What happened on Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972?

On January 30, 1972, in Londonderry (Derry), Northern Ireland, a peaceful but illegal civil rights demonstration organized by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association to protest the government's policy of internment without trial turned into a massacre.12

During the event, British paratroopers opened fire on the demonstrators, killing 13 people and wounding 14 others, one of whom later died. For decades, the incident remained a source of intense controversy, with the British army claiming they were fired upon first, while the Catholic community maintained the victims were unarmed.31

In 2010, the Saville Report—the result of a long-term government inquiry—concluded that the British army fired the first shot, that none of the victims posed a threat to the soldiers, and that the shootings were entirely unjustified. Following the report, then-Prime Minister David Cameron issued a formal apology, stating that the events were "in no way justified" and that some members of the armed forces had acted wrongly.31