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Thirty-six years ago we were caught up in the confusion of the bloodiest year of the violent political conflict we are only now emerging out of. In the immediate aftermath of Bloody Sunday where an official public inquiry found the innocent guilty and pronounced the guilty innocent many of us, knowing the truth, went to war with the British State with a clear conscience. Others believing the official lie that tried to cover up the events took the State’s side. Some saw through the lies, holding the state guilty but chose a different path from armed struggle, while the rest of us were caught in the smoke and mirrors of the violent forces unleashed.
To say that truth is the first casualty of war ignores the lies the powerful tell to start them. And for many while internment may have been the final injustice that declared the government’s war, Widgery was its official stamp of approval.
Now, as we await the imminent verdict of the second British Inquiry and speculate whether it can deliver the truth, the prevailing climate doesn’t bode well. While Bloody Sunday should have always been tried in front of an international court with Britain in the dock, recent legislative changes to the terms of reference of British public inquiries even further diminish their ability to deliver truths the government finds unpalatable. We know that other unresolved miscarriages of justice (Pat Finucane, Billy Wright, Omagh…) are unlikely to face the scrutiny, limited though it was that the 1921 Inquiries Act empowered Lord Saville to bring to bear on Bloody Sunday.
As we emerge out of our war, into an Orwellian world of permanent war, committed to finding peaceful ways to unravel and resolve our differences, we will explore the importance of truth for freedom. What are the implications for the future when the ‘democratic’ world seems to have perfected the art of controlling its institutions to produce its official lies?
This year’s programme hosts a series of events that scrutinise the context of ‘democracy’ here and explore how we can collectively deal with our past. ‘The Memorial Lecture’ will be delivered by former Ombudsman, Nuala O’Loan, her first public lecture since leaving office. ‘Ballymurphy August 1971’ poignantly depicts the events of the shooting dead of 11 innocents branded gunmen in the three days after the introduction of internment, a state template for what would happen here five months later. A Truth Commission for Ireland? hosted by the PFC will give families of victims of state violence an opportunity to interrogate and explore a proposal calling for an independent truth commission. Judging Saville hosted by the Bloody Sunday Trust will present the Trust’s view of what answers are required if the Saville Report is to be regarded as fair and final.
In addition there are exhibitions, films and panel discussions. ‘Their epitaph is the ongoing stuggle for democracy’, so read the programme, come to events, join in the debate!
11.30am. Launch of the Bloody Sunday Black Ribbon
Venue: Mayor’s Parlour, Guildhall
7.30pm. Truth Against Lies:
Panel discussion exploring the damage systematic lies can inflict upon the political sphere. Over recent years, the British government has been involved in political “window dressing”, trying to sell the normalisation of the six counties to the nationalist community. In reality, the draconian powers to detain, remand and intern are all still on the statute books. These were among the critical issues that brought marchers out onto the streets on Bloody Sunday thirty six years ago and compelled them to struggle on in the wake of Widgery’s whitewash in defence of truth as a fundamental prerequisite for real democracy and political activism. This event will explore these issues as well as specific instances of continuing RUC/PSNI political policing, focusing in particular on the recent case of Sean Hoey which exposed how readily senior RUC/PSNI officers will resort to lying in order to frame those they suspect of republican sympathies. Chaired by Paul O’Connor, with speakers including Tony Catney, Former Republican Prisoner RNU, Marian Price (32SCM) and Eamonn McCann. Event organised by the Republican Network for Unity.
Venue: Gasyard Centre
Creggan 60: Extensive exhibition, devised by Café Creggan, charting the 60 years of Creggan’s history. On display in the Old Library Trust, Central Drive, from Tuesday 29 January until Sunday 3 February.
Venue: Old Library Trust, Central Drive
8.00pm. Film Screening: Taking Liberties, Directed by: Chris Atkin
An unflinching look at how New Labour has systematically eroded our basic civil liberties in the climate of fear generated by their foreign policy and ‘war on terror’.
Venue: Nerve Centre, Admission £2.00
4.00pm. Minutes Silence to mark the time of the shooting on Bloody Sunday
All welcome.
Venue: Bloody Sunday Monument, Rossville Street
5.00pm. U Turn presents Picture Balata
Young people from the U-Turn Project in the Bogside are very proud to present this exhibition of photographs taken by their friends living in the Balata Refugee Camp, Nablus, Palestine. In Picture Balata the children document their lives, hopes and struggles in the largest and most targeted Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank. This exhibition will be on display until Monday 4th January.
Venue: Pilot’s Row Arts Centre
7.30pm. Bloody Sunday Memorial Mass
All welcome.
