From the Set the Truth Free Campaign:

With mere days until the scheduled release of Saville’s report into Bloody Sunday, relatives this week delivered a powerful message to the British government by returning several key aspects of history to officials at Downing Street, the Ministry of Defence and Buckingham Palace.

On St. Patrick’s Day the group travelled to London to reclaim the history of Bloody Sunday and highlight concerns over delays in the publication of the Saville Report. First on the agenda was to return a symbolic copy of the original Widgery Report to Downing Street, giving back the British Army version of what happened on January 30, 1972. Families then demonstrated on the Mall with their Set the Truth Free banner as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s cavalcade passed.
Tony Doherty, whose father Paddy was murdered on Bloody Sunday, hand-delivered a copy of Widgery’s original report to 10 Downing Street, accompanied by a letter to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The campaign then made its presence felt outside the Ministry of Defence, where relatives and supporters chalked the outlines of fourteen bodies on the pavement, symbolising the fourteen men and boys murdered on Bloody Sunday. This moving gesture formed the backdrop as family members returned the infamous and wholly inaccurate ‘shot list ‘originally drawn up by the British Army’s former Chief of General Staff, General Mike Jackson to the MoD.
Relatives also delivered a letter listing the real heroes of Bloody Sunday to the Queen at Buckingham Palace, highlighting the fact that parachute regiment commander Lieutenant Colonel Derek Wilford was decorated by the Queen, receiving an OBE just months after Bloody Sunday. An impromptu invitation to the official St. Patrick’s Day Reception in Parliament also gave relatives the opportunity to meet British Prime Minister Gordon Brown briefly and handed over their letter in person.

Families were warned on a number of occasions by the Metropolitan Police that their actions were technically in breach of new legislation that bans any demonstration within one kilometre of Parliament, but family spokesperson Tony Doherty said: “Highlighting Bloody Sunday at Buckingham Palace, the Ministry of Defence and Downing Street was more important on this occasion than any alleged technical breach of this new law. We will demonstrate where and when we want and that’s what we did.”

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For further information or to arrange interviews with relatives, please contact:
Press Officer - Julieann Campbell on: 078. 8972. 0080 or email: julieann@setthetruthfree.org
 

A new effort to build economic bridges between the US and Ireland will be launched in Boston next month at the Gateways to Tomorrow conference hosted by the Irish Echo.

The conference, which features high-profile speakers from Boston and northwest Ireland — including State Senate President Therese Murray of Massachusetts and Minister Conor Murphy of the powersharing executive in the North — will build on the Global Economic Forum held in Dublin last weekend and on last year's Investment Conference in Belfast.

While focusing on economic, academic and cultural linkages, the conference will also hear from IAUC President Kate McCabe and General James Cullen, founding President of the Brehon Law Society, who will speak on the lessons of the Irish peace process for America. Mary Louise Mallick, First Deputy Comptroller of New York State, which has invested $30m in a new fund targeting underserved areas of the North of Ireland will address the opportunities of regeneration.

Among the organisations sponsoring the conference are the University of Ulster, Magee, Derry City Council, the Derry regeneration body ILEX, and the Strategic Investment Board in North Ireland. US political figures addressing the conference include Massachusetts State Treasurer Tim Cahill and Rep. Gene O'Flaherty while Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray will be chief honoree at a luncheon finale to the conference.