Type a new keyword(s) and press Enter to search

Northern Ireland and Bloody Sunday

 

In 1969 the British army arrived in Northern Ireland, despite immediate enthusiasm by the majority of the population this steadily began to decline over the coming years as violence increased3. The introduction of internment in 1971 and its bias towards Catholics4 led to rising tensions among the Nationalist and Republican factions. It was January 30th 1972 when these tensions finally became action, a Nationalist march was organised by the civil rights association to confront the issues of internment and direct rule in addition to issues regarding education and housing, many of which were segregated during this time. The march through Derry-Londonderry that Sunday was aimed at being peaceful despite the current ban on demonstrations however, it would soon become known as Bloody Sunday.
             The movement split as it passed through the city becoming two separate groups. A British plan was devised to contain the march through the construction of barricades that would be held by the British army; as one group of marchers neared the Rossville flats, the events become misconstrued. The only information that was known at the time was the result, 13 marchers had died at the hands of the British Army although how and why this had happened was unknown. .
             The British Army quickly stated that the event was "unfortunate" but that they "came under fire"5 and "were also petrol bombed," however, the sincerity of these statements was questionable. It was evident that any statement by the British Army would be made with the purpose of maintaining respect for the Army in Northern Ireland and maintaining their image. The British Army would only aim to maintain their image of neutrality and sincerity in Northern Ireland and so (as was proven in the coming years) this account was insincere, used as biased propaganda to justify the actions of the army in the eyes of the Northern Irish; it is arguable that the British did this in aid of the local people as to prevent violence.


Essays Related to Northern Ireland and Bloody Sunday