Van Morrison - 76 anos

      

Sir Van Morrison (Belfast, Irlanda do Norte, 31 de agosto de1945), nome artístico de George Ivan Morrison, é um cantor, compositor e expoente da chamada celtic soul.

  

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Liam Neeson - 69 anos

  

Liam John Neeson (Ballymena, 7 de junho de 1952) é um ator britânico nascido na Irlanda do Norte. Ficou bastante conhecido principalmente pelo papel de Oskar Schindler no filme Schindler's List (A Lista de Schindler), ao lado do diretor Steven Spielberg. Foi nomeado para o Óscar de Melhor Ator por A Lista de Schindler, mas perdeu para Tom Hanks, em Filadélfia.

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Goodbye Bobby Sands...

Bobby Sands morreu há quarenta anos...

   

Robert Gerard "Bobby" Sands (Irish: Roibeárd Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh; Newtownabbey, 9 March 1954 – Maze, County Down, 5 May 1981) was an Irish volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who died on hunger strike while imprisoned in HM Prison Maze.

He was the leader of the 1981 hunger strike in which Irish republican prisoners protested against the removal of Special Category Status. During his strike he was elected as a member of the British Parliament as an Anti H-Block/Armagh Political Prisoner candidate. His death resulted in a new surge of IRA recruitment and activity. International media coverage brought attention to the hunger strikers, and the republican movement in general, attracting both praise and criticism.

Sands was born into a Roman Catholic family in Abbots Cross, and lived in Doonbeg Drive, Newtownabbey, County Antrim, until 1960 when the family was forced to move to Rathcoole, Newtownabbey. His first sister, Marcella, was born in April 1955 and second sister, Bernadette, in November 1958. His parents, John and Rosaleen, had another son, John, in 1962. On leaving school, Bobby became an apprentice coach-builder until he was forced out at gunpoint by loyalists.
In June 1972, at the age of 18, Bobby moved with his family to the Twinbrook housing estate in west Belfast, and had to leave Rathcoole due to loyalist intimidation.
He married Geraldine Noade. His son, Gerard, was born 8 May 1973. Noade soon left to live in England with their son.
Sands' sister, Bernadette Sands McKevitt, is also a prominent Irish Republican. Along with her husband Michael McKevitt she helped to form the 32 County Sovereignty Movement and is accused of involvement with the Real Irish Republican Army. Sands McKevitt is opposed to the Belfast Agreement, stating that "Bobby did not die for cross-border bodies with executive powers. He did not die for nationalists to be equal British citizens within the Northern Ireland state."

    

  
IRA activity

In 1972, Sands joined the Provisional IRA. He was arrested and charged in October 1972 with possession of four handguns found in the house where he was staying. Sands was convicted in April 1973 sentenced to five years' imprisonment and released in April 1976. Upon his release from prison in 1976, he returned to his family home in West Belfast, and resumed his active role in the Provisional IRA's cause. He was charged with involvement in the October 1976 bombing of the Balmoral Furniture Company in Dunmurry. He was never convicted of this charge; the presiding judge stated that there was no evidence to support the assertion that Sands had taken part in the bombing. After the bombing, Sands and at least five others were alleged to have been involved in a gun battle with the Royal Ulster Constabulary, although Sands was not convicted due to lack of evidence. Leaving behind two of their wounded friends, Seamus Martin and Gabriel Corbett, Sands, Joe McDonnell, Seamus Finucane, and Sean Lavery tried to escape in a car, but were apprehended. Later, one of the revolvers used in the attack was found in the car in which Sands had been travelling. In 1977, prosecutors charged him with possession of the revolver from which bullets were fired at the RUC after the bombing. After his trial and conviction, Sands was sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment within HM Prison Maze, also known as Long Kesh.
Immediately after his sentence, Sands was implicated in a ruckus and spent the first 22 days "on boards" (all furniture was removed from his cell) in Crumlin Road Prison, 15 days naked, and a No. 1 starvation diet (bread and water) every 3 days.

In prison, Sands became a writer of both journalism and poetry, with work published in the Irish republican newspaper An Phoblacht. In late 1980 Sands was chosen as Officer Commanding of the Provisional IRA prisoners in Long Kesh, succeeding Brendan Hughes who was participating in the first hunger strike.
Republican prisoners organised a series of protests seeking to regain their previous Special Category Status which would free them from some ordinary prison regulations. This began with the "blanket protest" in 1976, in which the prisoners refused to wear prison uniform and wore blankets instead. In 1978, after a number of attacks on prisoners leaving their cells to "slop out" (i.e., empty their chamber pots), this escalated into the "dirty protest", wherein prisoners refused to wash and smeared the walls of their cells with excrement.

While in prison Sands had several letters and articles published in the Republican paper An Phoblacht (en: Republican News) under the pseudonym "Marcella". Other writings attributed to him are: Skylark Sing Your Lonely Song and One Day in My Life. Sands also wrote the lyrics of "Back Home in Derry" and "McIlhatton", which were both later recorded by Christy Moore; and he wrote "Sad Song For Susan" which was later recorded. The melody of "Back Home in Derry" was borrowed from Gordon Lightfoot's famous 1976 song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."

