Zürcher Nachrichten - Anger, reflection as N.Ireland marks 50 years since 'Bloody Sunday'

EUR -
AED 3.84509
AFN 71.777909
ALL 98.141202
AMD 408.574256
ANG 1.895444
AOA 956.307906
ARS 1050.834504
AUD 1.612295
AWG 1.88697
AZN 1.781792
BAM 1.95518
BBD 2.123426
BDT 125.68012
BGN 1.95544
BHD 0.394556
BIF 3106.673555
BMD 1.046863
BND 1.413279
BOB 7.266764
BRL 6.08667
BSD 1.051666
BTN 88.857002
BWP 14.357787
BYN 3.441808
BYR 20518.511152
BZD 2.119927
CAD 1.463907
CDF 3004.495922
CHF 0.928358
CLF 0.036943
CLP 1019.371919
CNY 7.586823
CNH 7.596382
COP 4597.413202
CRC 534.630353
CUC 1.046863
CUP 27.741865
CVE 110.231075
CZK 25.351929
DJF 187.280573
DKK 7.458552
DOP 63.369892
DZD 139.850155
EGP 52.055675
ERN 15.702942
ETB 131.05999
FJD 2.383654
FKP 0.826307
GBP 0.832863
GEL 2.852699
GGP 0.826307
GHS 16.721854
GIP 0.826307
GMD 74.327594
GNF 9065.210059
GTQ 8.118501
GYD 220.032282
HKD 8.147472
HNL 26.576948
HRK 7.467544
HTG 138.078823
HUF 411.263192
IDR 16654.540506
ILS 3.888614
IMP 0.826307
INR 88.452372
IQD 1377.782549
IRR 44078.158835
ISK 146.099629
JEP 0.826307
JMD 167.02418
JOD 0.742329
JPY 162.076355
KES 135.30763
KGS 90.541947
KHR 4241.735067
KMF 491.658984
KPW 942.176136
KRW 1467.345375
KWD 0.322141
KYD 0.876434
KZT 521.551976
LAK 23036.690094
LBP 94182.614366
LKR 305.992904
LRD 189.834296
LSL 19.030043
LTL 3.091114
LVL 0.633237
LYD 5.13737
MAD 10.518163
MDL 19.150923
MGA 4924.554963
MKD 61.549271
MMK 3400.169584
MNT 3557.239785
MOP 8.431545
MRU 41.826127
MUR 49.0452
MVR 16.174377
MWK 1823.664873
MXN 21.399132
MYR 4.676858
MZN 66.894575
NAD 19.030134
NGN 1770.328441
NIO 38.49315
NOK 11.602768
NPR 142.170924
NZD 1.795014
OMR 0.40304
PAB 1.051666
PEN 3.994832
PGK 4.233697
PHP 61.630383
PKR 292.324522
PLN 4.344295
PYG 8254.380754
QAR 3.83432
RON 4.977308
RSD 117.026668
RUB 106.047711
RWF 1445.075964
SAR 3.930488
SBD 8.761739
SCR 14.258139
SDG 629.686448
SEK 11.599638
SGD 1.409962
SHP 0.826307
SLE 23.643399
SLL 21952.194733
SOS 601.035118
SRD 37.064183
STD 21667.946639
SVC 9.202212
SYP 2630.274077
SZL 19.038413
THB 36.362743
TJS 11.200706
TMT 3.674488
TND 3.327176
TOP 2.451861
TRY 36.201935
TTD 7.138837
TWD 34.080594
TZS 2776.65598
UAH 43.420359
UGX 3885.804091
USD 1.046863
UYU 44.816635
UZS 13457.421913
VES 48.437715
VND 26608.635571
VUV 124.285657
WST 2.922413
XAF 655.764576
XAG 0.033764
XAU 0.000389
XCD 2.829199
XDR 0.802265
XOF 655.74892
XPF 119.331742
YER 261.608951
ZAR 18.964653
ZMK 9423.028407
ZMW 29.000798
ZWL 337.089399
  • CMSD

