a quick clarification of somehings I wrote above.
Gareth's comment on the IRA was regarding them being called to give evidence at the Bloody Sunday Inquiry. It should be made clear that no-one is accusing the IRA of having shot any of the people who were killed that day; the British Army doesn't dispute having shot the civilians. The IRA is relevant because 30 years ago the British said that people were shot in response to (IRA) gunfire. Local people involved in the civil rights march maintain that the IRA agreed to stay away from the march and did honour that promise. The reason that I wrote that the British army fired the first shots is that there have been credible reports about a lone gunman in the Bogside that day.

The "Sunday" film (Jimmy McGovern/Gaslight Productions/channel 4) includes this gunman in their story and also someone who pulls a gun out of his coat in response to the killings but does not shoot; the film uses these dramatically to show how the other people present oppose the use of guns in the situation.

By the way, the British Army destroyed several of the weapons AFTER the inquiry was ordered. The timing may be coincidental but it certainly looks suspicious that they held on to the weapons all those years and then destroyed them on the verge of the inquiry.

another question is why the Paras were brought in at all. Other troops were already in the area who knew the ground better and were more experienced at dealing with this type of situation. The authorities obviously decided it was time to "get tough". Just how much they decided before hand is in dispute.