   

MP

Shortly after the beginning of the strike, Frank Maguire, the Independent Republican MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, died suddenly of a heart attack, precipitating the April 1981 by-election.
The sudden vacancy in a seat with a nationalist majority of about five thousand was a valuable opportunity for Sands' supporters to unite the nationalist community behind their campaign. Pressure not to split the vote led other nationalist parties, notably the Social Democratic and Labour Party, to withdraw, and Sands was nominated on the label "Anti H-Block / Armagh Political Prisoner". After a highly polarised campaign, Sands narrowly won the seat on 9 April 1981, with 30,493 votes to 29,046 for the Ulster Unionist Party candidate Harry West - and also become the youngest MP at the time. However Sands died in prison less than a month afterwards, without ever having taken his seat in the Commons.
Following Sands' success, the British Government introduced the Representation of the People Act 1981 which prevents prisoners serving jail terms of more than one year in either the UK or the Republic of Ireland from being nominated as candidates in British elections. This law was introduced in order to prevent the other hunger strikers from being elected to the British parliament.

   

Hunger strike

he 1981 Irish hunger strike started with Sands refusing food on 1 March 1981. Sands decided that other prisoners should join the strike at staggered intervals in order to maximise publicity with prisoners steadily deteriorating successively over several months. The hunger strike centred on five demands:

1. The right not to wear a prison uniform;
2. The right not to do prison work;
3. The right of free association with other prisoners, and to organise educational and recreational pursuits;
4. The right to one visit, one letter and one parcel per week;
5. Full restoration of remission lost through the protest.

The significance of the hunger strike was the prisoners' aim of being declared political prisoners (or prisoners of war) as opposed to criminals. The Washington Post reported that the primary aim of the hunger strike was to generate international publicity.

Death

Sands died on 5 May 1981 in Maze prison hospital after 66 days of hunger-striking, aged 27. The original pathologist's report recorded the hunger strikers' causes of death as "self-imposed starvation", later amended to simply "starvation" after protests from the dead strikers' families. The coroner recorded verdicts of "starvation, self-imposed".
The announcement of Sands's death prompted several days of rioting in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland. A milk deliverer, Eric Guiney, and his son, Desmond, died as a result of injuries sustained when their milk float crashed after being stoned by rioters in a predominantly nationalist area of north Belfast. Over 100,000 people lined the route of Sands's funeral and he was buried in the 'New Republican Plot' alongside 76 others. Their grave is maintained and cared for by the National Graves Association, Belfast. Sands was a Member of the Westminster Parliament for 25 days, though he never took his seat or the oath.
In response to a question in the House of Commons on 5 May 1981, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said, "Mr. Sands was a convicted criminal. He chose to take his own life. It was a choice that his organisation did not allow to many of its victims".
Sands was survived by his parents, siblings, and his son, Gerard.
  

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A Irlanda foi dividida há cem anos...

A Partição da Irlanda foi uma partição entre o nordeste dos seis condados e os restantes vinte e seis condados teve lugar no dia 3 de maio de 1921 sob o Ato do Governo da Irlanda de 1920. Toda a ilha da Irlanda passou a ser, provisoriamente, Estado Livre Irlandês em 6 de dezembro de 1922. Contudo, o Parlamento da Irlanda do Norte exerceu o seu direito de optar por sair do novo domínio no dia seguinte.

Esta partição criou dois territórios na ilha da Irlanda: Irlanda do Norte e Irlanda do Sul. Hoje, o primeiro ainda é conhecido como Irlanda do Norte, enquanto que o último é conhecido simplesmente como Irlanda (ou, no caso de diferenciação entre o Estado e toda a ilha, é necessário que o Estado seja referido como o República da Irlanda). A Irlanda do Norte permanece como parte do Reino Unido, enquanto que a Irlanda é um Estado soberano. 

 

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O Acordo de Belfast (ou da Sexta-feira Santa) foi assinado há 23 anos

 Parlamento da Irlanda do Norte (Stormont Parliamentary Building), onde foi assinado o Acordo

    

O Acordo de Belfast (também conhecido por Acordo da Sexta-feira Santa) foi assinado em Belfast a 10 de abril de 1998 pelos governos britânico e irlandês e apoiado pela maioria dos partidos políticos norte-irlandeses. O acordo tinha por finalidade acabar com os conflitos entre nacionalistas e unionistas sobre a questão da união da Irlanda do Norte com a República da Irlanda ou da sua continuação como parte do Reino Unido.

O acordo foi aprovado pela maioria dos votantes tanto na Irlanda do Norte como na República da Irlanda, chamados a pronunciar-se em referendos separados, em maio de 1998.

  

Pontos principais

• O princípio que o futuro constitucional da Irlanda do Norte deverá ser decidido pelo voto dos seus cidadãos.
• O comprometimento de todas as partes em usarem exclusivamente meios pacíficos e democráticos.
• O estabelecimento de uma Assembleia da Irlanda do Norte com poderes legislativos.
• A criação de um 'poder-partilhado' para a atribuição de ministros aos principais partidos, segundo o método de Hondt
• Estabelecimento de um Conselho britânico-irlandês, composto por representantes dos governos da República da Irlanda, da Irlanda do Norte, Reino Unido, Escócia, País de Gales, Ilhas do Canal e Ilha de Man, para a discussão dos assuntos de interesse comum.
• A libertação, no espaço de dois anos, de prisioneiros paramilitares pertencentes a organizações que acatassem o cessar-fogo.
• A deposição das armas no espaço de dois anos.
• A modificação dos artigos 2 e 3 da constituição da Irlanda, referentes à reivindicação do território da Irlanda do Norte pela República da Irlanda.
• Nova legislação sobre policiamento, direitos humanos e igualdade na Irlanda do Norte.

      

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Gary Moore nasceu há 69 anos

  

Robert William Gary Moore (Belfast, Northern Ireland, 4 April 1952 – Estepona, Spain, 6 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician, most widely recognised as a singer, songwriter, and virtuoso rock and blues guitarist.

