Member's statement: Bloody Sunday: Anniversary

Member's statement by Mr Pádraig Delargy on 27 January 2025.

MLA: Mr Pádraig Delargy
Party at the time: Sinn Féin
Date: 27 January 2025
Type: Member's statement
Business: Members' Statements
Heading: Bloody Sunday: Anniversary
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 4758650

Text

This week is the 53rd anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when British soldiers murdered 14 civilians on the streets of Derry and seriously wounded 13 more. Growing up in Derry, as a young man, I was told stories by my grandparents of how they had marched for civil rights and a better future for my generation to enjoy. They were part of a generation that stood up and said, "No more": no more to second-class citizenship, no more to inferior housing and no more to being denied the right to vote. When I think of them, I think of those who marched and never came home, whose memory the British state tried so hard to erase. The people of Derry knew that they were innocent. They knew that they had marched for civil rights and had been shot down on their own streets by an army that purported to be protecting them. Our city stood with the Bloody Sunday families in their lengthy campaign, during which they showed such dignity and courage. Internationally, "Bloody Sunday" became a byword for state murder and the denial of justice. The British state continues in its efforts to deny any opportunity for families to seek justice for their loved ones through its abhorrent Legacy Act, which is opposed by parties across the Chamber. We will continue to stand with the Bloody Sunday families and with families across the North in their pursuit of truth and justice.

241 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.

Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.23 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
No identity-based framing was identified (0.82).
Subject area: Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism.
The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.

This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.

Jev’s structured answers

Probability that each statement is true of this text (0 = no, 1 = yes). A criterion counts as met at 0.60 or above.
Question	Probability	Met?
Identity framing	0.36	No
Sectarian or communal antagonism	0.07	No
Cultural grievance politics	0.12	No
Dog-whistle messaging	0.09	No
Controversy escalation	0.16	No
Legitimate policy scrutiny	0.23	No
Overall judgement	0.23	At or below not-flagging threshold

Context and attribution (stance)
Option	Probability
No identity-based framing (chosen)	0.82
Reports or questions it	0.00
Criticises or condemns it	0.11
Adopts it	0.07

Subject area (top five)
Subject	Probability
Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism	0.96
Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations	0.03
No identity-related subject	0.01
Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials	0.00
Parades, bonfires and commemorations	0.00

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:46 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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