derry Corner
Mrs Clifford said that she heard volleys of shots from behind her on Rossville Street.
4.3.2
Gerard Donaghy
Mrs Clifford agreed that there was no mention of Gerard Donaghy in her 1972 statement. When she first saw Mr Donaghy, his zip had been pulled down.
Mrs Clifford does not think it is possible that Gerard Donaghy had nail bombs in his pocket.
4.3.3
Leo Clifford’s evidence
Mrs Clifford’s husband will not be giving evidence at the Guildhall because of ill health. Mr Glasgow asked Mrs Clifford about his written evidence that he had seen a civilian gunman in Glenfada Park South.
Mrs Clifford had become separated from her husband during the march. She had not seen a civilian gunman.
Mrs Clifford said that she had not been aware of this incident because she had spent a lot of time immediately after Bloody Sunday at Altnagelvin. She had not seen anyone with guns. She said that her husband either does not know the name of the civilian gunman or has not revealed it to her.
5 JOHN STEVENSON’S EVIDENCE
5.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
5.1.1
Gerard Donaghy
Mr Stevenson took shelter in Raymond Rogan’s house at 10 Abbey Park. He said that he had not been there long when Gerard Donaghy was carried in. Mr Stevenson tried to calm a boy who was very distressed.
Mr Stevenson remembers that Mr Donaghy was wearing tight fitting jeans. Dr Swords examined Mr Donaghy for a few minutes. He is certain that no one undid Mr Donaghy’s jeans and that they were still done up when he was carried out of the house later. He did not pay particular attention to Mr Donaghy’s pockets but knows that Dr Swords went through them all looking for identification. Dr Swords also checked Mr Donaghy’s jacket pockets.
Mr Stevenson did not see anything in Mr Donaghy’s pockets. He did not think it was possible that he would have made nail bombs made with four inch nails.
5.1.2 Old
Bog Road
Mr Stevenson saw a number of people who he believed to be dead and wounded on the car park near to Lisfannon Park. He does not recall seeing ambulances.
5.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
5.2.1
Widgery Inquiry
Mr Stevenson gave evidence at the Widgery Inquiry. He said that he decided to give evidence because the church thought that something good would come from the Inquiry.
5.2.2
Gerard Donaghy
Mr Stevenson said that someone could have undone Mr Donaghy’s trousers whilst he was not looking. Dr Swords definitely searched for identification because they needed to inform people. Mr Donaghy had no nail bombs in his pockets.
6
EIBHLIN MAHON’S EVIDENCE (nee LAFFERTY)
6.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
6.1.1
First Aid Centres
Mrs Mahon does not recall which First Aid Centres were open on Bloody Sunday. She was asked about Robert Cadman’s evidence and said that she did not know about first aid posts at the Bogside Inn, Madden’s store or in the Creggan.
Mrs Mahon said that when the Troubles started, people would go to a first aid centre such as the candy shop. If the injury was serious, a doctor would be called and the doctor would decide whether the patient should be taken to hospital.
If a patient was taken to hospital it would be to Altnagelvin. If someone wanted to avoid arrest, they would go to Letterkenny hospital.
6.1.2
William Street
Mrs Mahon said that the CS gas was stinging her eyes and throat as she walked down William Street. The crowd was pushing to get away from the gas. People were moving west. Mrs Mahon moved back because of the gas and she heard a noise that may have been a shot.
Mrs Mahon arrived on the scene were two people had been shot. She found two first aiders, Mr Day and Mr Lafferty. She left after lending a hand.
6.1.3
Lisfannon Park
Mrs Mahon went into a house in Lisfannon Park and whilst she was there, a man, who she now knows to be Joe Friel, was brought in. She thought that he had been shot in the shoulder and remembers blood across his front.
Mrs Mahon remembers people running along Lisfannon Park, banging on doors and shouting ‘open up, they are using live rounds.’
6.1.4
Abbey Park
Mrs Mahon saw two bodies in Abbey Park. She ran across, still wearing her white coat and carrying her medical bag. Shooting was going on as she ran past the front of the Abbey Park houses and bullets were bouncing around her. She was shouting ‘do not shoot, first aid,’ but the shooting was continuous.
Mrs Mahon felt a whoosh as one bullet hit the side of her trousers. She grabbed her leg and dived to the ground. When she got home later that day, she found a singe mark in her trousers. Robert Cadman witnessed the shot being fired towards Mrs Mahon. She does not recall him shouting ‘do not move, stay where you are.’
Mrs Mahon did not notice a soldier, either when she was running up the alleyway or when she dived down. She tried to attend to Gerard McKinney and could see bodies to her right, lying in Glenfada Park North.
6.1.5
Glenfada Park North
As Mrs Mahon came out of the alleyway leading into Glenfada Park North, she saw a soldier about half way across the courtyard. The soldier was down on one knee and there were three or four other soldiers standing at the north east entrance to Glenfada Park North.
The soldier who was kneeling was not wearing a helmet. He had his rifle at his shoulder in the firing position, pointing towards the bodies at the southern end of the courtyard.