In a career dating back to the 1960s, Moore played with musicians including Phil Lynott and Brian Downey during his teenage years, leading him to memberships of the Irish bands Skid Row and Thin Lizzy, and British band Colosseum II. Moore shared the stage with such blues and rock musicians as B.B. King, Albert King, John Mayall, Jack Bruce, Albert Collins, George Harrison, and Greg Lake, as well as having a successful solo career. He guested on a number of albums recorded by high-profile musicians.

  

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Robert Kildea, dos Belle & Sebastian, faz hoje 49 anos

  

Bobby Kildea is a musician from Northern Ireland. He currently plays bass and guitar in the Scottish indie pop band Belle & Sebastian, after joining in 2001 to replace departing bassist Stuart David, and had previously been in V-Twin. He is the band's only Northern Irish member and is notable for his laidback demeanor and long hair.

He goes by the nickname "Belfast" in the band, despite being born in nearby Bangor, Northern Ireland.

In December 2008, he toured with The Vaselines during Belle & Sebastian's hiatus, during which Stuart Murdoch was heading his God Help the Girl project.

Bobby features alongside Belle and Sebastian co-star Stevie Jackson on the 2011 album 'Fuerteventura' by Spanish artist Russian Red.

 

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Ciarán Hinds faz hoje 68 anos

 

Ciarán Hinds (Belfast, 9 February 1953) is an Irish film, television, and stage actor. A versatile character actor, he has featured in films such as Road to Perdition, Munich, There Will Be Blood, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Frozen, and Justice League, in which he portrayed the main antagonist Steppenwolf.

His television roles include Gaius Julius Caesar in the series Rome, DCI James Langton in Above Suspicion, Bud Hammond in Political Animals, and Mance Rayder in Game of Thrones. As a stage actor Hinds has enjoyed spells with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre in London, and six seasons with Glasgow Citizens' Theatre, and he has continued to work on stage throughout his career.

Hinds was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Brought up as a Catholic in North Belfast, he was one of five children and the only son of his doctor father and schoolteacher and amateur actress mother.

He was an Irish dancer in his youth and was educated at Holy Family Primary School and St. Malachy's College. After leaving St. Malachy's, he enrolled as a law student at Queen's University, Belfast (QUB), but was soon persuaded to pursue acting and abandoned his studies at Queen's to enroll at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), finishing in 1975.

 

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O músico Gary Moore morreu há dez anos...

  

Robert William Gary Moore (Belfast, Northern Ireland, 4 April 1952 – Estepona, Spain, 6 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician, most widely recognised as a singer, songwriter, and virtuoso rock and blues guitarist.

In a career dating back to the 1960s, Moore played with musicians including Phil Lynott and Brian Downey during his teenage years, leading him to memberships of the Irish bands Skid Row and Thin Lizzy, and British band Colosseum II. Moore shared the stage with such blues and rock musicians as B.B. King, Albert King, John Mayall, Jack Bruce, Albert Collins, George Harrison, and Greg Lake, as well as having a successful solo career. He guested on a number of albums recorded by high-profile musicians.

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Sunday, Bloody Sunday...

O Domingo Sangrento foi há 49 anos

O Padre Edward Daly (futuro Bispo de Derry) com a bandeira branca manchada de sangue, tentando levar Jackie Duddy, ferido de morte

      

Domingo Sangrento (em gaélico: Domhnach na Fola, Bloody Sunday, em inglês) foi um confronto entre manifestantes católicos e protestantes, e o exército inglês ocorrido na cidade de Derry, na Irlanda do Norte, no dia 30 de janeiro de 1972. O movimento teve início com um protesto de dez mil manifestantes que pretendiam, saindo do bairro de Creggan em marcha pelas ruas católicas da cidade, chegar até a Câmara Municipal. Antes disso, entretanto, os soldados ingleses partiram para ofensiva e disparam contra os manifestantes, deixando 14 ativistas católicos mortos e 26 feridos.

Das catorze vítimas mortas, seis eram menores de idade e um sétimo ferido faleceu meses depois do incidente. Todas as vítimas estavam desarmadas e cinco delas foram alvejadas pelas costas. Os manifestantes protestavam contra a política do governo norte-irlandês de prender sumariamente pessoas suspeitas de atos terroristas. O incidente, que entrou para a história da ilha, era para apoiar o Exército Republicano Irlandês, o IRA, uma organização clandestina que lutava pela separação da Irlanda do Norte da Grã-Bretanha e posterior união com a República da Irlanda. Após o "Domingo Sangrento", o IRA ganhou um número enorme de jovens voluntários, dando força ainda maior a esse movimento de guerrilha. Em memória da data, foi feita a canção "Sunday Bloody Sunday!" em 1983, pela banda irlandesa U2. Paul McCartney também tratou do incidente, na canção "Give Ireland Back To The Irish", lançada em compacto com sua então nova banda, os Wings, em fevereiro de 1972.

Duas investigações foram realizadas pelo Governo britânico. O Widgery Tribunal, realizada no rescaldo do evento, ilibou em grande parte os soldados britânicos e as autoridades da responsabilidade, mas foi criticado por muitos como um "branqueamento" do incidente, incluindo pelo antigo chefe de equipe de Tony Blair, Jonathan Powell. O Inquérito Saville, iniciado em 1998 para analisar os acontecimentos novamente (presidida por Lord Saville de Newdigate), apresentou um relatório, em 2010,  que mostrava que os soldados e autoridades do Reino Unido procederam de forma errada, levando à apresentação de desculpas às famílias das vítimas por parte do Primeiro Ministro do Reino Unido.

