Bloody Sunday a byword for ‘state murder and the denial of justice’ says Delargy

Transcript

00:00This week will mark the 53rd anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when British soldiers murdered

00:0614 civilians on the streets of Derry and seriously wounded 13 more. Growing up as a young man

00:13in Derry, my grandparents told me stories of how they had marched for civil rights,

00:19marched for a better future which my generation could enjoy. They were part of a generation

00:25who stood up and said no more. No more to second class citizenship. No more to inferior

00:33housing. No more to their right to vote being denied. When I think of them, I think of those

00:40who marched and who never came home. Those whose memories the British state tried so

00:45hard to erase. But the people of Derry knew that they were innocent. They knew that they

00:52had marched for civil rights and been shot down on their own streets by an army who purported

00:58to protect them. Our city stood with the Bloody Sunday families in their lengthy campaign

01:04during which they showed such dignity and such courage. Internationally, Bloody Sunday

01:11became a byword for state murder and for justice denied. And the British state continue in

01:18their efforts to deny any opportunity for families to seek justice for their loved ones

01:24through their abhorrent Legacy Act which is opposed by parties across this chamber. We

01:30will continue to stand with the Bloody Sunday families and with families across the north

01:36in their pursuit for truth and for justice.