The Bloody Sunday Inquiry:Transitional Justice and Postconflict Reconciliation in Northern Ireland

Abstract

Recent research suggests that transitional justice interventions may be essential to advancing post-conflict reconciliation in societies that have been deeply divided by histories of gross human rights abuses. In Northern Ireland, a uniquely 'piecemeal' approach to the past emerged following the Belfast Agreement combining an array of discrete truth-recovery and justice initiatives to address the abuses of the Troubles. One of the most important of these interventions has been the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, which in June 2010, released a Final Report of its findings regarding the controversial shooting deaths of 14 civilians in Derry/Londonderry on January 30th, 1972. This article provides a qualitative assessment of the degree to which the Inquiry has been able to advance crucial aspects of truth and justice for the events of Bloody Sunday and explores how these efforts have contributed to ongoing processes of reconciliation between Catholic/nationalists and Protestant/unionist communities in Northern Ireland.

Notes

¹A 14th victim, John Johnston, was also shot and died several months later of a brain tumor that some have attributed to the injuries he received on Bloody Sunday.

²Expert interviews were selected via a “key informant” purposive sampling of academics, government officials, civil society representatives, and nongovernmental community leaders based on their relevant knowledge and ability to provide insight on the reconciliatory impact of the BSI in the city of Derry (Schutt 2009). While no claims are made as to broader representativeness, this sample included individuals from nationalist and unionist backgrounds as well as several family members of those killed and wounded on Bloody Sunday. Given space constraints, the quotations that appear in this article were selected for their ability to reflect dominant themes highlighted by interviewees. Interviewees who asked to have their comments remain anonymous are identified here by their positions rather than by name.

³The one notable exception is Gerald Donaghy, a 17-year-old youth that the Tribunal concludes was “probably” in possession of nail bombs when he was killed. However, the report is nonetheless clear that Donaghy was “not preparing or attempting to throw a nail bomb when he was shot … and we are equally sure that he was not shot because of his possession of nail bombs. He was shot while trying to escape from the soldiers” (Saville et al. 2010: 86).

⁴That said, several interviewees highlighted that there remains one notable—and deeply contentious—exception regarding the justice received by families in the case of Gerald Donaghy, the youth whom the Tribunal determined was “probably” was in possession of nail bombs when he was shot and killed. As Gerald Donaghy's niece Geraldine Doherty has claimed, “For us, it's still not finished. We have to keep fighting on and do whatever we have to do to get Gerald's name cleared” (BBC News 2012a: para. 7).

⁴That said, several interviewees highlighted that there remains one notable—and deeply contentious—exception regarding the justice received by families in the case of Gerald Donaghy, the youth whom the Tribunal determined was “probably” was in possession of nail bombs when he was shot and killed. As Gerald Donaghy's niece Geraldine Doherty has claimed, “For us, it's still not finished. We have to keep fighting on and do whatever we have to do to get Gerald's name cleared” (BBC News 2012a: para. 7).

⁵This includes incidents such as the 1972 Claudy Bombing that claimed the lives of nine civilians and the 1976 Kingsmill Massacre in which 10 unarmed Protestant men were allegedly shot and killed by the PIRA.