Taoiseach says no to amnesties as Bloody Sunday remembered

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said there must be no amnesties for Troubles killings and the law must apply equally to everyone.

He was speaking after meeting families of those killed on Bloody Sunday at an event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the killings.

Thirteen civilians were shot dead when British soldiers of the Parachute Regiment opened fire on people who had been attending a civil rights rally on 30 January 1972.

They were Patrick ‘Paddy’ Doherty, Gerald Donaghey, John ‘Jackie’ Duddy, Hugh Gilmour, Michael Kelly, Michael McDaid, Kevin McElhinney, Bernard ‘Barney’ McGuigan, Gerald McKinney, William ‘Willie’ McKinney, William Nash, James ‘Jim’ Wray and John Young.

A 14th person, John Johnston, who had been amongst the injured, died several months later.

His name is included on the official monument.

A further 15 people were injured.

A large crowd, including many from Donegal, gathered for today’s commemoration.

The Taoiseach laid a wreath on behalf of the Government.

A public inquiry finally exonerated the dead and injured in 2010, and the then British prime minister David Cameron publicly apologised, calling the killings “unjustified and unjustifiable”.

This afternoon, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence Simon Coveney said that he believes that “there should be a route to justice” for the victims of Bloody Sunday and their families.

Speaking to RTÉ’s This Week from Derry, Mr Coveney said the Government and the British government “are talking at the moment about how to deal with the legacy of the past, because the British government have made a proposal to introduce what’s called a statute of limitation, which in effect is seen by everybody as an amnesty for all Troubles-related murders and crimes and atrocities before 1998”.

Mr Coveney continued: “We have said that we absolutely cannot and will not support that approach and so the two governments continue to talk on that issue, but certainly families here today were very, very clear with me that they wanted and needed my support, in terms of ensuring that we don’t see the British government legislating to introduce what is effectively an amnesty for Troubles-related murders and killings, and certainly we support them, absolutely.”

He added: “No political party nationalist or Unionist or republican or loyalist wants this amnesty and I have been very vocal, both privately and publicly, on this issue and will continue to be.”

Mr Coveney said that the families have “shown remarkable dignity and courage over the past 50 years”.

“They really are an inspiration to an awful lot of people,” he said.