An Ulster Unionist MLA has condemned the flying of Parachute Regiment flags on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Londonderry as 'shameful'. Doug Beattie, a former Army captain, said the flags were being used to hurt the families of those killed and injured during the 1972 incident.
Thirteen people were killed on 30 January 1972 when paratroopers opened fire on a civil rights march. Mr Beattie told the Belfast Telegraph that flying the flags was 'totally shameful' and done for only one reason, which everyone knows.
He dismissed claims that the flags were meant to remember paratroopers killed in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, stating that such actions do not honour their memory and would not be wanted by them or their colleagues. Instead, he argued, it uses their memory to hurt the Bloody Sunday families.
Sinn Fein MLA Raymond McCartney described the flags as 'provocative and disrespectful', causing upset to many in Derry. He said they were clearly designed to hurt families who had loved ones murdered and injured on Bloody Sunday.
