McGuinness: 1972 Claudy Attacks Were 'Appalling'

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has said the Claudy bombs, which killed nine people exactly 40 years ago, were "appalling" and "wrong".

A number of people were also seriously injured in the July 31 1972 attacks.

A car bomb exploded outside a pub on Claudy's Main Street, followed by two further bombs outside and post office and a hotel.

People moved towards the third area as police cleared the locations of the first two.

Mr McGuinness, a former IRA commander, said: "All of the deaths and injuries inflicted on totally innocent people in this quiet village 40 years ago should motivate everyone in our society to ensure such terrible tragedies never happen again."

His statement echoes an interview given by former IRA prisoner Danny Morrison, who spoke on the forty-year anniversary of Bloody Friday to tell of his "shame" at feeling "morally responsible" when bombs set off by the republican movement in Belfast killed nine people and seriously injured more than 100.

July 1972 is remembered as the bloodiest month of the bloodiest year of The Troubles.

Mr McGuinness said: "Today marks the anniversary of Claudy. It is also the 40th anniversary of two unarmed young men from Creggan in Derry who were shot by the British Army. Next week is the anniversary of the killing of 19 people in Ballymurphy during internment week."

In 2010, a Police Ombudsman report found police, church and state colluded to protect Father James Chesney, who was suspected of being involved in the Claudy bombings.

He was never questioned and died in 1980.

(NE)