McGuinness Testifies Before Bloody Sunday Inquiry

The Irish American Information Service

Sinn Fein MP Martin McGuinness has told the Saville Inquiry that within two weeks of Bloody Sunday he was leading the IRA in Derry.

The Bloody Sunday inquiry is examining the events of 30 January 1972 when 13 civilians were shot dead by soldiers during a civil rights march in Derry. Another man died later from his injuries.

Earlier today, McGuinness said he did not believe it was relevant for the tribunal to establish what happened to his republican career after the killings.

Lord Saville temporarily adjourned the inquiry for a short time after complaining that Mr McGuinness was failing to properly answer questions relating to events on the day.

Later, Lord Saville assured McGuinness he had immunity from prosecution. McGuinness then said that he had been a member of the Official IRA which he joined first in 1970 before leaving within weeks for the Provisionals.

"At the time of Bloody Sunday, I was adjutant to the Derry IRA. Within two weeks, I became officer commanding of the Derry IRA". McGuinness said that the actual Derry commander of the Provisional IRA on the day was still alive and well, but he added he did not know why he had not come forward to give evidence.

Referring to Paddy Ward, an earlier witness who accused McGuinness of orchestrating violence on the day, he said Ward was a "fantasist, liar, informer and totally dependent on the British military establishment who have used him".

"I was not the officer commanding on the day, the acting officer, commander or someone waiting to take over as the officer commanding as this fantasist has it."

McGuinness also said he would not be made an exception by being asked about his republican career - that would be for some form of truth and reconciliation commission should all the people of Northern Ireland be prepared to contribute to such an undertaking.

Speaking as he went into the Guildhall this morning, McGuinness said he was at the inquiry to tell the truth about what happened. " I am here for the families and for the truth they deserve," he said.

The tribunal returned to the Guildhall in Derry last week after sitting in London for more than a year.

In a sworn statement, Mr McGuinness said he was second in command of the IRA in the city at the time of Bloody Sunday. He said the IRA agreed to a request from the organisers of the civil rights march to take no action against British military targets on the day, so the march could pass off peacefully.

At the inquiry, he will contend that the fatal shootings by the army in the Bogside area of the city were unprovoked. McGuinness has already dismissed claims that he fired the first shot on Bloody Sunday as a "blatant lie.²

The Saville Inquiry opened in Derry three and a half years ago, but moved to Westminster's Methodist Hall to hear evidence from more than 200 former soldiers and some politicians.

This session marks the beginning of the end of the evidence - the tribunal is hoping to hear all the witnesses by Christmas.

Lord Saville of Newdigate and the Commonwealth judges accompanying him on the inquiry are not expected to report back until next year.

The inquiry was established in 1998 by Prime Minister Tony Blair after a campaign by families of those killed and injured. The Widgery Inquiry, held shortly after the shootings, was widely regarded as having been a whitewash, exonerating the actions of the security forces on that day.

Nov. 5, 2003

McGuinness Questions Tribunal's Independence

Martin McGuinness today questioned whether the Bloody Sunday inquiry into the killing of 13 civilians by British troops in Northern Ireland was independent.

McGuinness, was giving evidence for a second day before the long-running tribunal investigating the notorious 1972 shootings in Derry. "I accept that it is a distinguished tribunal, but I do not accept it is independent," said Mr McGuinness, when questioned by Mr Edwin Glasgow, lawyer for many of the soldiers, about why he had initially not co-operated with the inquiry.

Bloody Sunday was one of the most controversial events in Northern Ireland's violent history, fuelling mistrust for the authorities by the nationalist minority and prompting many to join the IRA's campaign against British rule.

"One of the important things that has happened over the course of the last 10 years is that a British prime minister came on the scene who decided to do things differently from any other British prime minister in history," said McGuinness.

"So whilst I have expressed my reservations about the independence of this tribunal, that does not necessarily mean that I do not have confidence that this tribunal can get to the truth and finally clear up what has been a running sore."

McGuinness today refused to disclose the locations of the IRA's command center and arms dump in the Bogside on Bloody Sunday. McGuinness said he had last night approached people who had provided assistance to the IRA in January 1972, and they had asked him not to disclose the addresses.

"In my view their attitude is totally understandable," he told the Bloody Sunday Inquiry today. He believed that those who had provided the IRA with logistical support were open to prosecution by the authorities.

"Family members would be put at grave risk of attack by loyalist paramilitaries who have killed republicans and continue to target republicans," he said.

The Sinn Fein leader had been asked by Inquiry chairman Lord Saville to reflect on his refusal to disclose these locations, warning he could face accusations that he had something to hide on Bloody Sunday.

But he told the Inquiry that he was not prepared to betray their confidence. "I'm confident that the families of those who were murdered on Bloody Sunday understand my position," he said.

Nov. 5, 2003

McGuinness Claims He Left IRA 30 Years Ago

 Martin McGuinness quit the IRA nearly 30 years ago, he told the Bloody Sunday Inquiry tonight. As he questioned the independence of Lord Saville's investigation, the 53-year-old former paramilitary chief insisted he left the IRA in the early 1970s.

He also claimed he had never read the IRA's so- called "green book" issuing guidelines to all volunteers.

The Sinn Fein MP's claim directly contradicted the assessment of security chiefs in Belfast, who believe he was heavily involved in the upper echelons of the IRA after it declared its 1994 ceasefire. Facing intense questioning on his second day in the witness box, he was challenged to reveal if he had ended his paramilitary career.

Edwin Glasgow QC, representing most of the paratroopers who were in the Bogside on Bloody Sunday when 13 unarmed civilians were shot dead in January 1972, asked: "When did you leave the IRA, if you did?"

The Mid Ulster MP, annoyed by the line of questioning, accused the inquiry of being fixated by his past. But finally relenting, he claimed: "I left the IRA in the early part of the 1970s."

Earlier, McGuinness resisted pressure by the Inquiry to reveal the locations of the IRA's command center and arms dump in the Bogside on Bloody Sunday. McGuinness said he had last night contacted people who had provided assistance to the IRA but they had urged him not to reveal the addresses.

"Family members would be put at grave risk of attack by loyalist paramilitaries who have killed republicans and continue to target republicans," he said.