The soldiers at the northeast entrance were agitated and hyped up and were calling to each other. Mrs Mahon did not take her eyes off the soldier. He turned his gun towards her and she heard a shot. She did not see a flash from his gun or the recoil of the rifle. Somebody pulled her back by her neck and asked her if she was looking to get killed. She told the person not to be silly and that they would not shoot at a first aider. Mrs Mahon went out again because she wanted to go to the bodies.
Mrs Mahon walked out with her hands held out at shoulder level, shouting ‘do not shoot, do not shoot, first aid.’ She has the firm impression that there was another soldier at the northwest entrance. She heard a soldier shout ‘your white coats are a target, but your red heart is a better one.’ (The Knight of Malta coat had a heart emblazoned on the left hand breast pocket.) Mrs Mahon threw her first aid bag to the ground and kept her arms out, walking towards the bodies and looking at the soldiers.
The soldiers walked out of the courtyard backwards. The soldier who had been down on one knee walked out holding his gun at waist height and swinging it from side to side.
The people in the alleyway emerged and gathered around the bodies. Mrs Mahon stood with her arms outstretched until all the bodies had been taken away.
6.1.6
Knight of Malta statement
Mrs Mahon has no recollection of the incident described in her 1972 statement. It notes that she saw a young boy waving a hankie and shouting ‘surrender’ and being shot.
6.1.7
Sunday Times archive
Mrs Mahon said that she had never given a statement or interview to the Sunday Times. She does not think that she may have forgotten being interviewed and said that there are discrepancies in the notes and words that she would not have used.
The Sunday Times notes record Mrs Mahon going to south of the Rossville Flats and seeing a boy waving a hankie, shouting ‘surrender, surrender.’ Shooting started and the boy dropped to the ground but was not hit. Mrs Mahon does not recall this incident.
Mrs Mahon said that the account of her movements up to Columbcille Court is not accurate. She did not go to the Shiels’ house.
6.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
6.2.1
Timing
Mrs Mahon was in the house in Lisfannon Park for about 5 to 10 minutes. She then went to Abbey Park and tended to Gerard McKinney. Mrs Mahon could not give an idea of the time that she spent there.
6.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
6.3.1
Letterkenny hospital
Mrs Mahon said that she does not recollect ever taking anyone to Letterkenny hospital. She said that she knew there was a reference in Dr McClean’s book about this but she does not recall doing it.
6.3.2
Robert Cadman’s statement
Mrs Mahon said that she has no recollection of Mr Cadman shouting ‘drop down, do not move.’ She was focused on Gerard McKinney and heard and saw nothing else. She is definite that there was more than one shot fired at her when she was in Abbey Park.
6.3.3
Noel Kelly’s evidence
Mrs Mahon had her white coat on at all times. She had waved her white Knight of Malta bag.
6.3.4
1972 statement
Mrs Mahon had not referred to the soldier’s comment about her red heart being a target in her Knight of Malta statement. She said that she was young and traumatised by the events of Bloody Sunday. She did not understand the depth of what she had gone through.
6.3.5
Sunday Times notes
Mrs Mahon said that she did not ever have an interview with the Sunday Times. Sir Allan Green suggested that she had blanked out the interview. He said that the Sunday Times note had got the comment about the red heart and suggested that it could only have come from her.
6.4
FURTHER QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
6.4.1
Trousers
Mrs Mahon said that the singe in her trousers was on the right hand side of the right leg, at knee level.
7 CHARLES HASLETT’S EVIDENCE
Mr Haslett was a staff reporter in the Derry office of the Belfast Telegraph.
7.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
7.1.1
Abbey Park
Mr Haslett was about three quarters of the way across the courtyard when he heard shooting which seemed to be coming from Rossville Street.
Mr Haslett identified himself in the photograph showing the group gathered around Gerard McKinney. He went into Mr Rogan’s house.
Whilst he was in Mr Rogan’s house, he saw a doctor attending to a young man. He saw the young man carried from the house to a car. Mr Haslett did not notice any bulky objects in either the man’s coat or pockets.
7.1.2 1972
statement
In his 1972 statement, Mr Haslett said that he had seen a girl Knight of Malta throw herself beside the two bodies as shots rang out.
Mr Haslett agreed that it is possible that he helped to carry the body of the young man from Mr Rogan’s house to the car. He did not see any weapons or bombs in the young man’s pockets.
7.1.3
Glenfada Park South/Glenfada Park North
As Mr Haslett made his way back to the City Hotel, he met his friend Mr P K Doherty. He remembers they stood somewhere with their backs to a red brick wall and two shots hit the wall above their heads. He is not sure of the exact location of the wall.
7.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
7.2.1
William Street
Mr Haslett said that when he went back up William Street the tail end of the march had already got to Free Derry Corner. He agreed that there had been a clear separation between the civil rights marchers and those who wanted to riot.
7.2.2
City walls
Mr Haslett believes that three shots were fired from the city walls as he made his way up Fahan Street.
