Sir,—It was with great disappointment that I read the recent volume of History Ireland (HI 30.1, Jan./Feb. 2022). The entire magazine omitted any reference whatsoever to one of the most significant historical events to take place in Ireland over the past 50 years. Regardless of one’s perspective, the events of 30 January 1972, known to the world as Bloody Sunday, forever changed the fabric of the Six Counties in Ireland and the conflict in the North. The fact that British soldiers shot 26 unarmed civilians, fourteen of whom were murdered and six of whom were seventeen-year-old boys, brought to the world’s attention the injustices that had been part and parcel of the lives of Irish Catholics in Derry in particular, and in the Six Counties as a whole. The English government further compounded their duplicity by staging a whitewash in the form of the Widgery tribunal, which enabled the British government to temporarily, at least, create a charade in a futile attempt to avoid culpability for this gross miscarriage of justice. The fact remains that, 50 years on, not one representative of the British government or one British soldier has ever been held to account for the murder and shooting of unarmed civilians. Frankly, there is no excuse for not mentioning this pivotal event in Irish history and the long shadow it has cast for the past 50 years.—Yours etc.,
JOHN L. SULLIVAN
USA
Mea culpa, but Bloody Sunday was central to my editorial in the following issue (HI 30.2, March/April 2022) and has featured in previous issues.—Ed.
https://staging.historyireland.com/bloody-sunday-cock-up-or-conspiracy/
https://staging.historyireland.com/the-south-is-in-the-mood-for-violence-bloody-sunday-1972/