Woodward meets with Bloody Sunday families
The family of Bernard McGuigan, one of those shot dead on Bloody Sunday, this week refused to meet with Northern Ireland Secretary of State Shaun Woodward when he was in Derry to meet with relatives and legal representatives of the Bloody Sunday families.
The McGuigan family say they are deeply concerned about meetings the Secretary of State held with some of the soldiers involved in the shootings.
The family’s legal representative, Mr. Desmond Doherty, has requested a copy of the minutes of these meetings and said he can see no logical reason why the British Government should be holding meetings with soldiers involved in Bloody Sunday.
He said: “I Have contacted the Secretary of State’s office asking for the minutes of the meeting he held with some of the soldiers. They responded that they were treating that as a Freedom of Information request but I told them that it was no such thing.
“I think the McGuigan family has the right to know why these soldiers were meeting with representatives of the British Government, we have a right to know what was discussed and why these meetings were held.”
He continued: “What concerns us most is the fact that Soldier F, the man we believe shot Bernard McGuigan, could well have been at that meeting and we can see no logical reason why the British Secretary of State should be sitting down with him discussing the Saville Report.”
The Saville Report on the Bloody Sunday shootings is due to be given to the British Government next March and the relatives are currently in talks with the British government on how the report will be released and when they will receive a copy.