8
SEAMUS DOHERTY’S EVIDENCE
8.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
8.1.1
Glenfada Park North
Mr Doherty said that Eibhlin Lafferty had been standing in front of him in the alleyway. He saw her move into the courtyard. There was still shooting and he agreed that someone may have tried to stop her going out. Miss Lafferty shouted ‘stop that’ whilst the shooting was going on. One or two shots were fired and she ran back into the alleyway.
Mr Doherty saw Joe Mahon lying or sitting up in Glenfada Park North. People were carrying Mr Mahon through the alleyway. Mr Doherty did not see anyone else being carried through.
After the shooting had died down, Mr Doherty saw a soldier. The soldier had his back to Mr Doherty and was moving out of the courtyard.
9
LEO GALLAGHER’S EVIDENCE
9.1 QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
9.1.1
Stewarding
Mr Gallagher was at Creggan field preparing for the march to set off, when somebody organising the march gave him an armband and elected him as a steward. He cannot remember the instructions he was given or what route the march was going to follow.
9.1.2
Barrier 14
Mr Gallagher said that the stewards were instructed to join arms and hold the crowd back from the barrier. He does not recall any steward telling the marchers to hold their ground and not to back off from barrier 14. After the water cannon came out, Mr Gallagher decided not to stay and took off his armband and went down Chamberlain Street.
9.1.3
Riots as cover for gunmen
Mr Gallagher said that his brother had been wounded in the leg by a civilian gunshot during the course of a riot. His brother had been behind the Army when they were shot at by the IRA.
Mr Gallagher said that he was aware that gunmen would use the crowd in a riot as cover. He was not aware of crowds colluding with gunmen.
He cannot remember whether his brother was shot before or after Bloody Sunday.
9.1.4
Glenfada Park South/Lisfannon Park
Mr Gallagher heard three or four shots in quick succession. He had the general impression that they had been fired from the walls. His first thought was that the IRA had opened fire. He had no particular reason to think that the IRA would open fire that afternoon.
Mr Gallagher had the impression that the shots were coming from a high level. He looked up towards the walls. There was a lull in the shooting that allowed him to cross to Lisfannon Park. He crossed Fahan Street West with his hands held up.
Mr Gallagher followed a nurse and saw her working on someone who was lying on the ground. He thinks that the man was Gerard McKinney.
9.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
9.2.1
Riots
Mr Gallagher agreed that, if there was a gunman, the crowd would get out of the way and would come back once the gunman had left.
Mr Gallagher was familiar with rioting in Lower Road. He had heard of shooting during riots. He was not aware of any favoured places for IRA gunmen to go.
9.2.2
1972 statement
Mr Gallagher had not referred to being a steward in 1972 because the march was illegal and he did not want to give that information. He cannot recall whether he had withheld the information or the statement taker had.
10 SADIE McGINLEY’S EVIDENCE
10.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
10.1.1
Abbey Park/Columbcille Court
Mrs McGinley cut through Columbcille Court with her daughter as they made their way to her sister’s flat. She looked through a slatted fence.
She could hear shooting. She saw one man running as fast as he could through the alleyway between Glenfada Park North and Glenfada Park South. The man was over 20 years old and was thin and tall. Mrs McGinley heard a shot and said that the young man seemed to jerk and fall backwards. The young man was on his own and Mrs McGinley thought that he had been shot. She could not tell where the man had been injured. She did not see any soldiers but thinks that there was a soldier behind a wall to the west of the houses on the west side of Glenfada Park North.
10.1.2
Glenfada Park North
Mrs McGinley saw a man lying on the ground to the west of Glenfada Park North. She saw a woman come down from one of the flats with a blanket and some rosary beads.
Somebody told her that this man had been shot before the first man that she had seen.
10.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
10.2.1
Conversations about Bloody Sunday
Mrs McGinley found out that the second man she saw had been shot first in a conversation she had with someone a couple of days after Bloody Sunday. She only had one conversation about Bloody Sunday.
11
JOSEPH MAHON’S EVIDENCE
Joseph Mahon was 16 years old at the time of Bloody Sunday. He was shot in the leg as he ran across the southern side of Glenfada Park North.
11.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
11.1.1
Glenfada Park North
Mr Mahon said that after going to the Shiels’ house, he had been standing around for a moment or two when he heard the shout that the paras were coming in. He walked south into Glenfada Park North where he thought that he would be safe from any snatch squad.
As he walked through Glenfada Park North, he heard live bangs but it did not occur to him that live rounds were being fired. He said that it could have been a mixture of rubber bullets and live rounds. He reached the crowd of people at the gable wall of Glenfada Park North. Some of the people thought it was rubber bullets that were being fired. Others thought it was live ammunition.
Mr Mahon could see a few lads to the south of the rubble barricade, throwing stones at something further north. He could see soldiers to the north of Block 1, apparently carrying out an arrest operation. There was a melee of people running and soldiers running.
Mr Mahon said that he must have looked away from the rubble barricade for a few seconds and then looked back. He saw everyone lying on the ground, taking cover. Somebody shouted out something like ‘he’s been shot’ and the crowd at the gable end began panicking.
