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11/22/2004:

"N.Irish 'Bloody Sunday' Probe Enters Final Phase"

LONDONDERRY, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - The longest-running and costliest public inquiry in British legal history -- into Northern Ireland's so-called ``Bloody Sunday'' -- entered its final phase on Monday.

The tribunal investigating the 1972 killing of 13 civilians by paratroopers began hearing closing speeches as some families of the dead expressed hope their loved ones would be declared innocent.

Bloody Sunday was one of the most traumatic events in the province's 30-year ``Troubles,'' fueling suspicion of the authorities among the Catholic minority and prompting dozens to join the IRA's violent campaign against British rule.

``What happened on that day was, and has remained, controversial in almost every respect,'' said Counsel to the Inquiry Christopher Clarke as he began a closing speech scheduled to last two days.

``It is as well ... to stand back for a moment ... in order to focus on the central question which is: why and how did 13 people come to be killed and 14 to be wounded within something like 10 minutes on January 30, 1972 in this city?''

The Bloody Sunday Inquiry was set up by British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1998 after an original 1972 investigation exonerated the paratroopers who shot marchers at a civil rights demonstration in the province's second city Londonderry.

Thirteen people, all unarmed Catholics, were killed when the soldiers opened fire in the staunchly nationalist Bogside area of the city. A 14th victim later died from wounds. The troops said they shot at people armed with guns or nail bombs.
Full Article: nytimes.com

It's important to remember that Ireland, wholly or in part, has been an unhappy colony of Britain for over 800 years. Before the Brits 'discovered' Africa, it was the Irish who were considered subhuman savages. The thing is, resistance never ends until liberation.