Twenty-Third Anniversary Of The Deaths In Derry, Co Londonderry

EDM number 456 in 1994-95, proposed by Peter Bottomley on 24/01/1995.

That this House notes the twenty-third anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland when 13 people were shot and killed and one person was fatally wounded by troops; recognises that Bloody Sunday was one of the key events in the escalation of the Troubles, which are hopefully at an end; further recognises that the Widgery inquiry into the tragic events of Bloody Sunday was not perceived by all as a fair and objective investigation and has left a mark of culpability on those who were killed; acknowledges that the relatives of the dead and the injured continue to seek full exoneration for the victims; commends Channel 4 and the BBC for television documentaries on the 20th anniversary of Bloody Sunday which produced new evidence of the sequence of events and of the roles of the IRA and the Army on 30th January 1972; welcomes the Prime Minister's description in 1992 of the victims as `not guilty' and, in 1993, as `innocent' in response to the representations respectively, of peace campaigners and of the honourable Member for Foyle; calls upon the Government to build on these valuable statements by facilitating an independent historical commission of British, Irish and other scholars in re-examining the evidence, as suggested by the cross-party New Dialogue group; and believes that such actions would play a positive role in strengthening the resolve of democratic forces in these islands in reaching a peaceful political settlement within the framework of the 1993 Downing Street Declaration.

This motion has been signed by a total of 21 MPs, 1 of these signatures have been withdrawn.