Bloody Sunday is the term used to describe an incident in Derry, Northern Ireland, on 30 January 1972 in which 26 civil rights protesters were shot by members of the first Battalion of the British Parachute Regiment led by Lieutenant-Colonel Derek Wilford and his second-in-command Captain Mike Jackson, who had joint responsibility for the operation, during a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march in the Bogside area of the city. Thirteen people, six of whom were minors, died immediately, while the death of another person 4½ months later has been attributed to the injuries he received on the day. Two protesters were injured when they were run down by army vehicles. Many witnesses including bystanders and journalists testify that all those shot were unarmed. Five of those wounded were shot in the back.
The Provisional Irish Republican Army's (IRA) campaign against Northern Ireland being a part of the United Kingdom had begun in the two years prior to Bloody Sunday, but perceptions of the day boosted the status of and recruitment into the organisation. Bloody Sunday remains among the most significant events in the recent troubles of Northern Ireland, arguably because it was carried out by the army and not paramilitaries, and in full public and press view.
This was an extremely important day in Ireland's history, and one that Bono felt deserved immortality not other for being such a gruesome day, but through his song as well.