Mr Mahon agreed that there could have possibly have been an interval of a couple of minutes between him hearing that someone having been shot at the rubble barricade and seeing soldiers enter Glenfada Park North. He saw 4 or 5 paras coming through the northeastern entrance.
Mr Mahon recalls one soldier who was wearing a distinctive jacket entering the courtyard first. The soldier fired a number of shots from his hip in a fan movement. He was followed by at least three of four others. Mr Mahon ran with a group of 15 to 20 people. He does not recall whether there were any people in the body of the square. He did not see who the soldier was shooting at. He just fired into the crowd.
Mr Mahon was running along the south of the courtyard, banging on fences to see if anybody would open them. He had run 20 to 30 yards when he felt something hit him. He fell to the ground and lay sprawled on his stomach. He had no comprehension that he had been shot and thought that he had been hit with a rubber bullet.
Mr Mahon identified himself in the photograph which shows three bodies lying on the southern side of Glenfada Park North. He said that he was nearest to the fence. William McKinney can be seen lying in the gutter and James Wray was nearest to the alleyway leading into Abbey Park. Mr Mahon said that he was told later that the body closest to him was that of William McKinney.
Mr Mahon said that he did not see any confrontation with the soldiers. He did not see anyone with a weapon, bomb, fizzing object or stones. He had noticed a van parked in the corner. He did not see anything happening around it.
After he had seen the body of James Wray, Mr Mahon lay on his side. His face was looking towards the north. He saw the same para that he had seen shooting from the hip walk towards James Wray. The soldier made no move to search under William McKinney or Joseph Mahon. The soldier pointed his rifle at Mr Wray’s back and fired two shots at point blank range. Mr Mahon saw Mr Wray’s coat move twice.
The soldier walked into the alleyway leading into Abbey Park. Mr Mahon heard three or four more shots coming from Abbey Park and ringing out from behind him in Rossville Street. After some time, the soldier came back through the gap. Mr Mahon saw the soldier take his helmet off and wipe his forehead. Mr Mahon recalls that the soldier had blond hair. He identified him on the film footage which shows a line of arrestees being marched away.
Mr Mahon heard the soldier shout ‘I’ve got another one’ to someone who was directly behind him. He heard another voice shout ‘we’re pulling out, Dave.’ Mr Mahon said that ‘Dave’ and the blond soldier walked off in the direction of the north east entrance of Glenfada Park North.
Mr Mahon turned to look towards the north entrance and saw the same soldier standing diagonally across at the northeast entrance. The soldier got down on one knee and aimed his rifle at Mr Mahon who turned to look the other way. Mr Mahon heard a woman shout ‘do not shoot, first aid.’ It was Eibhlin Lafferty.
Mr Mahon then felt a hand on his shoulder and heard a Derry accent. It was Daniel Purchase.
Mr Mahon was taken to the McCourt house at 4 Abbey Park.
11.1.2
Sunday Times notes
Mr Mahon was interviewed by the Sunday Times team, the day after he was discharged from hospital on 2nd March.
Mr Mahon did not see a soldier positioned behind a van.
11.1.3 Fulvio
Grimaldi interview
Mr Mahon said that he remembers seeing people lying at the rubble barricade, but not shot. He has no idea what the reference in Mr Grimaldi’s article to the ‘other boy at the corner of the flats’ is.
Mr Mahon does not know what the reference to someone else in Glenfada Park North pretending to be dead is. He recalls the person lying just to his right in the courtyard speaking to him. The person had said ‘I’m hit, I’m hit.’
Mr Mahon is not aware of seeing a woman hit in the stomach with the butt of a rifle is.
11.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
11.2.1 Police
investigations
Mr Mahon said that whilst he was in hospital he was spoken to by Detective Sergeant Cudmore. He was never asked to hand over his clothing for forensic examination. He was never forensically examined. He was not approached by the Treasury Solicitors to make a statement about his injuries or what he had seen take place in Glenfada Park North. He was not asked to attend or give evidence at the Widgery Inquiry.
Mr Mahon said that according to his parents, one policeman advised his father to tell him to say nothing for his own safety. Mr Mahon’s father is still alive.
11.2.2
Glenfada Park North
Mr Mahon agreed that he was terrified when he was lying by the fence in Glenfada Park North. He must have laid there for minutes. He said that up to the time that James Wray was shot, he had eyes open. Then he shut them.
Mr Mahon said that the soldier who returned to Glenfada Park North, seemed to be resting. The soldier had taken his helmet off.
11.2.3
Photographs of soldiers G and H
Mr Mahon was shown photographs of Soldiers G and H. He identified Soldier G as one of the soldiers he had seen.
11.2.4
Bullet
Mr Mahon said that the hospital gave the bullet that had hit him to the police. He had asked for the bullet back a couple of years after Bloody Sunday but did not receive a reply.
11.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
Mr Glasgow told Mr Mahon that he would not be suggesting that he was armed in any way.
