Sunday Bloody Sunday Web Quest. Historical, socio-cultural cultural and political issues Answer the following questions based on the song Sunday Bloody Sunday. (link to lyrics and the song) Look and find the information you need to answer the questions below (on the web or in printed press). Please make sure you include the references used at the end of each question. Question 1: What does Bloody Sunday refer to? Demonstration in Londonderry (Derry), Northern Ireland, on Sunday, January 30, 1972, by Roman Catholic civil rights supporters that turned violent when British paratroopers opened fire, killing 13 and injuring 14 others (one of the injured later died). Question 2: When and where did the incident happen? In Derry, Northern Ireland, on 30 January 1972 Question 3: Who were the parties involved in the massacre? 26 civil rights protesters and the members of the 1st Battalion of the British Parachute Regiment during a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march in the Bogside area of the city. Question 4: Which were the political issues lying behind the incident?
The Protestant-Catholic conflict in Northern Ireland Question 5: Why is it remembered as one of the most significant events in relation to the troubles in Northern Ireland? Because it was carried out by the army and not paramilitaries, and in full public and press view Question 6: How many people were killed? Who were they? What did they all have in common? 13 people, six of whom were minors, died immediately, while the death of another person 4½ months later has been attributed to the injuries he received on the day: John (Jackie) Duddy (17), Patrick Joseph Doherty (31), Bernard McGuigan (41), Hugh Pious Gilmour (17), Kevin McElhinney (17), Michael G. Kelly (17), John Pius Young (17), William Noel Nash (19), Michael M. McDaid (20), James Joseph Wray (22), Gerald Donaghy (17), Gerald (James) McKinney (34), William A. McKinney (27), John Johnson (59) Question 7: Which were the political reactions in England after the confrontations? Which were the Widgery Tribunal and the Saville Enquiry? Although British Prime Minister John Major rejected John Hume's requests for a public inquiry into the killings, his successor, Tony Blair, decided to start one. A second commission of inquiry, chaired by Lord Saville, was established in January 1998 to re-examine 'Bloody Sunday'. The hearings were concluded in November 2004, and the report is currently being written. The Saville Inquiry is a more comprehensive study than the Widgery Tribunal, interviewing a wide range of witnesses, including local residents, soldiers, journalists and politicians. The evidence so far has undermined to some extent the credibility of the original Widgery Tribunal report. Allegations were made that some bodies were placed next to guns and explosives, and other substances (including playing cards) have been found to cause false positives in tests for explosives.
Some of the scientists responsible for the original reports to the Widgery Tribunal now dismiss the interpretations that were put on their findings by the Ministry of Defence. Question 8: Which were the artistic expressions which followed the episode? The incident has been commemorated by U2 in their 1983 protest song "Sunday Bloody Sunday". There was also another song by the Stiff Little Fingers called "Bloody Sunday". The John Lennon album Some Time In New York City features a song entitled "Sunday Bloody Sunday", inspired by the incident, as well as the song "The Luck of the Irish", which dealt more with the Irish conflict in general (Lennon was of Irish descent). Paul McCartney (also of Irish descent) issued a single shortly after Bloody Sunday titled "Give Ireland Back to the Irish", expressing his views on the matter. It was one of few McCartney solo songs to be banned by the BBC. Christy Moore's song "Minds Locked Shut" on the album "Graffiti Tongue" is all about the events of the day, and names the dead civilians. The Celtic metal band Cruachan also addressed the incident in the song Bloody Sunday. The events of the day have also been dramatised in the two 2002 television dramas, Bloody Sunday (starring James Nesbitt) and Sunday by Jimmy McGovern. Brian Friel's 1973 play The Freedom of the City deals with the incident from the viewpoint of three civilians. Saul Williams' 2007 open distribution album The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! deals with the incident as well, covering U2's original. Willie Doherty, a Derry born artist has amassed a large body of work which addresses the troubles in Northern Ireland: "30th January 1972" deals specifically with the events of Bloody Sunday.
Question 9: Which was the impact of this episode on the Protestant-Catholic conflict in Northern Ireland? Despite the controversy, all sides agree that 'Bloody Sunday' marked a major negative turning point in the fortunes of Northern Ireland. When it arrived in Northern Ireland, Roman Catholics welcomed the British Army as a neutral force there to protect them from Protestant mobs. After Bloody Sunday many Catholics turned on the British army, seeing it no longer as their protector but as their enemy. Young nationalists became increasingly attracted to violent republican groups. With the Official IRA and Official Sinn Féin having moved away from mainstream Irish nationalism/republicanism towards Marxism, the Provisional IRA began to win the support of newly radicalised, disaffected young people. In the following twenty years, the Provisional Irish Republican Army and other smaller republican groups mounted an armed campaign against the British, by which they meant the RUC, the British Army, the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) of the British Army (and, according to their critics, the Protestant and unionist establishment). With rival paramilitary organisations appearing in both the nationalist/republican and unionist/loyalist communities, a bitter and brutal war took place that cost the lives of thousands. With the official cessation of violence by some of the major paramilitary organisations and the creation of the power-sharing executive at Stormont in Belfast under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the Saville Tribunal's re-examination of the events of that day is widely hoped to provide a thorough account of the events of Bloody Sunday. Question 10: Compare these two explanations of the episode. What is different about them? In what way(s) do they illustrate the political tensions? The first makes an explicit reference to the civil supporters turning violent as one of the reasons that may have forced the army shoot on the crowd. The second clearly states that the protesters were unarmed. The enquiries opened after the episode aim at clarifying what actually happened.