WATCH: Bloody Sunday: Victims' families await PPS decision

The families of those who died on Bloody Sunday have said they are committed to seeking justice for their loved ones.

L-R Kate Nash, John Kelly, Paul Doherty, Michael McKinney
Author: Damien EdgarPublished 14th Mar 2019
Last updated 14th Mar 2019

On 30 January 1972, Parachute Regiment soldiers opened fire on a civil rights demonstration in Londonderry.

In one of the darkest days of the Troubles, 13 people were killed, with a 14th man who was shot dying some months later.

A further 15 people were wounded.

It became known as Bloody Sunday and 47 years on, the Public Prosecution Service will announce whether any ex-soldiers or IRA members will face prosecution over it.

As it stands, 17 veterans and two alleged IRA men are on that list that could potentially be charged.

The victim's families campaign for justice led to a public inquiry led by Lord Saville, which published its conclusions in 2010.

Since then the PSNI has investigated and put forward its conclusions to the PPS.

Kate Nash

Kate Nash

Kate Nash lost her 19-year-old brother William on Bloody Sunday and said she remains hopeful she will see justice.

"I think I have good faith in the PPS," she said.

"I don't know why I have that, but what I'm hoping for is prosecutions and convictions."

She told Downtown Radio/Cool FM news that her father was shot as he ran to William's aid.

"He recognised William's suit and he ran to his aid, in a hail of bullets and he got shot too.

Presseye - Lorcan Doherty Photography

"My mother was in hospital after a heart attack a week before and we had to keep the news from her.

"But eventually we had to tell her, that her son was getting buried.

"They wheeled my dad down from another ward in the hospital.

"She went silent, she never said a word.

"But she got out of the hospital about a week after and when she stepped through the door of our home, she began to scream and wail, screaming Willie's name."

Michael McKinney

Michael McKinney

Michael McKinney's 27-year-old brother William was killed on Bloody Sunday, as he tried to escape the area where soldiers had opened fire.

"The shooting stopped and they decided to make a run for it, to try and get out the exit," he said.

"As they were running across, two soldiers, both of them opened fire and one of them hit Willie in the back.

"He passed away half an hour later, after going into a coma.

"The soldiers who were on the ground, it's going to be laid on them and rightly so.

"But it concerns me that blame wasn't channelled through the ranks above them soldiers."

John Kelly

John Kelly

John Kelly met his 17-year-old brother Michael before the fateful civil rights march that day.

"That was the last time I saw Michael alive," he said.

"The next time I saw him, he was being carried out of a house.

"He was an innocent young boy - it nearly destroyed my mother and she never got over his death.

Grave of Michael Kelly

John said he had campaigned tirelessly for justice since 1972 and he has no time for those who say too much time has passed to prosecute those responsible.

"There's no sell-by-date on murder," he said.

"Whether you're in your 70s, 80s or 90s now, whenever you become a murderer, you're always a murderer and you must face the wrath of justice.

"My hope is that the soldier who murdered my brother will be prosecuted.

"But I still maintain that every soldier who fired a shot that day should be prosecuted for murder and attempted murder."

Paul Doherty

Paul Doherty

Paul Doherty was left without a father after soldiers gunned down Patrick Doherty 47 years ago.

"My dad went on the march on the day and basically, he never came back," he said.

"He was the twelfth person to be murdered on the day.

"A soldier clearly picked out my dad crawling on his hands and knees at the back of the Rossa flats and shot him."

The last moments of Patrick's life were captured in a photograph that has now become one of the images synonymous with Bloody Sunday.

Paul Doherty in front of a phot of his father Patrick.

"I remember some things about my dad, there are four or five things that I try to keep in my mind," he said.

"But mostly I remember the shock to mys system, being a young child without a dad.

"We have never been about revenge, what we are about is justice for the people who died on Bloody Sunday."