Richard Dannatt: Bloody Sunday ... We must not dwell on the errors of the past
[Sir Richard Dannatt was Chief of the General Staff from 2006 to 2009.]
After 12 years of listening to witnesses, exhaustive fact-finding and detailed analysis, it is only proper to conclude that Lord Saville has got as close to the truth about what really happened on January 30, 1972 in Londonderry as it is practically possible to do. The fact that this inquiry has cost more than £190 million is not strictly relevant, but the fact that it has taken nearly 38 years to arrive at the truth is highly relevant. How we view things in 2010 is inevitably different from how we viewed them in 1972, especially in relation to Northern Ireland – then it was a province locked in bloody conflict, now it is one moving forward under a carefully crafted peace process.
Lord Saville is unequivocal in his findings: the shootings on that tragic day were unjustified and unjustifiable. None of those who lost their lives that day were armed, and although one, Gerald Donaghey, was "probably" carrying nail bombs, that was not why he was killed.
There was shooting from weapons other than those in the hands of soldiers, but that gunfire did not justify the shots fired at the civilians who lost their lives. On these central facts, Lord Saville is clear, and on the strength of that clarity, the Prime Minister has issued an apology on behalf of the Government of the United Kingdom, the Army, and those involved on the day.
Of course, that apology, while immensely important, can take nothing away from Lord Saville's statement that the events in Londonderry were "a tragedy for the bereaved and wounded and a catastrophe for Northern Ireland". Those directly affected in the province will draw their own conclusions about how the Saville findings will determine their subsequent attitudes and actions, and the Army must do the same.
Inevitably, those of us in the Army who served in Northern Ireland, especially in the very difficult early days, will reflect on the 651 servicemen and women who lost their lives trying to bring peace to the province between 1969 and 2007, and the 6,307 who were wounded. Those statistics do not justify these unjustifiable killings; they merely provide some context...
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
After 12 years of listening to witnesses, exhaustive fact-finding and detailed analysis, it is only proper to conclude that Lord Saville has got as close to the truth about what really happened on January 30, 1972 in Londonderry as it is practically possible to do. The fact that this inquiry has cost more than £190 million is not strictly relevant, but the fact that it has taken nearly 38 years to arrive at the truth is highly relevant. How we view things in 2010 is inevitably different from how we viewed them in 1972, especially in relation to Northern Ireland – then it was a province locked in bloody conflict, now it is one moving forward under a carefully crafted peace process.
Lord Saville is unequivocal in his findings: the shootings on that tragic day were unjustified and unjustifiable. None of those who lost their lives that day were armed, and although one, Gerald Donaghey, was "probably" carrying nail bombs, that was not why he was killed.
There was shooting from weapons other than those in the hands of soldiers, but that gunfire did not justify the shots fired at the civilians who lost their lives. On these central facts, Lord Saville is clear, and on the strength of that clarity, the Prime Minister has issued an apology on behalf of the Government of the United Kingdom, the Army, and those involved on the day.
Of course, that apology, while immensely important, can take nothing away from Lord Saville's statement that the events in Londonderry were "a tragedy for the bereaved and wounded and a catastrophe for Northern Ireland". Those directly affected in the province will draw their own conclusions about how the Saville findings will determine their subsequent attitudes and actions, and the Army must do the same.
Inevitably, those of us in the Army who served in Northern Ireland, especially in the very difficult early days, will reflect on the 651 servicemen and women who lost their lives trying to bring peace to the province between 1969 and 2007, and the 6,307 who were wounded. Those statistics do not justify these unjustifiable killings; they merely provide some context...