FOR a relatively small visitor attraction, the Museum of Free Derry certainly packs a powerful punch. Moving, poignant and emotional are among the words that crop up most often in the visitor’s book in the reception area and it’s easy to see why.

It was opened in 2006 by the Bloody Sunday Trust, which was set up by local pro-democracy activists nine years earlier to campaign for justice for the 14 unarmed civil rights demonstrators murdered by the British Army, plus the 17 others who were injured, on that fateful, tragic afternoon in Northern Ireland’s second city on January 30, 1972.

Although the museum covers other traumatic and tumultuous events in Derry from 1968 onwards, including the Battle of the Bogside and the setting up of Free Derry as a no-go area for soldiers and police, it’s main focus, justifiably, is on Bloody Sunday’s impact and lasting legacy.

However, curator Adrian Kerr said: “The museum is as much about our future together as it is about the past. It tells the story of a working-class community which endured oppression and rose up against it.

“The story is told from the people’s point of view and recalls how the people of Derry, led by families of the victims, overcame injustices and wrote a new chapter in the history of civil rights, which has become a source of international inspiration.

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“The activists whose campaigning led to the museum being established demanded a different world, where everyone was entitled to justice, equality and freedom. The museum is dedicated to all who have struggled for basic civil rights and who will do so in the future.”

For younger readers, when Ireland’s troubled relationship with Britain hit the headlines in the late 1960s it was impossible to overstate the authoritarian, sectarian, discriminatory and undemocratic nature of the Northern Ireland state established after the partition of Ireland in 1921.

Derry was a gerrymandered city with a permanent Unionist council foisted on the nationalist majority and anti-Catholic discrimination was widespread across the province in housing, job recruitment and education.

The Unionist government at Stormont maintained “law and order” with the aid of a heavily armed police force, the RUC, backed up by the B-Specials – a wholly Protestant auxiliary force renowned for its hardline stance against nationalists, republicans and anyone perceived not to be in thrall to the NI government.

Then there was the controversial Special Powers Act, which allowed the government to intern anyone for unspecified periods without trial or even explanation – legislation which was used intermittently after the foundation of the state and was re-introduced in August 1971 when more than 340 people from Catholic or nationalist backgrounds were detained by British soldiers.

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The measure was finally abandoned in December 1975 as being seriously counter-productive, as it alienated an entire community and increased support for republican paramilitaries. More than 2000 people had been detained without trial under the Act, though just over 100 were loyalist suspects. It was a well-supported demonstration organised by the Derry Civil Rights Association against internment without trial that led to the Bloody Sunday outrage in early 1972.

Kerr said: “As around 15,000 people were starting to march, General Ford, the officer commanding the British Army in Derry, was preparing to prevent demonstrators from reaching the city centre. Twenty-six barricades had been erected to stop protesters and the 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, the so-called elite of the Army had been deployed.

“The marchers expected a peaceful day, by Derry standards, as seen by the large number of women and children who took part, but as the demo approached the barricades, the lorry leading the parade swung to the right towards Free Derry Corner.

A group of several hundred, mostly young people, continued until they reached the barricades. There followed the standard Derry riot: stones and bottles against rubber bullets, CS gas and water cannons.

Kerr said: “This was an almost daily occurrence in Derry at the time and, as 4pm approached, the riot was petering out. But at 3.55pm, away from the riot area, the Paras opened fire with live rounds.”

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What happened next shamed Britain around the world. In less than half-an-hour, in an area not much bigger than a football pitch around the Rossville Flats in the Bogside, the Paras killed 13 unarmed men and boys and left 15 men and two women injured. A 14th victim died of his wounds later in the year.

THE full horror of Bloody Sunday is explained in the museum, which is situated in the heart of the murder zone. Jackie Duddy, 17 died after being shot in the back; William McKinney, 27, was also shot in the back as he tried to help wounded marchers; Jim Wray, 22, was wounded and paralysed by the first burst of fire shot twice in the back from point-blank range outside his grandparents’ home.

Gerald Donaghey, 17 and Gerard McKinney, 35, were shot dead as they tried to reach wounded friends in the belief the shooting was over. Patrick Doherty shot from behind as he tried to crawl to safety. And so it went on …

In the international furore that followed, the British Army, government, establishment and media united to claim hundreds of shots had been fired at soldiers, even though not a single soldier or army vehicle had been hit by the alleged “fusillade of gunfire”.

While the Derry coroner Hubert O’Neill condemned the Paras’ actions as “sheer unadulterated murder”, the UK government ordered a public inquiry headed by lord chief justice Lord Widgery. It later emerged that, in a secret memo, Tory prime minister Edward Heath reminded Widgery that the government was “fighting not only a military war, but a propaganda war”.

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Widgery, it seems, took the hint and refused to hear evidence from the majority of civilian witnesses; held the tribunal 30 miles from Derry and allowed soldiers to testify anonymously and in disguise. Later, it was revealed that soldiers’ statements had been altered to match the government’s view of events.

When Widgery reported his findings less than three months later, it came as no surprise to Bogsiders that the Army was exonerated. Widgery said: “None of the dead or wounded is proved to have been shot while handling a firearm or bomb but there is a strong suspicion that some had been firing weapons or handling bombs and others had been closely supporting them.”

Kerr said: “For Free Derry, Widgery confirmed that the entire British establishment stood behind the Bloody Sunday killers.”

The report, widely regarded as a whitewash, only intensified the campaign to clear the names of those killed or injured and bring closure and justice to their families.

Eventually, in 1998, Tony Blair’s Labour government ordered a new inquiry under the chairmanship of Lord Saville, which, when it reported 12 long years later, confirmed that all those killed or injured were innocent and contradicted the version of events given in 1972 by the British Army and UK Tory government.

The Saville report ran to more than 5000 pages and the inquiry was the longest and most expensive legal proceedings in British and Irish history. It received a rapturous response from campaigners in Derry and a statement issued on behalf of the families said: “The victims have been vindicated, the Parachute Regiment has been disgraced and the truth has been brought home after 38 years of struggle. Widgery’s great lie has been laid bare.”

Last year, on the 50th anniversary of the massacre, a dignified and poignant remembrance event attended by representatives of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths plus members of NI Humanists was held at the monument in the Bogside dedicated to the victims.

The chair of the Bloody Sunday Trust, Tony Doherty, whose father Patrick was shot dead by the Paras, emphasised the need to place his city’s experience of peace-building and conflict resolution in the local, national and international context.

He said: “Our struggle for truth and justice is epic and unfinished, but is revered around the world as a beacon of hope and inspiration. We see the commemoration as a reflection of the status of modern Ireland and a friendly and welcoming Derry.”

Or as the Gallagher brothers Liam and Noel of Oasis might have put it: Don’t look back in anger.