Bloody Sunday and The Widgery Inquiry

[Rambuchan]

I recently watched Paul Greengrass' film "Bloody Sunday" again. I was too young to understand it all the first time. I found it to be excellently authentic and admirably frank (do you agree?). The process of making the film, with people from all sides who were actually involved, as a process of reconciliation in itself, was highly enlightened in my humble opinion.

Now, checking out the extra features on the DVD threw up an interesting comment from Don Mullan, the author of "Eyewitness Bloody Sunday: The Truth", the book that inspired the film. In the eyewitness commentary feature he stated that (excuse me for paraphrasing):

"If Lord Widgery had been a person of integrity and had not bowed to the demands of Edward Heath to be aware of the propaganda war being fought when reaching his inquiry's conclusions, then the history of Northern Ireland would have been very different indeed."

As many now accept, Lord Widgery's inquiry was a complete whitewash (do you agree?). Despite all the eyewitness testimonials and evidence, the most damning comment he could muster up was that the actions of the 1st Battalion of the British Parachute Regiment "bordered on reckless". Many people today accuse this whitewashed inquiry as one of the main recruitment devices for the IRA in the 1970s, for it told the young men of Derry and elsewhere that there was no such thing as British Justice and that the only way to bring about radical change was through armed conflict (do you agree?).

Aside from seeking your agreement, info and comment on the above, there is one main question that I'd like to pose for discussion, seeing as there is something of a fetish for 'what if' scenarios here. It is this:

How would the politics of Northern Ireland, and the role of the IRA, have played out if Lord Widgery found the British Establishment and the Parachute Regiment guilty of shooting dead 26 innocent, unarmed civilian civil rights protesters on 30th January 1972?

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I appreciate this is a hugely complex issue and would welcome clarifications and explanations of the politics of Northern Ireland. I also appreciate that this is a highly emotive topic, so please, be nice. And I apologise if posing this 'what if' type question seems to trivialise the topic, I'm just trying to tailor it for CFC History.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

I saw Bloody Sunday for a European History course I took in college. What struck me is that the movie portrayed the British soldiers involved as being sort of in over their heads, so it turned into a CF because they didn't know what to do about it. I don't know how accurate that is, but of course even so shooting unarmed civilians needs to carry greater consequences.

 

[Kafka2]

Good topic.

I think that a degree of retaliation to Bloody Sunday was inevitable regardless of the whitewashing. Even if Widgery had found a verdict of guilt, the government of the time would have continued pressing for overt military action, and probably been highly defiant of any adverse findings. That in turn would have provoked violent responses.

 

[Rambuchan]

Well I'm glad at least someone is interested.

It does seem obvious that there were always going to be violent elements responding to Bloody Sunday, regardless of the inquiry's findings. And indeed in response to the British presence anyway, regardless of Bloody Sunday itself.

What I'm particularly interested in is the fate of Ireland's Civil Rights movement. Would anyone care to speculate on how this might have developed had Bloody Sunday not happened at all? And how it might have evolved if a verdict of guilt had been returned? What concessions might they have gained?

Also, why do you say that the government would have continued pressing for overt military action? Is it just...in their genes?

Another little titbit worth throwing in here is the relationship between India's Civil Rights Movement and that of Northern Ireland's. Ivan Cooper often referred to both Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi in his orations, likening the three struggles. He even described Bloody Sunday as "our Amritsar". The feeling was often mutual on the side of the Indians. I have heard one theory, which I've never cared to look into further, which says that the Indian flag's colours are not a representation of the main religions on the sub-continent, but a reference to the inspiration of Ireland's struggle for Independence from British Rule (esp. Gladstone's attempts to introduce Home Rule in 1886 and 1893).

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

I think I have heard that theory as well, don't remember where.