O Exército Republicano Irlandês (IRA) iniciara a sua campanha contra a Irlanda do Norte ser uma parte do Reino Unido havia dois anos antes do Bloody Sunday, mas a interpretação do evento impulsionaram enormemente o recrutamento e o apoio à organização.

O Bloody Sunday continua entre os mais importantes eventos dos apelidados Troubles da Irlanda do Norte, principalmente devido ao facto de ter sido levado a cabo pelo exército britânico.

    

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Mural by Bogside Artists depicting all who were killed by the British Army on the day

   
The death

• John (Jackie) Duddy. Shot in the chest in the car park of Rossville flats. Four witnesses stated Duddy was unarmed and running away from the paratroopers when he was killed. Three of them saw a soldier take deliberate aim at the youth as he ran. He is the uncle of the Irish boxer John Duddy.
• Patrick Joseph Doherty. Shot from behind while attempting to crawl to safety in the forecourt of Rossville flats. Doherty was the subject of a series of photographs, taken before and after he died by French journalist Gilles Peress. Despite testimony from "Soldier F" that he had fired at a man holding and firing a pistol, Widgery acknowledged that the photographs showed Doherty was unarmed, and that forensic tests on his hands for gunshot residue proved negative.
• Bernard McGuigan. Shot in the back of the head when he went to help Patrick Doherty. He had been waving a white handkerchief at the soldiers to indicate his peaceful intentions.
• Hugh Pius Gilmour. Shot through his right elbow, the bullet then entering his chest as he ran from the paratroopers on Rossville Street. Widgery acknowledged that a photograph taken seconds after Gilmour was hit corroborated witness reports that he was unarmed, and that tests for gunshot residue were negative.
• Kevin McElhinney. Shot from behind while attempting to crawl to safety at the front entrance of the Rossville Flats. Two witnesses stated McElhinney was unarmed.
• Michael Gerald Kelly. Shot in the stomach while standing near the rubble barricade in front of Rossville Flats. Widgery accepted that Kelly was unarmed.
• John Pius Young. Shot in the head while standing at the rubble barricade. Two witnesses stated Young was unarmed.
• William Noel Nash. Shot in the chest near the barricade. Witnesses stated Nash was unarmed and going to the aid of another when killed.
• Michael M. McDaid. Shot in the face at the barricade as he was walking away from the paratroopers. The trajectory of the bullet indicated he could have been killed by soldiers positioned on the Derry Walls.
• James Joseph Wray. Wounded then shot again at close range while lying on the ground. Witnesses who were not called to the Widgery Tribunal stated that Wray was calling out that he could not move his legs before he was shot the second time.
• Gerald Donaghey. Shot in the stomach while attempting to run to safety between Glenfada Park and Abbey Park. Donaghey was brought to a nearby house by bystanders where he was examined by a doctor. His pockets were turned out in an effort to identify him. A later police photograph of Donaghey's corpse showed nail bombs in his pockets. Neither those who searched his pockets in the house nor the British army medical officer (Soldier 138) who pronounced him dead shortly afterwards say they saw any bombs. Donaghey had been a member of Fianna Éireann, an IRA-linked Republican youth movement. Paddy Ward, a police informer who gave evidence at the Saville Inquiry, claimed that he had given two nail bombs to Donaghey several hours before he was shot dead.
• Gerard (James) McKinney. Shot just after Gerald Donaghey. Witnesses stated that McKinney had been running behind Donaghey, and he stopped and held up his arms, shouting "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!", when he saw Donaghey fall. He was then shot in the chest.
• William Anthony McKinney. Shot from behind as he attempted to aid Gerald McKinney (no relation). He had left cover to try to help Gerald.
• John Johnston. Shot in the leg and left shoulder on William Street 15 minutes before the rest of the shooting started. Johnston was not on the march, but on his way to visit a friend in Glenfada Park. He died 4½ months later; his death has been attributed to the injuries he received on the day. He was the only one not to die immediately or soon after being shot.

      

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O tratado fundador da República da Irlanda foi assinado há 99 anos

 

O Tratado Anglo-Irlandês foi um acordo firmado entre a Irlanda e o Reino Unido com o objetivo de dividir territórios no então Reino Unido da Grã-Bretanha e Irlanda.

Assinado em 6 de dezembro de 1921, veio a dar origem ao Estado Livre Irlandês, separando a Irlanda do Norte da República da Irlanda.

 

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Van Morrison - 75 anos!

     

Sir Van Morrison (Belfast, Irlanda do Norte, 31 de agosto de1945), nome artístico de George Ivan Morrison, é um cantor, compositor e expoente da chamada celtic soul.

Dedicou-se desde muito cedo à música porque o seu pai coleccionava discos de jazz, e a mãe era cantora. Atingiu a maturidade à frente dos Them, banda formada em 1964, e com a qual obteve uma série de êxitos. Morrison começou a ficar triste devido à grande utilização de músicos de estúdio por parte da banda e abandonou o seu grupo após uma digressão pelos Estados Unidos em 1966. Regressou a Belfast com a intenção de deixar o mundo da música, mas o produtor Bert Berns convenceu-o a regressar a Nova Iorque e a gravar a solo. Destas primeiras sessões de gravação saiu uma das suas músicas mais conhecidas, Brown eyed girl.

Em 1968, é editado Astral Weeks, considerado por muitos o seu melhor trabalho, muito aclamado pela crítica, mas não tendo muita aceitação por parte do público. Morrison geralmente mostra algum desdém pelas opiniões da imprensa e da crítica. O seu trabalho é, muitas vezes, de natureza espiritual, combinando elementos do jazz, R&B e música celta.

Em 1990, participou no espectáculo de Roger Waters, The Wall in Berlin, com outros convidados, entre os quais Bryan Adams e Scorpions.

