The Bloody Sunday Inquiry has been continuing to examine the activities of both the Provisional and Official wings of the IRA in Derry during the civil rights march 28 years ago when 14 people were killed. The Inquiry was told that the Official IRA fired six shots on that day, but only after the army started shooting. Counsel for the inquiry also read out eyewitness evidence telling how the IRA moved into the area of the killings when word got out about what had happened.
Once again today counsel for the inquiry Christopher Clarke QC quoted from copious witness statements and articles written at the time to try and establish a picture of what the IRA was doing on Bloody Sunday. The picture that emerged this morning was of sporadic shots being fired by up to two members of the Official IRA and perhaps some other persons. Evidence from the former Bishop of Derry Dr Edward Daly, was quoted. As he tended Jack Duddy, the first man to die, he noticed a man take a gun from his jacket. The man fired two or three shots at soldiers before Dr Daly screamed at him: "go away or you will get us all killed." There was evidence produced that one Official IRA man took a gun on the march for personal protection but he lost his temper when the paratroopers began shooting. The civilian evidence read out so far says that the army was the first to open fire.