11.3.1
Glenfada Park North
Mr Mahon agreed that he thought Glenfada Park North would be a safe area. He said that was not because he could not be seen in Glenfada Park North. It was because the soldiers never came that far. He did not know whether Glenfada Park North could not be seen from the Observation Posts.
Mr Mahon said that he did not pay attention to the vehicles in Glenfada Park North.
Mr Mahon was standing on the pathway at the entrance of Glenfada Park South. He does not remember any cars in that corner but said that there could have been.
Mr Mahon did not see anyone carrying weapons in Glenfada Park North. He saw the person lying next to him when he had fallen to the ground.
Mr Mahon said that James Wray’s upper body was on the pavement. He did not see the soldier kick James Wray or roll him over in anyway.
11.3.2
Rubble barricade
Mr Mahon said that he saw stones being thrown from the rubble barricade. He did not see anyone crossing over the rubble barricade. He could not see what was being stoned.
11.3.3 Fulvio
Grimaldi interview
Mr Mahon said that he cannot remember Mr Grimaldi or being interviewed by him.
11.3.4
Sunday Times notes
Mr Mahon said that people were running back and forth in Glenfada Park North all the time.
Mr Mahon said that his parents knew about his account of the shooting of James Wray. He did not tell the Sunday Times team because he feared for his own life.
Mr Mahon said that there had been two journalists present when he gave the interview to the Sunday Times team. He cannot remember how long the interview lasted. He had not told them about James Wray being shot in the back as he lay on the ground.
11.4
FURTHER QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
11.4.1
Evidence about James Wray
Mr Mahon said that he had not told the Sunday Times about James Wray because he feared for his life. He was scared of the Security Forces.
12 JOHN KELLY’S EVIDENCE
John Kelly is the brother of Michael Kelly who was killed on Bloody Sunday.
12.1 QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE
TRIBUNAL
12.1.1
Barrier 14
Mr Kelly was with his friend Jim Lynch on the march. He watched what was taking place at barrier 14 and decided to go to Free Derry Corner to listen to the speeches.
12.1.2
Three-penny bits
Mr Kelly was taking cover behind the three-penny bits when he heard high velocity shots. He did not hear any other type of firing mixed in with the high velocity fire.
12.1.3
Lisfannon Park
Mr Kelly crossed over to Lisfannon Park and met his brother in law, George Cooley. Two shots hit the ground immediately in front of him. He said that he was not aware of anything that would cause the soldiers to shoot. Mr Kelly took a split second look at the walls and saw two or three soldiers on the walls. He thinks that the bullets were definitely fired from the walls as there were no other soldiers around.
12.1.4
Abbey Park
Mr Kelly saw the body of Gerard McKinney. He did not see any soldiers in that area.
Mr Kelly saw his other brother in law, George Downey. He went in the ambulance to Altnagelvin with his brother, Michael and Mr Downey.
12.1.5
Altnagelvin Hospital
Mr Kelly was sitting in a car outside Altnagelvin Hospital. He saw an APC arrive at the hospital. He watched the paras take three bodies into the hospital. He said that the paras dragged the bodies along the ground like animals. The soldiers showed no respect for the bodies.
Mr Kelly remembers the bodies being brought out again and thrown into the APC again and taken to the morgue. He said that the soldiers handled the bodies in the same way.
12.1.6
Timing
Mr Kelly estimated that the APC carrying the three bodies arrived at 5:50pm. He based this on the time he spent in the hospital and morgue and the time he waited for his father to arrive at the hospital.
Mr Roxburgh told the Tribunal that PC Hugh McCormack saw the APC arrive at 5:30pm. The mortuary register shows the admission time for Michael McDaid as 9:30pm but gives no time for John Young or William Nash.
13
PATRICK NORRIS’ EVIDENCE
13.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
13.1.1
Rubble barricade
Mr Norris walked down Rossville Street and stopped to have a chat with Michael Kelly. He said that Mr Kelly was not carrying a weapon, stone or any sort of missile. After 10 minutes, Mr Kelly said ‘here they come.’ Mr Norris said that Mr Kelly must have seen the Army coming down Rossville Street.
Mr Norris said that Mr Kelly almost immediately reached down to pick up a stone. He could not say what Mr Kelly was going to do. As Mr Kelly stood up again, he pulled his arm back and bent his body as if to throw the stone. Mr Norris said that it was then that Mr Kelly was shot.
13.1.2
Glenfada Park North
Mr Norris said that the mood at the gable end very quickly turned to anger. He does not recollect anyone at the gable end suggesting where a gun could be obtained or that the IRA might be fetched.
He then heard a much more concentrated burst of shooting. He could see bullets hitting the ground on both sides of the rubble barricade and the gable wall of Glenfada Park South.
Mr Norris saw Alexander Nash go out to the rubble barricade and then get shot. He saw a man crawling towards the entrance to Block 1 and his body jump off the ground.
13.1.3 1972 statement
Mr Norris does not remember making a tape recorded statement. He agreed that his age and address are correct at the top of the statement.