     

  

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O Domingo Sangrento foi há 48 anos

O Padre Edward Daly (futuro Bispo de Derry) com a bandeira branca manchada de sangue, tentando levar Jackie Duddy, ferido de morte

      

Domingo Sangrento (em gaélico: Domhnach na Fola, Bloody Sunday, em inglês) foi um confronto entre manifestantes católicos e protestantes, e o exército inglês ocorrido na cidade de Derry, na Irlanda do Norte, no dia 30 de janeiro de 1972. O movimento teve início com um protesto de dez mil manifestantes que pretendiam, saindo do bairro de Creggan em marcha pelas ruas católicas da cidade, chegar até a Câmara Municipal. Antes disso, entretanto, os soldados ingleses partiram para ofensiva e disparam contra os manifestantes, deixando 14 ativistas católicos mortos e 26 feridos.

Das catorze vítimas mortas, seis eram menores de idade e um sétimo ferido faleceu meses depois do incidente. Todas as vítimas estavam desarmadas e cinco delas foram alvejadas pelas costas. Os manifestantes protestavam contra a política do governo norte-irlandês de prender sumariamente pessoas suspeitas de atos terroristas. O incidente, que entrou para a história da ilha, era para apoiar o Exército Republicano Irlandês, o IRA, uma organização clandestina que lutava pela separação da Irlanda do Norte da Grã-Bretanha e posterior união com a República da Irlanda. Após o "Domingo Sangrento", o IRA ganhou um número enorme de jovens voluntários, dando força ainda maior a esse movimento de guerrilha. Em memória da data, foi feita a canção "Sunday Bloody Sunday!" em 1983, pela banda irlandesa U2. Paul McCartney também tratou do incidente, na canção "Give Ireland Back To The Irish", lançada em compacto com sua então nova banda, os Wings, em fevereiro de 1972.

Duas investigações foram realizadas pelo Governo britânico. O Widgery Tribunal, realizada no rescaldo do evento, ilibou em grande parte os soldados britânicos e as autoridades da responsabilidade, mas foi criticado por muitos como um "branqueamento" do incidente, incluindo pelo antigo chefe de equipe de Tony Blair, Jonathan Powell. O Inquérito Saville, iniciado em 1998 para analisar os acontecimentos novamente (presidida por Lord Saville de Newdigate), apresentou um relatório, em 2010,  que mostrava que os soldados e autoridades do Reino Unido procederam de forma errada, levando à apresentação de desculpas às famílias das vítimas por parte do Primeiro Ministro do Reino Unido.

O Exército Republicano Irlandês (IRA) iniciara a sua campanha contra a Irlanda do Norte ser uma parte do Reino Unido havia dois anos antes do Bloody Sunday, mas a interpretação do evento impulsionaram enormemente o recrutamento e o apoio à organização.

O Bloody Sunday continua entre os mais importantes eventos dos apelidados Troubles da Irlanda do Norte, principalmente devido ao facto de ter sido levado a cabo pelo exército britânico.

    

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Mural by Bogside Artists depicting all who were killed by the British Army on the day

   
The death

• John (Jackie) Duddy. Shot in the chest in the car park of Rossville flats. Four witnesses stated Duddy was unarmed and running away from the paratroopers when he was killed. Three of them saw a soldier take deliberate aim at the youth as he ran. He is the uncle of the Irish boxer John Duddy.
• Patrick Joseph Doherty. Shot from behind while attempting to crawl to safety in the forecourt of Rossville flats. Doherty was the subject of a series of photographs, taken before and after he died by French journalist Gilles Peress. Despite testimony from "Soldier F" that he had fired at a man holding and firing a pistol, Widgery acknowledged that the photographs showed Doherty was unarmed, and that forensic tests on his hands for gunshot residue proved negative.
• Bernard McGuigan. Shot in the back of the head when he went to help Patrick Doherty. He had been waving a white handkerchief at the soldiers to indicate his peaceful intentions.
• Hugh Pius Gilmour. Shot through his right elbow, the bullet then entering his chest as he ran from the paratroopers on Rossville Street. Widgery acknowledged that a photograph taken seconds after Gilmour was hit corroborated witness reports that he was unarmed, and that tests for gunshot residue were negative.
• Kevin McElhinney. Shot from behind while attempting to crawl to safety at the front entrance of the Rossville Flats. Two witnesses stated McElhinney was unarmed.
• Michael Gerald Kelly. Shot in the stomach while standing near the rubble barricade in front of Rossville Flats. Widgery accepted that Kelly was unarmed.
• John Pius Young. Shot in the head while standing at the rubble barricade. Two witnesses stated Young was unarmed.
• William Noel Nash. Shot in the chest near the barricade. Witnesses stated Nash was unarmed and going to the aid of another when killed.
• Michael M. McDaid. Shot in the face at the barricade as he was walking away from the paratroopers. The trajectory of the bullet indicated he could have been killed by soldiers positioned on the Derry Walls.
• James Joseph Wray. Wounded then shot again at close range while lying on the ground. Witnesses who were not called to the Widgery Tribunal stated that Wray was calling out that he could not move his legs before he was shot the second time.
• Gerald Donaghey. Shot in the stomach while attempting to run to safety between Glenfada Park and Abbey Park. Donaghey was brought to a nearby house by bystanders where he was examined by a doctor. His pockets were turned out in an effort to identify him. A later police photograph of Donaghey's corpse showed nail bombs in his pockets. Neither those who searched his pockets in the house nor the British army medical officer (Soldier 138) who pronounced him dead shortly afterwards say they saw any bombs. Donaghey had been a member of Fianna Éireann, an IRA-linked Republican youth movement. Paddy Ward, a police informer who gave evidence at the Saville Inquiry, claimed that he had given two nail bombs to Donaghey several hours before he was shot dead.
• Gerard (James) McKinney. Shot just after Gerald Donaghey. Witnesses stated that McKinney had been running behind Donaghey, and he stopped and held up his arms, shouting "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!", when he saw Donaghey fall. He was then shot in the chest.
• William Anthony McKinney. Shot from behind as he attempted to aid Gerald McKinney (no relation). He had left cover to try to help Gerald.
• John Johnston. Shot in the leg and left shoulder on William Street 15 minutes before the rest of the shooting started. Johnston was not on the march, but on his way to visit a friend in Glenfada Park. He died 4½ months later; his death has been attributed to the injuries he received on the day. He was the only one not to die immediately or soon after being shot.

