‘Shameful slur’ on army should be withdrawn by Colum Eastwood: DUP

On two separate occasions in recent days, the SDLP leader and Foyle MP said that the members of the Parachute Regiment who shot and killed 13 people on Bloody Sunday had been sent to Londonderry for that purpose.

A fourteenth person shot on January 30, 1972 died four months later.

Speaking in the Commons – ahead of last Sunday’s main 50th anniversary commemoration – Mr Eastwood told MPs: “Fifty years ago this week, the Parachute Regiment were sent to my city to murder 14 people; people who were unarmed, marching for civil rights.”

Mr Eastwood repeated the claim during an interview with BBC Radio Foyle on Monday morning.

In a letter to Mr Eastwood, the Northern Ireland Veterans Movement (NIVM) accused him of making “baseless” assertions “without a shred of evidence,” and added: “You accused veterans of deliberately intending to commit murder while being deployed to Londonderry. You know this to be untrue and you also know that recent judicial reviews of the soldiers found that the evidence did not meet the legal threshold to support a prosecution.”

Yesterday, the DUP’s Armed Forces and Veterans’ Champions also called on Mr Eastwood to withdraw what the branded “his shameful slur” that the army had been “sent to murder” civilians.

In a joint statement, they said: “Mr Eastwood’s scurrilous accusation that the army was ‘sent to murder’ civilians in Northern Ireland is nothing more than a shameful attempt to rewrite history.

“As the SDLP Leader knows, the army was deployed onto the streets of Northern Ireland to protect the civilian population of this country from a sectarian and indiscriminate terrorist campaign waged by republicans.

“Countless lives were saved as a result of the bravery and sacrifice of these men and women who stood on the frontline.”

The DUP group added: “Many of these courageous soldiers and their families still bear the scars of their sacrifice and sadly, many of them are no longer with us.

“For a political leader to insult the memory of those who died protecting the civilian population of Northern Ireland is beneath contempt.

“His claims are without foundation and he has been unable to produce a shred of evidence to justify his outrageous claims.

“Mr Eastwood must withdraw this shameful slur, his attempt to rewrite history would make even Sinn Fein blush.”

The SDLP has not yet responded to a request for comment.

READ: Veterans demand apology from Colum Eastwood over Bloody Sunday claims

READ: Eastwood repeats claims soldiers ‘sent in to murder’ on Bloody Sunday

READ: Guarded welcome for ‘amnesty’ bill after veterans meet Brandon Lewis in London

READ: As Legacy bill stalls, military veterans feel ‘abused and abandoned’

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