Venue: St Mary’s, Creggan.
8.00pm. Film Screening: Hidden Agenda by Ken Loach.
Loach’s powerful film about the dirty war in Ireland, released when Sinn Fein were banned from the airways and not allowed to speak without an actors voice. It cleverly features a then Sinn Fein counselor Jim McAllister playing a republican activist and so directly putting the republican position across to the public.
Venue: Nerve Centre, Admission £2.00
9.00pm. Guildhall Press will launch their unique collection 'Harrowing of the Heart: The Poetry of Bloody Sunday'
Edited by Julieann Campbell and Tom Herron, this collection gathers together poetry, song and drama inspired by the events of 30 January 1972, the majority of which has never been seen before. This illuminating new archive attempts to capture the disbelief felt by a nation through the artistic responses of a few. Besides the many local contributors, the collection also includes a stimulating Foreword by Bishop Edward Daly, as well as pieces by Seamus Heaney, Brian Friel, Seamus Deane, Thomas Kinsella, Dave Duggan, Paul Muldoon, Christy Moore and John Lennon and Yoko Ono, among others. The launch in the Guildhall’s Main Hall will present performances of selected pieces from the collection as well as guest speaker BBC Radio Foyle’s Paul McFadden.
Venue: Main Hall, Guildhall
7.30pm. Ways of Remembering
Around the world quilting has been used in areas of conflict to represent the experiences of ordinary people and especially women who have been disenfranchised and silenced. Derry will this year host an international exhibition of over 20 quilts from around the world with the same number of quilts made in Ireland. It will be a unique opportunity to bear witness to the expression of cultural identity, and the survival of women from around the world. In anticipation of this event and as a way of exploring the importance of representation and memory this panel event will hear from representatives from: Relatives for Justice, Cunamh, WAVE and Chilean human rights lecturer Roberta Bacic.
Venue: Pilots Row
9.00pm. Sound Of An Underground
Premiere of the locally produced documentary looking a the history of cutting edge rebel music, followed by performances by some of those featured in the film. Eileen Webster, Joe Mulheron.
Venue: Sandinos, Water Street. Admission £3.00
Scéal SaorDhoire agus Domhnach na Fola. Ruairí Ó hEára le Gaelscoil Éadain Mhóir
Beidh turas ann le Ruairí Ó hEára agus páistí Gaelscoil Éadain Mhóir ar fud Taobh an Bhogaidh agus Iarsmálann SaorDhoire. Beidh stair, cuimhne agus cráic ann. Tá fáilte roimh chách. Saor in aisce.
7.00pm. Launch of photographic exhibition: ‘Reflections on Internment’ Ballymurphy, Belfast 1971
Internment without trial was introduced by the British government on 9th August 1971. During the first three days of internment 26 people were killed across the North or Ireland. Eleven unarmed civilians were murdered in the Ballymurphy community of West Belfast by the Parachute regiment. This same regiment went on to Derry where the following January it murdered 14 unarmed civilians on Bloody Sunday. There has never been a statement of acknowledgement from the British army or government for these murders. Indeed the official version of the events remains intact – the British military statement that they had shot gun men and gun women. Despite overwhelming eyewitness and forensic evidence not one British soldier was held to account, nor has there been an official retraction of the lies. Those killed were Father Hugh Mullan, Frank Quinn, Noel Phillips, Joan Connolly, Danny Taggert, Joseph Murphy, Eddie Doherty, Joseph Corr, John Laverty, Pat McCarthy and John McKerr. This exhibition remembers those who died through the eyes of those left behind, who will always remember them – the families and the Ballymurphy community.
Venue: Museum of Free Derry
7.30pm. 2008 Bloody Sunday Lecture.
Delivered by former Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan giving her first public address since retiring as Ombudsman.
Venue: Calgach Centre, Admission By Donation.
The Museum of Free Derry will be open on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd February, admission £3/£2.
Free Derry Tours will be running political tours of the Bogside at 10.00am and 2.00pm throughout the week. Proceeds from Saturday’s tours will be donated to the Bloody Sunday Weekend Committee. For tour details contact 07793285972.
11.00am – 11.30am. Raytheon: The Truth and The Lies
This 'unmasking event' will explore the truth and lies about Raytheon's purpose in Derry. It will take place from 11-11.30 am at FEIC's Memorial Plaque to victims of conflict the arms trade (positioned on the Derry Walls, facing The Guildhall main entrance). Come, witness, join the resistance! Organised by Foyle Ethical Investment Campaign (FEIC).
Venue: Guildhall Square
10.30am – 3.00pm. A Truth Commission for Ireland?