   
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O Domingo Sangrento foi há 47 anos

O Padre Edward Daly (futuro Bispo de Derry) com a bandeira branca manchada de sangue, tentando levar Jackie Duddy, ferido de morte

  

Domingo Sangrento (em gaélico: Domhnach na Fola, Bloody Sunday, em inglês) foi um confronto entre manifestantes católicos e protestantes, e o exército inglês ocorrido na cidade de Derry, na Irlanda do Norte, no dia 30 de janeiro de 1972. O movimento teve início com um protesto de dez mil manifestantes que pretendiam, saindo do bairro de Creggan em marcha pelas ruas católicas da cidade, chegar até a Câmara Municipal. Antes disso, entretanto, os soldados ingleses partiram para ofensiva e disparam contra os manifestantes, deixando 14 ativistas católicos mortos e 26 feridos.

Das catorze vítimas mortas, seis eram menores de idade e um sétimo ferido faleceu meses depois do incidente. Todas as vítimas estavam desarmadas e cinco delas foram alvejadas pelas costas. Os manifestantes protestavam contra a política do governo norte-irlandês de prender sumariamente pessoas suspeitas de atos terroristas. O incidente, que entrou para a história da ilha, era para apoiar o Exército Republicano Irlandês, o IRA, uma organização clandestina que lutava pela separação da Irlanda do Norte da Grã-Bretanha e posterior união com a República da Irlanda. Após o "Domingo Sangrento", o IRA ganhou um número enorme de jovens voluntários, dando força ainda maior a esse movimento de guerrilha. Em memória da data, foi feita a canção "Sunday Bloody Sunday!" em 1983, pela banda irlandesa U2. Paul McCartney também tratou do incidente, na canção "Give Ireland Back To The Irish", lançada em compacto com sua então nova banda, os Wings, em fevereiro de 1972.

Duas investigações foram realizadas pelo Governo britânico. O Widgery Tribunal, realizada no rescaldo do evento, ilibou em grande parte os soldados britânicos e as autoridades da responsabilidade, mas foi criticado por muitos como um "branqueamento" do incidente, incluindo pelo antigo chefe de equipe de Tony Blair, Jonathan Powell. O Inquérito Saville, iniciado em 1998 para analisar os acontecimentos novamente (presidida por Lord Saville de Newdigate), apresentou um relatório, em 2010,  que mostrava que os soldados e autoridades do Reino Unido procederam de forma errada, levando à apresentação de desculpas às famílias das vítimas por parte do Primeiro Ministro do Reino Unido.

O Exército Republicano Irlandês (IRA) iniciara a sua campanha contra a Irlanda do Norte ser uma parte do Reino Unido havia dois anos antes do Bloody Sunday, mas a interpretação do evento impulsionaram enormemente o recrutamento e o apoio à organização.

O Bloody Sunday continua entre os mais importantes eventos dos apelidados Troubles da Irlanda do Norte, principalmente devido ao facto de ter sido levado a cabo pelo exército britânico.

  

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Mural by Bogside Artists depicting all who were killed by the British Army on the day

