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On Sunday, a group of WSM and other anarchists took part in the annual March for Justice in Derry which commemorates the civil rights marchers who were shot dead by the British Parachute Regiment on 30 January 1972.
Read Bloody Sunday in Derry - Origins & Consequences of a Massacre
On the 30th January 1972 British soldiers opened fire on protesters in the city of Derry, north-west Ireland. Twenty six unarmed protesters were shot, 13 died immediately or within hours, one more died just over four months later. Derry was in the section of Ireland claimed by the British state and the shootings happened in the context of the suppression of a growing civil rights movement demanding equality for Catholics in the 6 of Ulster’s counties claimed by Britain.
Several thousand people took part in todays annual Bloody Sunday March for Justice in Derry marking the 45th anniversary which made its way from the Creggan to Bogside along the original route of the initial Civil Rights demonstration in 1972 at which 14 unarmed innocent civilians were murdered by British Paratroopers.
This year's annual Bloody Sunday's March for Justice takes place this weekend in Derry. This years programme of events has a host of discussions, movies, drama as well as the annual march and rally which takes place on the Sunday afternoon.
Anarchists in Derry will once again gather for the march and will be joined by other friends and supporters across the country.
The end of the 1960’s in northern Ireland were a unique time when, as elsewhere around the world, mass popular protest emerged onto the streets with ordinary people doing extraordinary things. The unique circumstances of northern Ireland and the particular form the state backlash took there resulted in a military conflict that lasted some 30 years and dominated politics on the entire island and to a much lesser extent in Britain. Although tens if not hundreds of thousands of people made this history it can also be told as the history of some of the prominent individuals involved, including the Irish republican socialist activist Bernadette Devlin McAliskey.
A few thousand people took part in the 40th anniversary Bloody Sunday march demanding real truth and justice after the publishing of the Saville report this year which confirmed that the massacre was ’unjustifiable and unjustified.’
This years march clearly divided the families and relatives of the Bloody Sunday Trust with the majority deciding to end the march with some pressure being concerted by Sinn Fein. Despite attempts by the political class to co-opt and de-radicalise the march and brush it under the carpet as part of the new shiny image of Northern Ireland there was a better than expected turnout, the Irish Times estimated 3,000 took part. Derry anarchists and the WSM were present along with a host of political and social organisations including the Independent Workers Union.
The Derry Anarchists and the Workers Solidarity Movement support the call for people to attend and support all Bloody Sunday commemorative events over the upcoming weekend, including the 'March for Justice' leaving Creggan shops at 2.30 pm on Sunday 29 January.We stand in solidarity with and salute the courage and dignity of all of the members the Bloody Sunday families and the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign in their long struggle for justice and truth.