    0.1850

    24.445

    +0.76%

  • RBGPF

    59.6900

    59.69

    +100%

  • RYCEF

    0.1800

    6.79

    +2.65%

  • RELX

    0.6500

    45.76

    +1.42%

  • CMSC

    0.1200

    24.64

    +0.49%

  • GSK

    0.3500

    33.7

    +1.04%

  • SCS

    -0.0300

    13.04

    -0.23%

  • RIO

    0.1800

    62.57

    +0.29%

  • NGG

    -0.1700

    63.1

    -0.27%

  • AZN

    1.0600

    64.26

    +1.65%

  • JRI

    0.0000

    13.23

    0%

  • VOD

    -0.1000

    8.84

    -1.13%

  • BCE

    -0.3200

    26.68

    -1.2%

  • BCC

    2.9500

    140.36

    +2.1%

  • BTI

    -0.1000

    36.98

    -0.27%

  • BP

    0.4400

    29.52

    +1.49%

Anger, reflection as N.Ireland marks 50 years since 'Bloody Sunday'
Anger, reflection as N.Ireland marks 50 years since 'Bloody Sunday'

Anger, reflection as N.Ireland marks 50 years since 'Bloody Sunday'

Relatives of 13 civil rights protesters shot dead in Northern Ireland by British soldiers 50 years ago demanded justice on Sunday, as they commemorated one of the darkest days in modern UK history.

Text size:

The "Bloody Sunday" victims' names were read out under a leaden sky to the mournful notes of an Irish flute, as the relatives and hundreds of supporters gathered for a memorial service in the city of Londonderry -- known as Derry to pro-Irish nationalists.

Earlier, many had retraced a peaceful march through the divided city that ended in carnage on January 30, 1972, when the protesters had set out to demand Catholic rights against the city's Protestant minority.

From U2, Bono and The Edge released on social media an acoustic version of "Sunday Bloody Sunday", the Irish band's iconic song about the day.

A performance of music and poetry hosted by actor Adrian Dunbar, from TV police drama "Line of Duty", included a choral rendition of the US civil rights anthem "We Shall Overcome" -- which was also sung by the 1972 marchers.

Michael McKinney, whose brother William was among those killed, said the UK government was "scared" of allowing any prosecutions of the soldiers for fear of what a trial might uncover.

But addressing the remembrance service, he stressed: "We will not go away and we will not be silenced. We shall overcome."

At the head of Sunday's procession were 14 children each bearing a white rose -- a 14th man who was shot died months later, although an official inquiry said his death was unrelated to his wounds.

The children were followed by older relatives carrying portraits of those killed by members of the British Army's feared Parachute Regiment.

Some of the victims were shot in the back, or while on the ground, or while waving white handkerchiefs, as more than 100 high-velocity rounds ripped across the city's Catholic Bogside district.

- Still no closure -

The yearly memorial service was attended for the first time by an Irish premier, as Taoiseach Micheal Martin joined other dignitaries in laying a wreath at an obelisk commemorating the 14.

"I believe that the full process and justice of the courts should be deployed," Martin told reporters after meeting the relatives in private.

"It is important because time is moving on too for many, many families, and families need closure."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week called "Bloody Sunday" a "tragic day in our history".

But his government is pushing legislation that critics say amounts to an amnesty for all killings during Northern Ireland's three decades of sectarian unrest, including by security forces.

After an initial government report largely exonerated the paratroopers and authorities, a 12-year inquiry found in 2010 that the victims were unarmed and posed no threat, and that the soldiers' commander on the ground violated his orders.

The mammoth inquiry, whose report ran to 5,000 pages, prompted then prime minister David Cameron to issue a landmark apology in parliament.

He agreed with its finding that the killings were "unjustified and unjustifiable".

- 'Collateral damage' -

One paratrooper, "Soldier F," was charged with murder in 2019. But prosecutors dropped the case last year after determining that the evidence against him would not be permissible in a court.

Michael McKinney is seeking a judicial review of the prosecutors' decision.

Charlie Nash, now 73, saw his 19-year-old cousin William Nash killed on "Bloody Sunday".

"It's important for the rest of the world to see what they done to us that day. But will we ever see justice?" he told AFP.

"Never, especially not from Boris Johnson," Nash added.

In Northern Ireland, new tensions today surround the UK's fractious divorce from the European Union.

Protestant unionists want Johnson's government to scrap a protocol governing post-Brexit trade for the province, which treats Northern Ireland differently from the UK mainland.

"Northern Ireland finds itself again in the eye of a political storm where we appear to be collateral damage for a prime minister whose future is hanging in the balance," said professor Deirdre Heenan, a Londonderry resident who teaches social policy at Ulster University.

A.Ferraro--NZN