Mr Norris does not know why there is no reference to seeing Michael Kelly shot. There is no reference to the two boys trying to get into Glenfada Park South.
13.1.4 Arrest and
Fort George
Mr Norris said that a soldier came around the gable wall. He covered the crowd of people with his rifle and shouted ‘right, you are dead you Fenian bastards.’ Another soldier came around the gable end and knocked the first soldiers rifle up in the air. He shouted at the first soldier ‘do you not see, there is a fucking priest there.’
Mr Norris and others were loaded into APCs. They were punched and kicked with rifles.
Inside Fort George, Mr Norris remembers having his name and address written down. Mr Norris’s arrest form says that he was throwing stones and shouting abuse at the Security Forces in Glenfada Park. Mr Norris said that he had not done this. He was kept in the compound all evening and finally released just after midnight.
13.1.5
St Mary’s school
Mr Norris said that the car that drove him home from Fort George stopped at St Mary’s school in the Creggan. A girl with red hair wanted to attend to his bruises but he just wanted to go home.
Mr Norris does not remember seeing doctors, nurses or Knights of Malta at the school. He did not know to go to St Mary’s school. The people in the car had just left him there.
13.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
13.2.1
Michael Kelly
Mr Norris does not accept that he could be wrong about Michael Kelly. Mr MacDonald suggested that his recollection about where Michael Kelly was at the time he was shot was completely wrong.
Mr MacDonald told Mr Norris that the track of the bullet that killed Mr Kelly is consistent with him bending forwards rather than backwards. Mr Norris did not accept that his recollection that Mr Kelly appeared to be throwing a stone was wrong.
14 TREVOR McBRIDE’S EVIDENCE
Mr McBride was a freelance photographer on Bloody Sunday. He took the photographs which show the three bodies lying in Glenfada Park North.
14.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
14.1.1
Columbcille Court
Mr McBride was in William Street when he was approached by someone who told him that people had been shot.
He went to the Shiels’ house and saw Damien Donaghy and John Johnston there. He waited with Leo Day for about 15 minutes.
Mr McBride heard what he believed to be two bursts of continuous gunfire. His feeling was that the gunfire had come from Rossville Street.
Mr McBride saw a soldier at the corner of Frederick Street and Abbey Street. The soldier was running in a northeasterly direction.
At some stage, Mr McBride took two photographs looking through the northwest entrance of Glenfada Park North. The photographs show three bodies lying on the southern side of the courtyard.
14.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
14.2.1
Glenfada Park North
When Mr McBride took the two photographs of Glenfada Park North, he does not think there was shooting because it would have placed him in a vulnerable position.
Mr McBride moved to take the second photograph. He said that he would not disagree with the suggestion that the object that can be seen next to the fence on the eastern side of the courtyard was a helmet. Lord Gifford told the Tribunal that the fence was five foot six inches high.
15 FERGUS McATEER’S EVIDENCE
15.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
15.1.1
Civilian gunman
Mr McAteer saw a man with a rifle inside Columbcille Court. He recalls the man was at a slight elevation and could possibly have been in one of the staircases. He got the impression that the man had just arrived at the spot and had looked around. Mr McAteer said that the man was holding his rifle fairly low at his side. He saw two or three men usher or chase the gunman away. He saw the gunman withdraw.
Mr McAteer said that he had not see gunmen at civil rights marches. He has no clear recollection of marches involving riots. The objective and intention of the marches was dignified, non violent protest.
15.1.2
Rubble barricade
Mr McAteer was searching for his brother. He moved down the eastern side of Glenfada Park North and saw a body being carried across the courtyard.
Mr McAteer looked across Rossville Street and saw a man on the eastern side of the street who was crawling towards the doors of Block 1 of the Rossville Flats. The man was on his stomach and was pulling himself along in a painful way. Mr McAteer said that the man was wounded in his right leg.
Mr McAteer was not conscious of bodies on the rubble barricade. He was not aware of anyone sheltering behind the rubble barricade. He was not conscious whether anyone was around the man who was crawling.
15.1.3
Glenfada Park North
Mr McAteer was at the gable end of Glenfada Park North. He had not heard any talk of confronting the Army. The group at the gable wall were very frightened and terrified. From the moment he joined them, it was a group of people distinctively sheltering.
Mr McAteer said that suddenly he was aware of three figures running west towards the southwest alley leading to Abbey Park. The three men appeared as a group, as if they had decided to make a run for it together. They ran at speed and there was a burst of very loud fire which he knew had come from inside Glenfada Park North. All three men fell at the same time to the ground.
It was about that point, or just before the burst of shots, that he heard voices urging the people at the gable wall not to move. He interpreted it as a warning that the soldiers were closer. Mr McAteer was not aware of anyone other than the three men running. He agreed that the three men fell in the position as shown in the photograph of the south side of Glenfada Park North.
