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On Bloody Sunday in 1972, peaceful protesters in Derry were gunned down by soldiers acting under the authority of a government that claimed to defend democracy while silencing dissent.

Nearly fifty years later, in the streets of Australian cities, protesters were met with rubber bullets, mass arrests, and the same cold rhetoric about “maintaining order.” Different countries, different eras, but the pattern is unmistakable: when citizens stand up, governments crack down. The tools of repression may have changed....from rifles to riot shields, from internment without trial to sweeping protest laws....but the message remains chillingly familiar: disagree at your own risk.

Throughout history, states have maintained a monopoly on violence, justifying its use in the name of security, stability, and the common good. In Northern Ireland, the British government framed civil rights activists as threats to national security, branding them as insurgents rather than citizens demanding equality. The introduction of internment without trial in 1971 allowed for the indefinite detention of individuals without due process, a tool designed not to protect the public but to suppress political opposition. It was under this climate of repression that Bloody Sunday unfolded, with soldiers firing live rounds into unarmed crowds and the state swiftly covering up its role in the massacre.

Fast forward to modern Australia, where protesters rallying against government policies found themselves facing armored police, pepper spray, and rubber bullets. The language used to justify these crackdowns mirrors the past: protestors are labeled as extremists, threats to public health, or disruptors of social order. The Public Order laws enacted in various states grant sweeping powers to law enforcement, criminalising peaceful assembly under the guise of maintaining public safety. The faces behind the shields have changed, but the tactics remain eerily familiar.

 

What links Derry to Down Under is not just the violence but the systematic denial of accountability. In the aftermath of Bloody Sunday, the British government spent decades denying responsibility, with the truth buried under layers of bureaucratic passing the buck. It wasn't until the Saville Inquiry in 2010 that the killings were officially acknowledged as unjustified. Yet, justice remained elusive, with only a single soldier ever charged, and even that process dragged out with little consequence.

Similarly, in Australia, inquiries into police conduct during protests often result in sanitised reports that focus on procedural missteps rather than systemic abuses. Officers involved in violent crackdowns rarely face meaningful consequences, protected by legal frameworks designed to shield state agents from accountability. The media often plays its part, amplifying government narratives that paint protesters as dangerous radicals rather than concerned citizens exercising their democratic rights.

This continuity reveals an uncomfortable truth: the facade of democracy is often paper-thin when challenged by public dissent. Whether in the streets of Derry or Melbourne, the right to protest exists in theory, but in practice, it is conditional - permitted only when it poses no real threat to the status quo. Governments have become adept at dressing up repression in the language of democracy, using laws, media narratives, and bureaucratic processes to maintain control without appearing overtly authoritarian.

 

But history is not just a record of repression; it is also a testament to resistance. The civil rights movement in Northern Ireland did not die on Bloody Sunday. The protests in Australia, though met with force, sparked widespread debates about civil liberties and state power. Every act of dissent, no matter how violently suppressed, plants seeds of awareness that can grow into broader movements for change.

The lesson is clear: the fight for freedom and accountability is ongoing. Governments will always claim to act in the interest of the people, but history shows that their actions often serve to protect their own power. It is up to the public to recognise these patterns, to question official narratives, and to stand in solidarity with those who dare to dissent. From Derry to Down Under, the struggle continues.

Derry on Bloody Sunday refers to the tragic events of January 30, 1972, in the city of Derry (also known as Londonderry), Northern Ireland. This day became one of the most infamous in the history of the Troubles, the decades-long ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland.

On that day, the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association organised a peaceful march to protest against internment without trial, a policy introduced by the British government in 1971. Thousands of people gathered in Derry’s Bogside area to take part in the march. The intended route would have led to Guildhall Square in the city centre, but British authorities banned the march from entering the area.

As the march approached a military barricade, tensions rose. Members of the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment of the British Army were deployed to the scene. Soldiers opened fire on the unarmed civilians, killing 14 people (13 on the day and one later from injuries) and wounding 15 others. All those killed were Catholic, and many were young men or teenagers.

 british army armored vehicle passes free derry

A British Army armored tank passes Free Derry Corner in the Bogside area of Derry. Source: The Derry Journal

Internment without trial, introduced in Northern Ireland in 1971, was a controversial policy allowing authorities to detain individuals suspected of involvement in paramilitary activities without charging or trying them in court. This policy was part of the British government’s response to escalating violence during the Troubles, but it disproportionately targeted the Catholic/nationalist community and became a source of deep resentment and outrage.

