A brilliant and moving depiction of living history

The documentary on the events of Bloody Sunday and the interim three decades afterwards was a brilliant depiction of living history, one that we here south of the border experienced only as observers.The 90 minute long documentary on RTÉ 1 on Thursday was a reminder of those grim and violent years in the Six Counties and no doubt the killing of 13 people, the injuries of many more civilians in Derry in one day in January in 1972 shaped the next 25 years.

For many of us it is a vague memory of an incident, a horrific one, but one that we had perhaps forgotten until the results of the Saville Inquiry into it were revealed two weeks ago. The result exonerated those who had died of any wrong doing – at the time the British Army claimed that they shot at targets who had firearms and that they had to control the riot.

After three decades – and the Widgery Inquiry which found the Army’s action to be justified – the dead have been declared innocent.The documentary drew you in immediately because it was narrated by a woman who was on the Civil Rights march herself on that fateful day and indeed was one of the witnesses to the Saville Inquiry.

The documentary was years in the making as it carried out interviews with survivors and relatives from the announcement that another independent inquiry was going to be held into a day which has obviously traumatised whole families and the wider community of Derry. Younger viewers possibly only knew of it through U2’s song, Sunday Bloody Sunday.

It was one of the most moving documentaries I have seen in a long time. I was moved because I realised I had forgotten what started The Troubles and that, like many down south, I may not have fully appreciated what life was like in Derry and other places across the border.

Catholics were marching for the right to vote for their local MPs, they were marching for better employment opportunities and for better living conditions, because basically they were being treated like second class citizens by the local government.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.