Mr McAteer said that he was not aware of any hostile activity by civilians in Glenfada Park North. The people at the gable wall were sheltering or trying to exit the area. He recalls the increasing amount of gunfire which was hitting masonry around them. All of the people at the gable end and wherever the voices were coming from where desperate to shelter or to get out of the way.
15.1.4
Arrest
Mr McAteer said that soldiers appeared at the gable end and arrested him and the other people there. At first, the soldiers seemed to be surprised at the number of people sheltering at the gable wall. The soldiers were incredibly agitated and excited. They were yelling and shouting. Their manner and demeanour was frightening. Mr McAteer said that them seemed strange and almost wild.
It was some minutes before the soldiers arrested the
people. There was hesitation
initially in the group of soldiers as to what to do.
Then there seemed to be a decision that they would arrest the people.
Mr McAteer said that the people at the gable wall were shouted at and openly intimidated. He did not notice any soldiers in Glenfada Park North other than those who flanked the arrestees. They were marched to Columbcille Court and were made to spread their arms and legs against the wall.
The group was then marched to Little James Street, where they were made to stand facing a wire fence with their hands placed high on it whilst they were searched.
Mr McAteer said that he was made to kneel down in a lorry and to sit on his heels with his head bent well forwards, facing towards the floor of the lorry. One or two soldiers got into the back of the lorry and may well have been physically abusing the arrestees close to them. He was not attacked at that stage.
15.1.5
Fort George
One by one, the people in the lorry were forced to their feet, spun around and thrown off the lorry into the middle of a gauntlet.
The minute he got off the lorry, he encountered the gauntlet. He burst through the door at the far end of the gauntlet and was immediately confronted by barking dogs on leads.
Mr McAteer was made to face the wall with his hands above his head, leaning on his fingertips.
Mr McAteer was at Fort George from 4:30pm until he was processed at 11:30pm. He was one of the last arrestees to be charged. His arrest photograph shows him standing next to Soldier E. The arrest form states that he was arrested whilst throwing stones in Rossville Street. Mr McAteer said that this was untrue and that he was not in Rossville Street at any stage of the day.
Mr McAteer had overheard soldiers arranging who would take which prisoner and arranging to fabricate evidence. He said that, after being formally charged, he received a summons and several petty session hearings were held. He received a letter saying that the charges against him had been withdrawn but did not receive an explanation.
Mr McAteer said that, whilst this pales into insignificance compared with what happened on the streets, he hoped that the Tribunal would cover the issue of people who had been incorrectly charged. He said that, from the discussions he had overheard, it was clear that the soldiers were deciding to parcel out the arrestees and make decisions about the form of charge. Lord Saville said that if any correspondence about Mr McAteer’s case comes to light, the BSI would pass it to him.
15.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
15.2.1
Magilligan
Mr McAteer said that he did not know which Regiment the soldiers who fired rubber bullets belonged to.
Mr McAteer is not sure what triggered the soldiers’ assault on the march. He had not seen any violent action by the marchers prior to the shooting at point blank range.
15.2.2
Glenfada Park North
Mr McAteer identified himself in a photograph of Glenfada Park North. He said that no one reached the three men before the soldiers. As the three men lay on the ground, he had not seen a weapon about them. Mr McAteer had not seen anyone with a smoking object, bomb, gun or weapon in Glenfada Park North.
15.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
15.3.1Arrest
Mr Glasgow told Mr McAteer that he would not suggest that he had been rioting. He said that it is plain that Soldier E’s identification of him must have been wrong. Mr Glasgow said that, in their evidence to the BSI, some of the arrestees have admitted that they were rioting. He said that in these cases, the soldiers’ identifications were right and lawful.
15.3.2
Glenfada Park North
Mr McAteer said that the impression that he had of the soldier who first appeared around the gable wall was that he was surprised by what confronted him. He was worried that the soldier might misunderstand the nature of the group and assume that there were individuals who would offer resistance or violence. Mr McAteer did not see anybody offer any aggression of any kind.
Mr McAteer only became aware of gunfire when he was trapped at the gable wall.
Mr McAteer agreed that he could understand the apprehension of a small number of soldiers confronted by a group of people that might contain men of violence. Mr McAteer pointed out that he belonged to a terrified group.
15.3.3 Arrest and
Fort George
Mr McAteer said that he was searched against the wire fence and was warned not to look around. Mr Glasgow said that the soldiers were intimidating the group to stay where they were. Mr McAteer said that the balance of power lay with the soldiers because they were armed.
Whilst he was at Fort George, there were two more lots of prisoners delivered.
Mr McAteer recalls more than one soldier discussing how to apportion the arrestees. He remembers Soldier E telling him what he was going to say about him. Mr McAteer could not say whether Soldier E had been involved in the discussion that he had overheard.
Mr McAteer said that Terence O’Keefe may have overheard an officer instruct Soldier F to pick him out but it had not been within his own ear shot.
15.3.4 1972
statement
Mr McAteer made a statement in 1972 for the Irish Government. He made no reference to seeing a civilian gunman. He said that his 1972 statement was incomplete in many respects. He had started from what he witnessed from the gable wall. He did not see any causal connection between his glancing the man with the rifle and the events he witnessed.
