Hardly ever is it the people in power that make the difference; nearly always it's the power of the people. It takes time and it takes various forms. This book is one of them.
It rests squarely in the annals of history as one of the principal catalysts for a fresh public Judicial Inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday. The other is the force of the Bloody Sunday families themselves, their resilience, patience, courage and single mindedness. They stand out along with all their neighbours on the pages that follow. - Michael Mansfield QC, from the Foreword
Based on ignored eyewitness testimonies of one of Irish history's most defining moments, Don Mullan's Eyewitness Bloody Sunday is officially acknowledged as a primary catalyst for what became the longest-running and most expensive public inquiry in British legal history. It also inspired the award-winning movie, Bloody Sunday.
This new edition includes contributions from Derry solicitor, Desmond J. Doherty, and Michael Mansfield QC, who represented some of the families at the Bloody Sunday Inquiry. An appendix provides the full transcript of Mansfield's adroit and explosive questioning of 'Solider F' during the Inquiry.
Two additional appendices recall the making of Bloody Sunday, the movie; and the mystery of Derry's Grassy Knoll - provocatively questioning if the Inquiry actually resolved the suspicion that three of the Bloody Sunday victims were shot by a British Army sniper.
