SDLP leader Mark Durkan has called on the British government, the IRA and the Catholic Church to give a full account of what happened at Claudy in 1972 - Irish News, page 4.

Church leaders spoke out yesterday as the clamor for a judicial inquiry into the Claudy atrocity gathered pace - News Letter, page 6.

Unfortunately, there has been no closure of this hellish nightmare for the good and decent people of Claudy, and Government, the Roman Catholic Church and anyone with information must now fully co-operate to see that justice is done - News Letter editorial, page 8.

The Catholic Bishop of Derry, Dr Seamus Hegarty, has said people should not pre-empt the results of the police investigation into the Claudy
bombing - Irish Times, page 7. Daily Mirror, page 2.

The following broadcast transcripts on Dec. 20, 2002, and Jan. 3, 2003, concerning the Claudy bombing of 1972 are courtesy of the Irish Information Service
 

IVAN COOPER, BISHOP SEAMUS HEGARTY, UTV LIVE 

MIKE NESBITT

Now the former Civil Rights leader Ivan Cooper identified the priest as a leader of the bomb gang earlier this year. We spoke this afternoon. 

Mr Cooper when you implicated the priest the Catholic Church attacked you. How do you feel today?

IVAN COOPER

I don't feel any elation or feeling of vindication, but it had been said that I had sullied the memory of a dead priest and obviously that hurt me a great deal. But I am more concerned in relation to the impact and the effect on the families, because unfortunately the Claudy bombing was largely a forgotten bombing and the victims, I feel, had felt a great aspect of isolation.

MIKE NESBITT

What could be done for the relatives now?

IVAN COOPER

I wouldn't like to raise their thoughts at this stage because it is my view that it will be very difficult to do anything about the Claudy bombing. My belief is that either two or three of the members of the unit which carried out the bombing of Claudy are no longer with us, they are dead. And I think most of the rest of the people involved in it went to live in the United States of America. So I wouldn't like to raise hopes at this stage. 

There have been many other atrocities similar to Claudy throughout Northern Ireland, but at least this has focused some attention on the loss of the people of Claudy and for me it was a great personal loss, because I come from Claudy and many of those who lost their lives on that day were people who I knew intimately, and anyone who has ever seen Billy Aiken and Merle Aiken will know that the death of their little child Catherine is something which devastated their lives totally and it is a pain and hurt which they carry in the most devastating way to this very day.

MIKE NESBITT

Seamus Hegarty is the Catholic Bishop of Derry, he joins us now live from our studios in the city. 

Has today's revelation compromised the integrity of your church?

BISHOP HEGARTY

No, it certainly is not the type of news which we like to get. Nonetheless, it certainly does clarify the situation very significantly for us. Up until now we were responding to information which we had at the time, which was rather limited, and in our recent statements as recently as last January we clearly were responding on the basis of information which we then had.

MIKE NESBITT

Bishop, morally is it correct to shelter a man who is implicated in mass murder of a terrorist nature?

BISHOP HEGARTY

No it certainly is not. And there was no effort made to shield himŠ

MIKE NESBITT

He was transferred to another parish.

BISHOP HEGARTY

Well, wait a minute the situation is that we are now in possession of information which we did not have previouslyŠ.

MIKE NESBITT

But the Cardinal did according to the police.
 
BISHOP HEGARTY

That is a different matter. The Cardinal and the Secretary of State obviously they met, they discussed it, four months after the tragic bombing in Claudy took place. Now what the deliberations of that particular conversation was, I do not know. But what I do know is that that particular piece of information and a lot of the other details which Assistant Constable Kincaid presented today came as total news to us. 

And we do not, obviously, condone in any way violence, no matter by whom it is perpetrated and we have as Catholic clergy, an excellent record in defending life unborn and since then and the clergy in this diocese of Derry and elsewhere in Northern Ireland, they have an impeccable record in outreaching to people. No I think that has to be said and is very important to say it again.

MIKE NESBITT

Can I ask you, if it had been one of your relatives who had died would you be happy that the Cardinal had described the priest as having behaved improperly? Is that enough?

BISHOP HEGARTY

I found that strange, but the fact is that at that time, what also surprises me is that the four months elapsed between the actual bombing and the meeting in December '72 and clearly for very good reasons, whatever the reasons were, I do not know, the perpetrators, including the priest in question, were not questioned.

Jan. 3, 2003:

The former Roman Catholic Bishop of Derry Dr. Neil Farren - who grilled Claudy bombing suspect, Fr. James Chesney - gave out cash to relatives of those killed and injured in the 1972 atrocity, Londonderry Deputy Mayor, Mary Hamilton, revealed last night - News Letter, pages 1 and 10.

Ian Paisley, Jr., has called for an independent inquiry into the role of the Government and the Catholic Church following the Claudy bombing - Daily Mirror, page 11.
 

Hamilton Raps Payment of Money, GMU

CONOR BRADFORD

The Deputy Mayor of Derry, Mary Hamilton, claims that the former Catholic Bishop of Derry, Dr Neil Farren, gave out money to the relatives of those killed and injured in the 1972 Claudy bombing. Mrs. Hamilton was injured in the bombing, and says she and her husband were given £400 by Bishop Farren just days after the bomb.

Take us back to the circumstances at the time, then, when this money was, as you say, handed out.

MARY HAMILTON

This money was handed out just after the bombing. And at that time people were so shocked, and we were all out of our homes, we'd actually nothing left, we ended up in a caravan, living in a caravan, and we understood this money was to help us tide us over that period. And we didn't question it, but it's just now, when everything is being revealed, what happened, we begin to question, I think, was this conscience money?

CONOR BRADFORD

This is because of the belief that the Bishop of Derry at the time, this Dr. Neil Farren, who's dead now, of course, actually grilled the bombing suspect, Fr. James Chesney. But the trouble is, the myths of time tend to sort of cloud these things over. I mean this is a long time ago now, isn't it?

MARY HAMILTON

This is a long time ago, but it's still in our minds, and with us living through it, it's just as clear as yesterday. And, you know, I can just see everything as vivid as yesterday, and you just sit back now and think of what happened then, and begin to question why was this money given out? At that time it was just so new into the troubles, and we didn't realize that this wasn't done in other places.

CONOR BRADFORD

At the time, I presume, the money was welcome?

MARY HAMILTON

Well, at the time the money was accepted. We thought this was to help us get furniture, get the necessary things to help us live, because we were in the hotel, and we were literally just left with, the kitchen was about the only thing we were able to live, we had to get a caravan and live outside. So we thought this money was to help tide people over.

CONOR BRADFORD

Now you feel that the money could be sort of tainted, in hindsight. What do you feel should be done now?

MARY HAMILTON

Well, really, Bishop Farren is deceased now, so there's nothing really that we can do, like as far as that's concerned. We just feel very angry that with everything known then, and was this all just to brush everything under the carpet more or less to keep people from asking questions and keep us quiet.

CONOR BRADFORD

And this is just a question that will be left hanging there now?

MARY HAMILTON

This is just a question, yes, though I would imagine it will be discussed when we meet again with the PSNI, an inquiry, there is to be a meeting in the New Year some time.