16
NELL McCAFFERTY’S EVIDENCE
16.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
16.1.1
Morning of Bloody Sunday
Ms McCafferty went for a walk on the morning of Bloody Sunday, with her friend Nuala O’Donnell. As she passed the Long Tower Church, a para said ‘good morning, it is a lovely day for a killing, is it not.’ The soldiers had red berets on.
16.1.2
Bogside Inn
Ms McCafferty was milling around some flats opposite the Bogside Inn. She saw two male teenagers with red hair appear out of a stairwell with two rifles. A group of women told them off and the teenagers backed up the stairwell.
Shortly after this, Martin McGuinness arrived in the area. People told him about the two teenagers with guns and that they should not be let out. Mr McGuinness looked anxious and startled.
Ms McCafferty and her two friends headed back in a northerly direction to see how the riot was progressing.
16.1.3
Rubble barricade
Ms McCafferty stood on a low wall adjacent to the rubble barricade. She said that there were about 30 people standing on or around the rubble barricade. She saw APCs advance down Rossville Street at speed.
The APCs stopped around the entrance to the Rossville Flats. As the soldiers jumped out she heard rubber bullets and rifle fire.
Ms McCafferty recalls three young men on the rubble barricade fall to the ground. She has no idea why she did not put this in her 1972 statement because she had written it in her article for the Irish Times on 31st January 1972.
16.1.4
Glenfada Park North
Ms McCafferty went into a house on the southwest end of Glenfada Park North. Whilst she was lying on the floor, she heard shots and footsteps simultaneously. She let three men in through the front door who immediately exited through a window at the rear of the house into the Glenfada Park South courtyard. The men were about 20 years old and she did not see them with weapons.
Ms McCafferty resumed her position on the floor and heard more shooting. She looked out of the window of the house and saw James Wray approach and fall to the ground. She was not aware of any other man running in the same direction as Mr Wray.
Ms McCafferty recalls soldiers in the northeast corner of the courtyard. Her 1972 statement records her seeing 30 people walking in single file back through the courtyard and seeing a para strike a protesting woman across the face with his rifle and kick her in the stomach.
She recalls seeing a female Knight of Malta jump up and down as bullets were fired at her feet.
At some stage, Ms McCafferty remembers seeing soldiers tossing bodies into the back of an APC.
16.1.5 Praxis notes
Ms McCafferty said she remembers being interviewed for a television documentary. The note states ‘says Paddy Doherty was in the IRA.’
Ms McCafferty said that she had only discovered this morning that one of the deceased on Bloody Sunday was a man called Patrick Doherty. She said that since she had written a book about Peggy Deery, whose son Paddy joined the IRA, she presumed that she had been talking about Paddy Deery and the interviewer misheard her.
16.1.6
Peggy Deery
Ms McCafferty said that Peggy Deery had died by the time she started writing the book. The description of Mrs Deery’s shooting had presumably come from the Deery family.
16.1.7
Martin McGuinness
Ms McCafferty said that she had not discussed Bloody Sunday with Mr McGuinness.
16.1.8
Sunday Times archive
Ms McCafferty did not know the Provos in Derry in January 1972. She knew the Stickies and said that her understanding was that there would be no guns on the march.
Ms McCafferty will continue giving evidence next week.
17 HEARING ABOUT FRANCIS KEENAN
Lord Saville asked Mr Francis Keenan who represents the NICRA executive to answer questions on why he had not responded to correspondence from the BSI.
The Tribunal asked Mr Keenan why he had not responded to their requests for statements from his clients since May. Mr Keenan said that he had problems contacting the clients and had only wanted to respond when he had positive information.
Lord Saville told Mr Keenan that his conduct had seriously impeded the BSI. He said that the Tribunal took the unanimous view that his conduct was unacceptable and his explanations were unconvincing. The Tribunal had considered but on this occasion decided not to refer the matter to Mr Keenan’s professional body.
Mr Keenan gave the Tribunal an undertaking that he would properly cooperate with the BSI and do his best to obtain statements from his clients.
18 ARTICLE IN SUNDAY TIMES 18 NOV 2001
Mr Treacy drew the Tribunal’s attention to an article that appeared in the Sunday Times about a book on Martin McGuinness written by Liam Clarke and Kathryn Johnson.
Mr Treacy said that he was surprised that four years after the BSI had been set up and shortly before sector 4 of the civilian evidence is being completed, material about Bloody Sunday is now coming to light.
Mr Roxburgh said that the BSI is making inquiries, as it appears that the book contains material that had not previously come to the BSI’s attention. He said that the Sunday Times had made all of the archive material from the Insight team’s investigations in 1972 available to the BSI. However the BSI has not received any assurances from the Sunday Times about research carried out for the book on Mr McGuinness.
Timetable of proceedings
Monday 19
paras 1 to 4 and 18
Tuesday 20
paras 5 to 9
Wednesday 21
paras 10 to 13 and para 17
Thursday 22
paras 14 to 16
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
