By Mike McBride & David WilsonBBC News NI
- Published
Relatives of those killed on Bloody Sunday have begun a walk of remembrance in Londonderry to mark the 50th anniversary.
Thirteen people were shot dead and at least 15 others injured when members of the Army's Parachute Regiment opened fire on a civil rights march on 30 January 1972.
The families are retracing the steps of the original march.
It is one of a number of events being held in Derry on Sunday.
Bloody Sunday brought worldwide attention to the escalating crisis in Northern Ireland, which came to be known as the Troubles.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson paid tribute to victims' families during Prime Minister's Questions.
Mr Johnson described Bloody Sunday as "one of the darkest days in our history" and said in the run up to the anniversary "we must learn from the past, reconcile and build a shared and prosperous future".
At the scene: Mike McBride, BBC News NI
Relatives of those killed on Bloody Sunday have set off on their walk of remembrance from Creggan.
They are following a similar route to a civil rights march that was staged in this city half a century ago.
A January day that started in peaceful protest, but ended in tragedy. Spectators have lined the streets in a show of solidarity with the families.
John Kelly, the brother of Michael Kelly, hands out a white rose to a child representing each of the Bloody Sunday families.
Each rose a life lost.
A ripple of applause breaks out in the crowd as the Bloody Sunday families, linked arm in arm, march purposefully through the streets of Derry.
Ahead of the 50th anniversary, ex-prime minister David Cameron said his 2010 apology for Bloody Sunday made it clear there was no doubt what happened was wrong.
When the Saville Inquiry was released, Mr Cameron apologised for the "unjustified and unjustifiable" deaths.
Police have warned motorists to expect delays in the city on Sunday.
They said some diversions may be necessary and advised drivers to allow extra time for journeys in and around Derry.
Thousands gathered in Derry on that January day for a rally organised by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association.
They were protesting against a new law giving the authorities powers to imprison people without trial - internment.
The Stormont government had banned such protests, and deployed the Army.
The intended destination of the demonstrators was the city centre, but Army barricades blocked marchers, so many demonstrators headed towards Free Derry Corner in the Bogside.
After prolonged skirmishes between groups of youths and the Army, soldiers from the Parachute Regiment moved in to make arrests.
Just before 16:00 GMT, stones were thrown and soldiers responded with rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon.
At 16:07 GMT, paratroopers moved to arrest as many marchers as possible. At 16:10 GMT, soldiers began to open fire.
The crowd is making its way to the Bloody Sunday Monument in Rossville Street for the annual memorial service.
Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Micheál Martin will lay a wreath at the memorial and is expected to privately meet the families of those killed.
Jean Hegarty, whose 17-year-old brother Kevin McElhinney was shot and killed on Bloody Sunday, said it was hard to believe 50 years had passed.
Kevin, who worked at a local supermarket, was killed as he attempted to flee the firing on Rossville Street.
"It never gets easier to talk about, even after all this time, for some of us [the Bloody Sunday families] it still sadly feels like it happened just yesterday," Ms Hegarty told BBC News NI.
She says Sunday is an extremely emotional day for the families.
"I think the walk of remembrance will be extremely poignant, given that we will be walking to the Guildhall - a place our family members and the other people on the march never got to reach," she said.
Irish President Michael D Higgins deliver a recorded message to the Bloody Sunday families during a special event at the Millennium Forum.
The Irish president is expected to commend the people of Derry for leading the way in finding agreements and accommodating others and their traditions, and keeping the victims' memories alive.
It will take place in front of a limited number of people but will also be live streamed to an online audience.
The Millennium Forum will then fall silent at the precise moment when, on January 30, 1972, members of the Parachute Regiment opened fire in the Bogside.
Two public inquiries have been carried out into the events of Bloody Sunday.
The Widgery Tribunal, which was announced shortly after Bloody Sunday, largely cleared the soldiers and British authorities of blame.
The Saville Inquiry, published in 2010, found none of the casualties was posing a threat or doing anything that would justify the shooting.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) began a murder investigation in 2010.
Detectives submitted their files to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) towards the end of 2016.
Prosecutors said in 2019 they would prosecute a soldier, known only as Soldier F, for the murders of James Wray and William McKinney on Bloody Sunday.
On 2 July 2021, it was announced Soldier F would not face trial following a decision by the PPS.
The decision not to proceed with the case is now the subject of live judicial review proceedings following a legal challenge brought by a brother of one of the Bloody Sunday victims.
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