As many as 40,000 people (an Irish News estimate) took part in the largest Bloody Sunday march and rally ever this Sunday (2 February). The march, which began just after 3.00 pm took the same route as the original civil rights march of 30 January 1972. The weather was fine and the huge attendance took approximately an hour the pass a given spot. Even the British media conceded that it was the largest Bloody Sunday parade ever and, perhaps more surprisingly, the staunchly Unionist daily paper The Newsletter has called for a full Government apology for what happened.
The main speakers at the rally, held as usual at Free Derry corner in the Bogside area of Derry, were Micky McKinney, a member of the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign and brother of William McKinney, one of the 13 people shot dead in 1972 and Martin McGuinness, a prominent member of Sinn Féin.
Speaking at the rally Martin McGuinness said that it was as if "Britain put us all on a roller-coaster of injustice, hatred and murder. Those troops who came into the city were decorated by the queen and got away with it."
Earlier in the day a small but moving ecumenical religious service was held by the Bloody Sunday memorial. The service was led by a Catholic priest and Presbyterian minister Rev Terence McCaughey from Dublin. Both John Hume and Martin McGuinness were in attendance as relatives laid wreaths in remembrance of those killed.
There was a packed Pilot's Row Community Centre to hear a public debate and discussion that involved John Hume, MP, the leader of the SDLP and Mitchel McLaughlin, National Chairperson of Sinn Féin. The two other members of the panel were the Rev Roy Magee, a Presbyterian minister who is credited with having helped to broker the Loyalist ceasefires and Mary Flaherty, a Fine Gael TD from Dublin. The debate was chaired by Miriam O'Callaghan, one of RTE's best known presenters
After the meeting many people expressed disappointment at the poor level of the debate as well as the fact that too many contributions had been made by visitors from the United States which had prevented many local people from participating. The debate, entitled "Whose afraid of peace? at one time got very heated when the question of an electoral pact between the SDLP and Sinn Féin was raised. At one stage John Hume had difficulty in making himself heard as he argued that there were significant differences between the SDLP and Sinn Féin that would make it difficult to organise a pact.
Earlier in the day there had been a series of events in Pilots Row Community Centre in which they key events of Bloody Sunday were remembered and analysed.
The RUC were cleared on Friday (31 January) of any financial liability arising from the killing of three men by a deranged policeman in Belfast. Justice Pringle ruled that the RUC had no duty of care to the three victims: Patrick Loughram, Michael O'Dwyer and Patrick MacBride. All three were shot dead by RUC constable Allen Moore when he launched his attack with an official issue RUC pump action shot gun in a Sinn Féin advice centre in February 1992.
The case against the RUC rested on the fact that the day before the killings Moore had been arrested by other RUC officers and had his police revolver taken away from him after firing shots over a colleague's grave. He was found to be drunk. He was later allowed to leave Newtonabbey RUC station with his shotgun. Moore subsequently committed suicide. The victims' relatives are to appeal.
The European Commission for Human Rights in Strasbourg has upheld the British Government's case with regard to their decision to issue an exclusion order against Gerry Adams which prevented him from entering Britain. The case had been taken against the British Government by Gerry Adams and Labour MP Tony Benn on the grounds that the exclusion order was a violation of his right to free expression.
However the commission ruled that "The restriction may be reasonably said to pursue the interests of national security and the prevention of disorder and crime".
The order banning Gerry Adams was designed to prevent him from speaking at a meeting within the House of Commons. It now means that the case cannot proceed to the Court of Human Rights.
A group of Irish MEPs have called for the immediate transfer of Roisin McAliskey who is facing extradition proceedings relating to an IRA attack in Germany. She is currently being held in Holloway prison in London. The MEPs, who made their call after they had visited Roisin on Monday, 27 January also criticised the extensive strip-searching of Roisin and said that there were no proper facilities for Roisin who is six months pregnant. The three MEPs, Niall Andrews, Pat 'The Cope' Gallagher and Brian Cowley are all members of Fianna Fail. The three are to present their report to the European Parliament. Mr Crowley said after visiting Roisin that she was "in reasonable spirits" He went onto say that "the biggest difficulty that I see is that regardless of whether it's a legal visit or a closed visit that she has, she is stripped searched before and after each visit. She is also strip searched before she goes into her cell and strip-searched in the morning. What makes this ridiculous is that Roisin McAliskey could be dealt with in Northern Ireland and the prisons there where they have proper facilities available. In Holloway there are no proper facilities available for a pregnant Category A prisoner, which she is....Everything medically as regards her blood pressure and so on seems to be okay but with her pregnancy you never know."
Brian Cowley also said that Roisin is locked up from 8 pm in the evening until 8 am the following morning with two officers outside her door. The two officers do not have a key to her cell and if there was an emergency they would have to get a person with a key, then get a medical officer and then secure a doctor before it could be determined whether she should go to hospital. Brian Cowley also said that he would be raising the case of Roisin McAliskey with the German authorities.
A US human rights organisation, Human Rights Watch, has also condemned Roisin detention as "an appalling violation of the most basic standards of care for prisoners."
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Mediation attempts involving the Orange Order, the Dunloy Parents and Residents Association and the Mediation Network have failed as the Orange Order have now pulled out of the process. The Orange Order has consistently refused to meet with the Parents and Residents Association even though the members of the Association are neither ex-prisoners or members of Sinn Féin. The Orange Order, which has no members living in Dunloy, pulled out of mediation efforts after only one meeting with the Mediation network. The Residents have reaffirmed their determination to seek a negotiated settlement despite this set-back.
The decision to allow the Orange march at Drumcree "damaged the RUC's reputation as an impartial police force", according to a USA Government report published on Wednesday (29 January). These comments are part of an annual report on human rights around the world compiled by the State Department.
Under the heading "Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association", the report says the marching season in Northern Ireland "posed special problems for the government as the 100,000 members of the Orange Order and similar Protestant organisations paraded "to celebrate their history and cultural identity"
The report goes on to say: "Many observers on both sides of the community perceived the government's reversal in the face of unlawful unionist protests as a victory of might over the rule of law, and the incidents damaged the RUC's reputation as an impartial police force".
The report also states that many human rights groups "have raised concerns about mistreatment of detainees in Northern Ireland where suspects arrested under emergency legislation are interrogated in special holding centres."
There have also been accusations that security force members in Northern Ireland "harass citizens, particularly young people in areas where support for terrorists is considered strong. (However) the government strongly denies that such behaviour is widespread or officially tolerated."
The British government is criticised for its use of plastic bullets. The report also documents IRA bombings during the past year and it also records an increase in the number of so-called "punishment beatings" by both loyalists and republicans. The report also documents the continuing high levels of Catholic unemployment and under-representation in senior grades of the civil service.