UUP leader Doug Beattie: Bloody Sunday was wrong and must never happen again

Thirteen people were shot dead after members of the Army’s Parachute Regiment opened fire on civil rights demonstrators in Londonderry on Sunday 30 January 1972.

Mr Beattie, a decorated war hero who served in Afghanistan with the Royal Irish Regiment, issued a video statement on Twitter which prompted over 200 passionate responses across a wide spectrum of views.

Marking the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday, he said: “We all hurt the same, we all grieve the same & the pain of the past is not always washed away with time.

The events of 50yrs ago today were unjustified. By showing compassion & empathy, with the aim of healing, we should not be afraid to admit what was wrong.”

In an attached video he said: “Northern Ireland is a wonderful place, its people are warm and welcoming but we have a troubled past, brutal and savage history at times.

“And we have been shamed by many events in the last 50 or 60 years.

“This weekend we commemorate one of those events and that is 50 years since Bloody Sunday.

“And at this time, regardless of what tradition or community you come from, we should all stop and reflect that there are families out there even 50 years on who still feel the hurt and the pain of what happened that day.

“And if we are to show real compassion and real empathy then we should be able to stand up and say what happened on that day was wrong.

“And where time may well be a healer for some, for others it is not. That pain is as raw today as it was 50 years ago.

“And we also know that there are many families who are in the same position of things that happened over our past

“But it is an anniversary that we have to remember. It is an anniversary that we have to reflect upon.

“But above all things we must remember the people, we must remember the families and must vow for it never to happen again in the future.”

The responses from followers on Twitter ranged from unionists who felt he had gone too far while nationalists were not making similar acknowledgements for IRA atrocities to nationalists who rejected his comments as he did not described the shootings as murder.However others commended him for his stand. 

Jim Devlin said: “When you say ‘events’ Doug, please call it for what it was: cold blooded, heartless murder perpetrated by members of the British Army.”

But former British Army Col Philip Ingram MBE disagreed.”Those who commanded troops on the ground on Bloody Sunday should have been prosecuted - it was a failure in command - not a state sponsored tactic and history must not be rewritten because of it,” he said.

“Pogo” took a similar line, saying: “I don’t know any unionist who wanted the Paras to pull the trigger that day.”Another follower, Rúraíocht, described Mr Beattie’s comments as “A brave & compassionate statement” and thanked him for saying it. He added: “There is hope.”

‘Manchurian Unionist’ commended Doug for his stand, but felt his gesture is not being reciprocated.”I await with baited breath for the leader of Sinn Fein to acknowledge and express sympathy for the murders of innocent civilians on events such as Bloody Friday, Claudy, Enniskillen  this is Doug doing leadership,” he added.ENDS

TUV leader Jim Allister also drew comparisons with other incidents during the Troubles.

“There have been many days in our history that bear the adjective Bloody, mostly at the hands of bloodthirsty terrorists in respect of which there have been no public enquiries, political apologies or international recognition,” he said.

“That which bears the title ‘Bloody Sunday’ was also indeed a monumental tragedy. I recognise the hurt and anguish of the families of innocent victims down through the years.”

He added that Martin McGuinness “as an active terrorist from the time” refused to answer relevant questions of the Saville Inqury, which concluded that McGuinness’s testimony to the inquiry was “significantly inaccurate”, and that he had been unable to account convincingly for his actions during a crucial period of that day.”

He noted that Saville found it probable that on the day he had a Thompson sub machine gun.

He also noted that a Junior wing of the IRA, Gerard Donaghey was one of those killed, but according to Saville, was probably carrying nailbombs “which certainly would take him out of the category of mere civil rights protestor”.