Narrative of events of Bloody Sunday (1972) Narrative of events of Bloody Sunday (1972) This article details the events as they occurred on Bloody Sunday (1972). The organisers' original intention was that the march would form up on the Creggan Estate behind a coal delivery lorry carrying the main speakers and bearing a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) banner. The march would then make its way down to William Street on the edge of the Bogside, and on to the Guildhall in the city centre, where a rally would be held. In response, the head of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) in Derry, Chief Superintendent Frank
Battle of the Bogside Jack Lynch, Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland, made a televised speech about the events in Derry, in which he said that he "could not stand by and watch innocent people injured and perhaps worse." He promised to send the Irish Army to the border and to set up field hospitals for those injured in the fighting. Lynch's words were widely interpreted in the Bogside as promising that Irish troops were about to be sent to their aid. Unionists were appalled at this prospect, which they saw as a threatened invasion of Northern Ireland. Although the Irish Army was sent