The Pat Finucane Centre, Relatives For Justice, Justice or The Forgotten, Ardoyne Commemoration Project, An Fhirinne and Firinne, who represent victims’ families across Ireland have come together to call for and independent truth commission that deals with the human rights abuses associated with the conflict in each jurisdiction. At the conference on 2 February, an outline model for a truth commission that the groups have developed will be discussed. There will be an open debate where families will get the opportunity to express their ideas, ask questions and raise concerns about a truth commission. All the views expressed will help us to further design and develop our own families driven model for seeking the truth.
Venue: Performance Area, Pilots Row
1.00pm – 3.00pm. "Judging Saville”:
The report of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry is now expected in summer 2008. This session, organised by the Bloody Sunday Trust, will identify the key questions which have arisen from the evidence, and discuss what answers are required if the report is to be regarded as fair and final.
Venue: Main Hall, Pilots Row
3.30pm – 5.00pm. Ballymurphy August 1971 – How Bloody Sunday January 1972 could have been avoided
On 9th August 1971 internment without trial was introduced. Over the following three days 11 innocent civilians, including a Catholic priest and a mother of 8, were murdered by the Parachute Regiment in the Ballymurphy area of West Belfast. In a pattern to be faithfully repeated the following January in Derry, those killed were immediately branded gun men and gun women by the British army – a story published faithfully by the media of the day. Unlike in Derry there were no cameras in Ballymurphy over the 9th, 10th and 11th of August, the world’s media was focussed on the arrests and political reactions. These killings went without significant note or outrage. The families of those killed were censored and ignored, they were vilified by the authorities of the time, with no investigation or recourse through the courts. 46 children were left without a parent with only lies and silence talking the place of truth and accountability. At this event these terrible days will be recounted by eyewitnesses, and those murdered will be remembered truthfully and accurately by their families. The event will also clearly demonstrate the links between the actions and personnel of the Parachute Regiment in August in Ballymurphy and in Derry on Bloody Sunday the following January. The families will make the case that had the killings of their loved ones been properly addressed in 1971, 14 innocent lives could have been spared the following January. This event is organised by Relatives for Justice in co-operation with the Pat Finucane Centre.
Venue: Main Hall, Pilots Row
3.00am – 5.00pm. Youth For Truth Ogra Shinn Fein discussion on collusion.
Speakers Amanda Fullerton from the Eddie Fullerton Justice Campaign and John Kelly.
Venue: Performance Area, Pilots Row
1.00pm – 3.00pm. Food Fair
An afternoon of learning about new cultures through food.
Venue: Minor Hall, Pilots Row. Admission £3.00/£1.50
7.30 – 9.30pm. Clouds on a Mountain Road by Orna Akad
Sole Purpose Productions presents Clouds on a Mountain Road by Orna Akad in a rehearsed reading in English, directed by Dave Duggan and performed by Patricia Byrne and Carmel McCafferty. Two Palestinian women, a famous poet and a younger militant, meet to face the challenge of the Israeli Occupation. Is it to be bombs or poems? The play was first performed in The Al-Midan theatre in Haifa, also at The Acco Festival of Alternative Theatre and the Morocco Festival of Arabic Theatre.
Venue: Performance Area, Pilots Row Admission by Donation
7.00pm. Screening of Bloody Sunday documentary, followed by Q&A session with family members.
Venue: AOH Hall, Foyle Street.
9.30pm. Beats At The Truth.
Fundraiser featuring the successful return of Joe Driscoll, the human beatbox and one man band, supported by DJ Stuarty and Declan McLaughlin.
Venue: Masons, Admission £5.00
11.00am. Wreath Laying Ceremony and Prayer Service
Everyone welcome.
Venue: Bloody Sunday Monument, Rossville Street
2.30pm. Annual Bloody Sunday Commemorative March
The annual commemoration march, followed by a rally at Free Derry Wall. Speakers to include a family representative, a family member of one of those killed by the paras in Ballymurphy in August 1971, Sinn Féin and the SDLP. This year will see the Bloody Sunday march animated by visual displays and public performances that explore the weekend’s theme of truth and Lies.
Assemble 2.30pm, Creggan Shops. Café Creggan will be open before the march, 11.00am – 3.00pm.
After the march, soup and sandwiches in Sandino’s, Water Street, and AOH Hall, Foyle Street.
After the march, Voices for Truth. Featuring Cor Cochion Caerdydd (Cardiff Reds Choir), The Bluebells Choir,
Venue: Sandino’s, Water Street.
7.00pm Bishop Edward Daly, Fr Aidan Troy and Fr Gerry Reynolds speaking of their experiences during the conflict.
Venue: AOH Hall, Foyle Street.