JUDE COLLINS: John Hume was half-right with his Bloody Sunday quote

JUDE COLLINS: John Hume Was Half-Right About His Bloody Sunday Quote

Many people today are indifferent to the events of Bloody Sunday in 1972. This is understandable — most were not born then, do not live in Derry or the Bogside, and over fifty years later, other concerns have taken their attention. However, families and friends of the victims have not forgotten.

The recent acquittal of Soldier F on all murder charges reopened deep wounds. It took fifty-three years for a British soldier to face trial for Bloody Sunday, and he was ultimately found not guilty.

John Hume said to an Irish Times journalist shortly after Bloody Sunday: "Many people down there feel now it’s a united Ireland or nothing. Alienation is pretty total."

While John Hume was mistaken about the prospect of a united Ireland—there is still no reunification after all these years—his observation on alienation remains true. In the wake of the verdict, relatives expressed profound disgust. The iconic Free Derry mural was altered to read, "There is no British justice."

It almost feels like a nightmare that the Parachute Regiment, after killing eight innocent people in Ballymurphy, Belfast, would then enter the Bogside and deliberately shoot thirteen people, with a fourteenth dying later. At the time, Home Secretary Reginald Maudling announced that the British army "came under fire."

Summary

The Bloody Sunday verdict deepens pain and alienation in affected communities, confirming enduring mistrust of British justice despite decades passing.

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Belfast Media Group — 2025-11-02

JUDE COLLINS: John Hume Was Half-Right About His Bloody Sunday Quote

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