The death

• John (Jackie) Duddy. Shot in the chest in the car park of Rossville flats. Four witnesses stated Duddy was unarmed and running away from the paratroopers when he was killed. Three of them saw a soldier take deliberate aim at the youth as he ran. He is the uncle of the Irish boxer John Duddy.
• Patrick Joseph Doherty. Shot from behind while attempting to crawl to safety in the forecourt of Rossville flats. Doherty was the subject of a series of photographs, taken before and after he died by French journalist Gilles Peress. Despite testimony from "Soldier F" that he had fired at a man holding and firing a pistol, Widgery acknowledged that the photographs showed Doherty was unarmed, and that forensic tests on his hands for gunshot residue proved negative.
• Bernard McGuigan. Shot in the back of the head when he went to help Patrick Doherty. He had been waving a white handkerchief at the soldiers to indicate his peaceful intentions.
• Hugh Pius Gilmour. Shot through his right elbow, the bullet then entering his chest as he ran from the paratroopers on Rossville Street. Widgery acknowledged that a photograph taken seconds after Gilmour was hit corroborated witness reports that he was unarmed, and that tests for gunshot residue were negative.
• Kevin McElhinney. Shot from behind while attempting to crawl to safety at the front entrance of the Rossville Flats. Two witnesses stated McElhinney was unarmed.
• Michael Gerald Kelly. Shot in the stomach while standing near the rubble barricade in front of Rossville Flats. Widgery accepted that Kelly was unarmed.
• John Pius Young. Shot in the head while standing at the rubble barricade. Two witnesses stated Young was unarmed.
• William Noel Nash. Shot in the chest near the barricade. Witnesses stated Nash was unarmed and going to the aid of another when killed.
• Michael M. McDaid. Shot in the face at the barricade as he was walking away from the paratroopers. The trajectory of the bullet indicated he could have been killed by soldiers positioned on the Derry Walls.
• James Joseph Wray. Wounded then shot again at close range while lying on the ground. Witnesses who were not called to the Widgery Tribunal stated that Wray was calling out that he could not move his legs before he was shot the second time.
• Gerald Donaghey. Shot in the stomach while attempting to run to safety between Glenfada Park and Abbey Park. Donaghey was brought to a nearby house by bystanders where he was examined by a doctor. His pockets were turned out in an effort to identify him. A later police photograph of Donaghey's corpse showed nail bombs in his pockets. Neither those who searched his pockets in the house nor the British army medical officer (Soldier 138) who pronounced him dead shortly afterwards say they saw any bombs. Donaghey had been a member of Fianna Éireann, an IRA-linked Republican youth movement. Paddy Ward, a police informer who gave evidence at the Saville Inquiry, claimed that he had given two nail bombs to Donaghey several hours before he was shot dead.
• Gerard (James) McKinney. Shot just after Gerald Donaghey. Witnesses stated that McKinney had been running behind Donaghey, and he stopped and held up his arms, shouting "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!", when he saw Donaghey fall. He was then shot in the chest.
• William Anthony McKinney. Shot from behind as he attempted to aid Gerald McKinney (no relation). He had left cover to try to help Gerald.
• John Johnston. Shot in the leg and left shoulder on William Street 15 minutes before the rest of the shooting started. Johnston was not on the march, but on his way to visit a friend in Glenfada Park. He died 4½ months later; his death has been attributed to the injuries he received on the day. He was the only one not to die immediately or soon after being shot.

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O Acordo de Belfast (ou da Sexta-feira Santa) foi assinado há vinte anos

 Parlamento da Irlanda do Norte (Stormont Parliamentary Building), onde foi assinado o Acordo

  

O Acordo de Belfast (também conhecido por Acordo da Sexta-feira Santa) foi assinado em Belfast a 10 de abril de 1998 pelos governos britânico e irlandês e apoiado pela maioria dos partidos políticos norte-irlandeses. O acordo tinha por finalidade acabar com os conflitos entre nacionalistas e unionistas sobre a questão da união da Irlanda do Norte com a República da Irlanda ou da sua continuação como parte do Reino Unido.

O acordo foi aprovado pela maioria dos votantes tanto na Irlanda do Norte como na República da Irlanda, chamados a pronunciar-se em referendos separados, em maio de 1998.

  

Pontos principais

• O princípio que o futuro constitucional da Irlanda do Norte deverá ser decidido pelo voto dos seus cidadãos.
• O comprometimento de todas as partes, em usarem exclusivamente meios pacíficos e democráticos.
• O estabelecimento de uma Assembleia da Irlanda do Norte com poderes legislativos.
• A criação de um 'poder-partilhado' para a atribuição de ministros aos principais partidos, segundo o método de Hondt
• Estabelecimento de um Conselho britânico-irlandês, composto por representantes dos governos da República da Irlanda, da Irlanda do Norte, Reino Unido, Escócia, País de Gales, Ilhas do Canal e Ilha de Man, para a discussão dos assuntos de interesse comum.
• A libertação, no espaço de dois anos, de prisioneiros paramilitares pertencentes a organizações que acatassem o cessar-fogo.
• A deposição das armas no espaço de dois anos.
• A modificação dos artigos 2 e 3 da constituição da Irlanda, referentes à reivindicação do território da Irlanda do Norte pela República da Irlanda.
• Nova legislação sobre policiamento, direitos humanos e igualdade na Irlanda do Norte.
  

    

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O ator Ciarán Hinds faz hoje 65 anos

Ciarán Hinds (Belfast, 9 February 1953) is an Irish film, television, and stage actor. A versatile character actor, he has featured in films such as Road to Perdition, Munich, There Will Be Blood, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Frozen, and Justice League, in which he portrayed the main antagonist Steppenwolf.

His television roles include Gaius Julius Caesar in the series Rome, DCI James Langton in Above Suspicion, Bud Hammond in Political Animals, and Mance Rayder in Game of Thrones. As a stage actor Hinds has enjoyed spells with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre in London, and six seasons with Glasgow Citizens' Theatre, and he has continued to work on stage throughout his career.

   

Early life

Hinds was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Brought up as a Catholic in North Belfast, he was one of five children and the only son of his doctor father and schoolteacher and amateur actress mother.

He was an Irish dancer in his youth and was educated at Holy Family Primary School and St. Malachy's College. After leaving St. Malachy's, he enrolled as a law student at Queen's University, Belfast (QUB), but was soon persuaded to pursue acting and abandoned his studies at Queen's to enroll at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), finishing in 1975.

  

Career

Hinds began his professional acting career at the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre in a production of Cinderella (1976). He remained a frequent performer at the Citizens' Theatre during the late 1970s and through the mid-1980s. During this same period, Hinds also performed on stage in Ireland with the Abbey Theatre, the Field Day Theatre Company, the Druid Theatre, the Lyric Players' Theatre and at the Project Arts Centre. In 1987, he was cast by Peter Brook in The Mahabharata, a six-hour theatre piece that toured the world, and he also featured in its 1989 film version. Hinds almost missed the casting call in Paris due to difficulties renewing his Irish passport. In the early 1990s, he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

He appeared in the title role of the RSC's production of Richard III (1993), directed by Sam Mendes; Mendes turned to Hinds as a last minute replacement for an injured Simon Russell Beale. Hinds gained his most popular recognition as a stage actor for his performance as Larry in the London and Broadway productions of Patrick Marber's Tony Award-nominated play Closer. In 1999, Hinds was awarded both the Theatre World Award for Best Debut in New York and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Special Achievement (Best Ensemble Cast Performance) for his work in Closer. He was on stage in 2001 in The Yalta Game by Brian Friel at Dublin's Gate Theatre. He appeared on Broadway in The Seafarer by Conor McPherson, which ran at the Booth Theatre from December 2007 through March 2008. In February 2009 Hinds took the leading role of General Sergei Kotov in Burnt by the Sun by Peter Flannery at London's National Theatre. Hinds returned to the stage later in 2009 with a role in Conor McPherson's play The Birds, which opened at Dublin's Gate Theatre in September 2009.

