ILBF musical commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday to air on TG4 on Wednesday
Date Posted: June 13, 2022
On 30th January 1972, thousands of Derry men and women left their homes and took to the streets of their native city to campaign for their most basic civil rights in a march against interment without trial. This resulted in fourteen men being killed by British soldiers and seventeen more injured, on a day that would become known as Bloody Sunday; and one which has left its mark on Derry, and the rest of Ireland, forever. Macallaí Dhomhnach na Fola is an Irish Language Broadcast Fund musical commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Derry’s Bloody Sunday. Produced by Imagine Media, the programme will air on Wednesday 15th June at 9.30pm on TG4.
This year sees the city hosting a series of events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. In Macallaí Dhomhnach na Fola we join the people of Derry as they remember their loved ones through music, song, theatre shows and art exhibitions. The documentary features emotional interviews with some of those who witnessed the tragedy first hand or lost loved ones, as well as performances from some of Ireland’s most talented musicians including Damien Dempsey, Reevah, Barry Kerr and Pauline Scanlon.
Writer and activist Eamonn McCann and Tony Doherty from the Bloody Sunday Trust recount their experiences of the tragedy and the lasting impact it has had on them personally. They explain the broader sequence and significance of events that unfolded in years preceding Bloody Sunday and the long search for truth by the Justice Campaign. Bishop Dónal Mc Keown reflects on how Bloody Sunday has impacted on the community in Derry across the generations and musicians such as Phil Coulter and Damien Dempsey explain what performing for this important anniversary means to them.
With performances from some of Ireland’s most respected musicians, as well as emerging local talent, the programme will also showcase some of the commemorative events being held across the city. This includes a special afternoon held in the Millennium Forum in January 2022, at the exact time the shootings began 50 years previously, which features Phil Coulter, Bronagh Gallagher, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell and Adrian Dunbar as well as the Colmcille Ladies Choir.
Macallaí Dhomhnach na Fola will broadcast to coincide with the anniversary of the publishing of the Saville Inquiry. On this day in 2010, the Bloody Sunday victims were finally vindicated, leading to an apology from Prime Minister David Cameron on behalf of the British Government, admitting the killings were ‘unjustified and unjustifiable.’
Ar an 30ú Eanáir 1972, d’fhág fir agus mná Dhoire a dtithe ina mílte, chuig sráideanna a mbaile dúchais le bheith ag feachtasaíocht ar son na gceart sibhialta is bunúsaí, mar chuid de mhórshiúl i gcoinne imtheorannú gan triail. Ba é ba toradh air sin gur mharaigh saighdiúirí Briotanacha ceathrar fear déag agus ghortaigh seachtar déag eile, ar lá a raibh Domhnach na Fola le baisteadh air in imeacht ama; lá a bhí ann a d’fhág lorg buan ar Dhoire agus ar an chuid eile d’Éirinn. Is Comóradh ceoil de chuid an Chiste Craoltóireachta Gaeilge é Macallaí Dhomhnach na Fola ar chothrom lae caoga bliain Dhomhnach na Fola i nDoire. Léirithe ag Imagine Media, craolfar Macallaí Dhomhnach na Fola ar TG4 ar an 15ú Meitheamh 2022 ar 9.30in.
I mbliana, beidh sraith imeachtaí sa chathair le comóradh a dhéanamh ar chothrom lae 50 bliain Dhomhnach na Fola. I Macallaí Dhomhnach na Fola, beidh muid i gcuideachta bhunadh Dhoire agus iad ag cuimhneamh ar a ndaoine muinteartha tríd an cheol, amhráin, seónna amharclainne agus trí thaispeántais ealaíne. Sa chlár faisnéise seo, tá agallaimh thochtmhara le cuid de na daoine a chonaic an tragóid a bhí ann lena súile féin, nó a chaill daoine muinteartha, chomh maith le léirithe ó chuid de na ceoltóirí is mó tallann in Éirinn, ar a n-áirítear Damien Dempsey, Reevah, Barry Kerr agus Pauline Scanlon.
Tugann Eamonn McCann, scríbhneoir agus gníomhaí, agus Tony Doherty ó Iontaobhas Dhomhnach na Fola a gcuimhní ar an tragóid chun cinn, chomh maith leis an tionchar buan a bhí orthu go pearsanta. Míníonn siad ar bhonn níos leithne an t-ord agus an tábhacht a bhain le imeachtaí a thit amach sna blianta roimh Dhomhnach na Fola, chomh maith le tóraíocht fhada na fírinne ag an Fheachtas Ceartais. Déanann an tEaspag Dónal Mc Keown machnamh ar an tionchar a d’imir Domhnach na Fola ar ghlúnta de phobal Dhoire, agus míníonn ceoltóirí mar Phil Coulter agus Damien Dempsey an onóir a bhaineann le bheith ag seinm ag an chomóradh thábhachtach seo.
Taobh le léirithe ó chuid de na ceoltóirí is mó meas in Éirinn, agus tallann áitiúil atá ag teacht chun cinn, taispeánfaidh an clár cuid de na himeachtaí comórtha atá á reáchtáil ar fud na cathrach chomh maith. San áireamh leis sin, tá tráthnóna speisialta in Amharclann na Mílaoise i mí Eanáir 2022, ag an am cheannann chéanna a thosaigh an scaoileadh 50 bliain roimhe. Beidh Phil Coulter, Bronagh Gallagher, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell agus Adrian Dunbar ann, chomh maith leis an Colmcille Ladies Choir.
Craolfar Macallaí Dhomhnach na Fola Céadaoin an 15ú Meitheamh 2022, an dáta céanna ar ar foilsíodh Fiosrúchán Saville. Ar an lá seo in 2010, glanadh íospartaigh Dhomhnach na Fola ó chúis faoi dheireadh, rud a spreag leithscéal ón Phríomh-Aire David Cameron thar ceann rialtas na Breataine. D’admhaigh sé go raibh na maruithe gan chosaint agus dochosanta.