By the late 1960s, tensions between Northern Ireland's Protestant/unionist and Catholic/nationalist communities had escalated into widespread unrest. The rise of paramilitary groups, such as the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and loyalist factions, further fueled violence. In this context, the Northern Ireland government (under Prime Minister Brian Faulkner) sought extraordinary measures to combat what it saw as growing threats to security.

The policy was enacted on August 9, 1971, under the Special Powers Act (1922), which had long granted Northern Ireland’s government broad authority to maintain order. Internment was not new; it had been used during World War II and in the earlier Irish War of Independence. However, its use in 1971 reignited tensions and exacerbated the conflict.

Over the night of August 9-10, armed soldiers carried out dawn raids across Northern Ireland, seeking people suspected of involvement in the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Three hundred forty-two people were arrested on the first night and imprisoned without trial. Everyone arrested was an Irish nationalist or republican, and most were Catholics.

The intelligence used to determine who was arrested was faulty and outdated. Many who were arrested were no longer militant republicans or members of the IRA; several never had been. This heavy-handed approach led to four days of violence that led to the deaths of 20 civilians, two IRA members, and two British soldiers. Within 48 hours, over 100 of those arrested had been released.

Tensions were on the rise across Northern Ireland after internment without trial was introduced. In the months after August 1971, the number of British soldiers killed jumped and by the end of that year, 6 more were killed just in the city of Derry. The British Army faced over 1,300 rounds of gunfire and 180 nail bombs. They responded by firing 364 rounds themselves. Nationalist protesters also set up nearly 30 barricades in the self-proclaimed "Free Derry" area that the army's tanks couldn't even get through.

Just 12 days before the Bloody Sunday massacre, the Northern Irish Prime Minister banned all protests and marches for the rest of the year. But an anti-internment march still took place near Derry a few days later. Thousands joined the protest, which the Parachute Regiment tried to prevent from reaching an internment camp. Some protesters threw stones and tried to get past the barbed wire. The soldiers responded with rubber bullets and tear gas, and witnesses said they brutally beat a number of the protesters, with some officers having to restrain their own troops.

brigadier pat maclellan 

Then-Brigadier Patrick MacLellan of the 8th Infantry Brigade, center, 1971. Source: The Times of London 

On January 24, the RUC chief told the 8th Infantry Brigade commander, Pat MacLellan, that NICRA planned another peaceful protest march against internment on January 30. The chief requested the march be allowed without military presence. MacLellan agreed to propose this to General Ford, the army commander in Northern Ireland. The next day, Ford put MacLellan in charge of containing the January 30 march.

On January 27, two RUC officers were shot dead in Derry. In response, the newly-formed Democratic Unionist Party announced a public rally at the same spot. On January 29, NICRA declared it wanted the January 30 march to be "peaceful and incident-free."

On Bloody Sunday, British paratroopers entered Derry to take up positions. Brigadier Pat MacLellan ordered Lieutenant Colonel Derek Wilford, commander of the 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment, to launch the arrest operation. Wilford then told Major Ted Loden, the company commander, to carry out the arrests.

The planned march was to start at Bishop's Field in Creggan and end with a rally at the Guildhall. Around 10-15,000 people set off at 2:45 pm. As the march approached the city center, protesters found their path blocked by the British Army. The organizers then told the crowd to change direction and march down Rossville Street to hold the rally at Free Derry Corner instead.

Some protesters broke off and started throwing stones at the soldiers handling the barriers. The soldiers responded with rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannons. Witnesses said the discord was not unusually violent at this stage.

 

civililans fleeing british soldiers bloody sunday northern ireland

Northern Irish civilians fleeing from British soldiers on Bloody Sunday 1972. Source: Sky News

The breakaway protesters spotted British soldiers in an abandoned building overlooking William Street and began throwing stones at them. Around 3:55 pm, the paratroopers started firing at the protesters. A 15-year-old and a 59-year-old were shot and wounded, with the 59-year-old later dying. At 4:07 pm, the paratroopers were ordered to move into William Street and arrest any remaining rioters. The 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment, both on foot and in vehicles, chased people running down Rossville Street into the Bogside.

Brigadier MacLellan had ordered just one company of paratroopers to break through the barriers on foot, without pursuing civilians down the street. But Lieutenant Colonel Wilford disobeyed this order, making it hard to distinguish rioters from peaceful marchers. Witnesses said the soldiers verbally abused civilians, threatened to kill them, hit them with rifle butts, and fired rubber bullets. The vehicles also struck two civilians.

