"Some people used to say why not forget about it—it happened years ago," explained McKinney, a spokesperson for the Bloody Sunday relatives, whose brother William was killed on that day. "But something that has always brought Bloody Sunday to the present day is that the people who died have been labeled by the British government as being gunmen and nail bombers. To this day the British government has never retracted that statement."

From the building activities apparent on college campuses and among supporters of Irish freedom, the January 22 marches will attract thousands. "Bloody Sunday — Let the truth be told," is the main demand of the actions, which are also seen as a way to mobilize against British domination of Northern Ireland.

On Jan. 30, 1972, Irish freedom fighters held a mass march in Derry as part of a rising movement demanding civil rights in Northern Ireland. The British army assault and killings were an attempt to put an end to the struggle, which sought democratic rights and an end to internment without trial.

"The parachute regiments were in Belfast a week before Bloody Sunday," said McKinney. "They didn't decide to come to Derry on their own. That decision was made at the highest level. The politicians must be held accountable."

Irish communities responded to the killings by organizing a three-day strike in Derry, as thousands of workers took strike action in the south of Ireland. Protesters in Dublin burnt the British embassy to the ground.

The actions put the British government, which was facing its first nationwide miners strike since 1926, on the defensive.

The government in London organized a cover-up, cleared the soldiers of any wrongdoing, and slandered those who were killed.

As the struggle in Ireland against the British occupation has advanced, and the campaign by the relatives of those killed and injured has continued to win support, cracks in the cover-up have begun to appear. A British soldier who was in Derry on that day says that the demonstrators had been shot with their hands in the air. In 1998 the British government agreed to a new inquiry. Another report released January 5 by Limerick University professor Dermot Walsh revealed evidence of systematic alteration of witness statements by British soldiers that took part in the killings.

McKinney said the inquiry needs to "find out everything and establish the truth. It has the power to recommend that the Department of Public Prosecution prosecute those responsible."

He also rebutted a new slander aimed at continuing the cover-up. Following a Court of Appeal decision, the Bloody Sunday Inquiry Tribunal concluded that British soldiers involved in the killings "have genuine and reasonable fears for their personal safety...and could face greater risk if they were identified." It concurred with the court's decision that the soldiers would remain anonymous. "It has always been in our interests to get the truth, not to harm the soldiers," McKinney said.

"We want all the evidence to be heard in Derry," said McKinney, who expected there would be a large turnout from among the city's largely nationalist population for the hearings. The new inquiry "wasn't handed to us on a plate. We have campaigned vigorously to get where we are now" since forming the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign.

In addition to the march scheduled for January 22, McKinney reported that the relatives had set up a full-time campaign center in Derry. "In around three months 1,500 people have visited the center, including people from all around the world," he said. Britain's attempts to criminalize nationalist fighters was dealt another setback when a high court judge in Dublin delayed the extradition of Angelo Fusco after a Sinn Fein appeal.

Fusco had been wanted by the British since escaping from a Belfast court in 1981, just before he was convicted of killing a police officer. Carrying signs that read, "No British Justice—No Extradition—Release Angelo Fusco," nationalist protesters, including Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, demonstrated outside the courthouse , where Fusco was being held.

"We have a right to expect that the days when this state trampled on the rights of [Irish] citizens to secure extradition from this jurisdiction at Britain's behest are over," said Caoimhghín O Caoláin, Sinn Fein representative in the Dublin parliament.

In further evidence that the once-solid, pro-British, forces in Northern Ireland are breaking up, Richard Jameson was shot dead in a feud among Loyalist factions in Portadown in mid-January.

Paul Davies is a member of the Transport and General Workers Union in Manchester. Pete Clifford in London contributed to this article.  
 
 
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