Hinds made his feature film debut in John Boorman's Excalibur (1981). He played Captain Frederick Wentworth in Jane Austen's Persuasion (1995), Jonathan Reiss in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life (2003), John Traynor in Veronica Guerin (2003), and Firmin in the film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera (2004). Hinds also played Carl, a cover-up professional assisting a group of assassins, in Steven Spielberg's political thriller, Munich (2005). In 2006, he appeared in Michael Mann's film adaptation of the 80's television show, Miami Vice, and as Herod the Great in The Nativity Story. In the film Amazing Grace (2006), Hinds portrayed Sir Banastre Tarleton, one of the chief opponents of abolition of the slave trade in Parliament. He starred in Margot at the Wedding, alongside Nicole Kidman, Jack Black and Jennifer Jason Leigh, in a comedy-drama about family secrets and relationships. He also appeared in There Will Be Blood (2007), directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.

On television, Hinds portrayed Gaius Julius Caesar in the first season of BBC/HBO's series, Rome (2006). He has also been featured in a number of made-for-television films, including the role of Michael Henchard in Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge (2004), for which he received the Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series. Additional television performances include Edward Parker-Jones in the crime drama series Prime Suspect 3 (1993), Abel Mason in Dame Catherine Cookson's The Man Who Cried (1993), Jim Browner in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes episode The Cardboard Box (1994), Fyodor Glazunov in the science fiction miniseries Cold Lazarus (1996), Edward Rochester in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre (1997), the Knight Templar Brian de Bois-Guilbert in Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe (1997) and a portrayal of the French existentialist Albert Camus in Broken Morning (2003).

Hinds was featured in two notable television docudramas: Granada Television's docudrama Who Bombed Birmingham? (1990) in which Hinds portrayed Richard McIlkenny, a Belfastman falsely imprisoned for an IRA bombing; and HBO's docudrama Hostages (1993), where he portrayed Irish writer and former hostage Brian Keenan. Hinds starred opposite Kelly Reilly in Above Suspicion, a TV adaptation of Lynda La Plante's detective story, which was broadcast in the United Kingdom in January 2009; he came back again as DCI Langton for Lynda La Plante's sequels The Red Dahlia (2010), Deadly Intent (2011) and Silent Scream (2012). Hinds has performed in audiobook and radio productions as well. He performed as Valmont in the BBC Radio production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and Hinds also narrated the Penguin Audiobook Ivanhoe. He also performed in Antony and Cleopatra and The Winter's Tale as part of The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare, an audio production of Shakespeare's plays which won the 2004 Audie Award for Best Audio Drama. He read the short story "A Painful Case" for the Caedmon Audio version of James Joyce's Dubliners.

Hinds played the role of Albus Dumbledore's brother Aberforth in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, the final film in the Harry Potter series. Also in 2011, he appeared as David Peretz in the 1997 sections of The Debt alongside Helen Mirren and Tom Wilkinson. Hinds played Roy Bland in the adaptation of the John le Carré's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011).

In September 2011, Hinds returned to the Abbey Theatre Dublin, to star as Captain Jack Boyle in an acclaimed revival of Seán O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock, alongside Sinéad Cusack as Juno. The production transferred to the National Theatre of Great Britain in November 2011 for a three-month run. He played "Joe" in the film The Shore (2011), written and directed by Terry George. The Shore won the Best Short Film, Live Action category at the 84th Annual Academy Awards (The Oscars) in 2012.

In 2013, he was cast as the wildling leader Mance Rayder in Season 3 of the HBO television series Game of Thrones. He reprised this role in Season 4, and reprised it once more in Season 5. On Broadway at The Richard Rodgers Theater in New York, he was Big Daddy to Scarlett Johansson in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which opened on 17 January 2013, and had previews on 18 December 2012.

In the summer of 2013, he performed at the Donmar Warehouse in London in the premiere production of The Night Alive, a play by Conor McPherson, which transferred in November 2013, with Hinds in the lead role, to the Atlantic Theater Company in New York.

In 2015, he was in Hamlet alongside Benedict Cumberbatch at the London Barbican, playing King Claudius.

In 2016, he appeared as Deputy Governor Danforth in the Broadway production of Arthur Miller's play The Crucible alongside Saoirse Ronan and Ben Whishaw.

Hinds played giant-sized villain Steppenwolf in Zack Snyder's superhero film Justice League (2017).

  

Personal life

Hinds lives in Paris with Hélène Patarot. They met in 1987 while in the cast of Peter Brook's production of The Mahabharata and have a daughter, Aoife, born in 1991.

Hinds is a friend of Liam Neeson and served as a pallbearer at the funeral of Neeson's wife, actress Natasha Richardson, in upstate New York in 2009.

  

Other 

Hinds is a patron of the charity YouthAction Northern Ireland. YouthAction's Rainbow Factory School of Performing Arts is a youth arts project with a range of workshops and classes.

  

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