The unlawful killing verdict at the inquest of the 96 Liverpool football fans who died in the tragedy at Hillsborough in Sheffield in 1989 has boosted the hopes of the Bloody Sunday families seeking justice, the sister of one of those killed in the 1972 massacre in Derry has said.
Kate Nash (pictured), whose brother was on of those shot dead by British paratroopers in January 1972, said
The deaths of Liverpool fans might seem “at first sight” to have little in common with the 14 deaths on Bloody Sunday, but. “many of the families of the slain” know that they are “brothers and sisters under the skin.”
A murder investigation is currently taking place into the Derry killings.
Speaking on behalf of the Bloody Sunday March Committee, Ms Nash added: “Grief at the loss of a loved one has no nationality. Anger at establishment denials and cover-up knows no boundary.
“Over the years, Liverpool and Derry family members have spoken at one another’s commemorations and campaign events and have taken strength from each other’s determination.
“The two causes have also had the great Liverpool writer, Jimmy McGovern, in common. Jimmy’s dramas, ‘Hillsborough’ for ITV and “Sunday’ for Channel 4, spoke the same truth about the different atrocities and bound the experiences together.
“One of the chief advisers to the Liverpool families, Professor Philip Scraton, has also mentored the Bloody Sunday families and spoken at their events.
“All this reflects the sense of common humanity that unites victims of State brutality everywhere. It has relevance to all the unresolved cases of injustice visited on citizens by an uncaring State - deaths in custody, imprisonment by perjury, the oppression of women by undercover officers, the brutalisation of refugees etc., etc.
“But all can take heart from the fact that we have shown that ordinary people can take the State on and win. There’s a stretch of the road still to be travelled by the Hillsborough and Bloody Sunday families before we reach peace of mind. But giant strides have been made. We know that we are going to get there.
“The thousands of families seeking justice who still face obstacles deliberately put in their way should know that they have all the warmth and solidarity in the world from those who have come through the same experience.
“The Hillsborough verdict has boosted the hopes of The Bloody Sunday families and all those who have waited many years to achieve Truth and Accountability “.
She concluded: “Together we will find justice.”
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