One group of paratroopers, the Support Company of 1 Para, positioned about 80 meters from a barricade across Rossville Street. Rioters threw rocks at the soldiers, but couldn't reach them. Still, the paratroopers opened fire, killing six rioters and wounding one.

map dead wounded bloody sunday northern ireland 

A map showing the dead and wounded on Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland. Source: CAIN Archive – Ulster University

The agitators tried to flee but found themselves trapped in the Rossville Flats car park, surrounded by tower blocks. The paratroopers opened fire, killing one and wounding six. The victim was running alongside a priest.

Another group escaped to the Glenfada Flats car park, also enclosed by apartment buildings. From across the car park, the soldiers shot and killed two civilians, wounding four more. They moved through the car park, killing two more civilians at the southwest corner. At the southeast corner, they shot and killed two more rioters.

In just 10 minutes, the paratroopers fired over 100 rounds without warning, killing 13 civilians that day and fatally injuring one more months later. The massacre occurred in four main areas: the Rossville Street barricade, the Rossville Flats car park, the south side of Rossville Flats, and the Glenfada Flats car park.

thousands mourners participated funeral procession bloody sunday 

Thousands of mourners participated in the funeral procession after Bloody Sunday. Source: El Periódico

 

The soldiers claimed they were responding to threats from armed individuals, but no evidence was found to support the presence of weapons among the marchers. Many victims were shot in the back while fleeing or while trying to assist the wounded. 

The killings provoked outrage across Ireland and internationally. In the aftermath. Violence escalated in Northern Ireland, with Bloody Sunday often seen as a catalyst for increased recruitment into the Irish Republican Army (IRA).The event deepened mistrust between the Catholic/nationalist community and the British authorities. Protests broke out worldwide, with condemnation of the British Army’s actions.

Investigations

  1. Widgery Tribunal (1972): The initial inquiry, led by Lord Widgery, largely exonerated the British soldiers, stating their actions were justified under the circumstances. This report was widely criticised as a whitewash.

  2. Saville Inquiry (1998–2010): After decades of campaigning by families of the victims, a new inquiry was launched by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair. The Saville Report, published in 2010, found that:

    • None of the victims posed a threat or were armed.
    • The British soldiers' actions were unjustifiable.
    • Several soldiers lied about their actions and motivations.

Following the Saville Report, British Prime Minister David Cameron issued a formal apology in the House of Commons, calling the killings “unjustified and unjustifiable.” 

Bloody Sunday remains a defining moment in Irish and British history. It symbolises the struggle for civil rights in Northern Ireland and the deep divisions of the Troubles. The victims' families continue to campaign for justice, and some soldiers involved have faced legal proceedings, though none have been convicted.

The event is commemorated annually in Derry, with memorials and marches honoring those who lost their lives. It also inspired cultural works, including songs like “Sunday Bloody Sunday” by U2 and poetry that reflects the pain and anger of the day.

There is a powerful connection between Bloody Sunday and more recent events, like the protests in Australia. Both highlight a recurring theme: when state authority feels threatened, governments often respond with force, justify it as necessary for “order,” and then suppress accountability afterward. This cycle can be used to argue that despite the passage of time, the core dynamics of state power and control haven’t fundamentally changed.  

Then: In Northern Ireland, civil rights marchers were labeled as threats to national security. Their peaceful protest was met with lethal force, and the government covered up the truth for decades.  

Now: In Australia, during protests against lockdown measures, people were arrested en masse, hit with rubber bullets, and painted as extremists rather than citizens exercising democratic rights.  Governments claim the exclusive right to use force.

Whether it’s soldiers on Bloody Sunday or riot police in Melbourne, that force is often disproportionate, and the narrative is spun to justify it - usually framed around maintaining “public safety” or “national security.”  ( Strange that it doesn't apply with the horrific outbreak of anti semitic behaviour. ) 

 

It took nearly 40 years for the British government to even acknowledge wrongdoing, and still no real justice has been served. In Australia, legal systems tend to protect police actions, with inquiries often whitewashing events or focusing on procedural errors rather than systemic abuse. The media often amplifies the government’s narrative, demonising protesters to shift public opinion.

After Bloody Sunday, the British press echoed claims that the marchers were armed aggressors. Similarly, coverage of Australian protests frequently painted demonstrators as radicals or conspiracy theorists, diverting attention from the core issues they raised. Internment Without Trial was designed to suppress political opposition under the guise of security. Today, governments pass laws restricting protest rights, increasing surveillance, and criminalising assembly.... different tools, same goal.

History isn’t just repeating itself....it’s being recycled under different names.

 

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