MIAMI Showband survivor Stephen Travers has told the annual Bloody Sunday march that the victims and their families have always inspired him to keep up his fight for justice.
Mr Travers was the speaker at yesterday's anniversary march and rally.
He suffered horrific bomb and gunshot injuries when the Miami Showband was attacked by a UVF group, which included serving and former UDR soldiers, in July 1975. Three of his colleagues were killed along with two of the attackers when a bomb they were placing on the band's bus exploded prematurely.
He told yesterday's rally that the greatest strength of victims, whether they be victims of the Omagh bomb, the Claudy bombing, Bloody Sunday or any atrocity, was their innocence.
"That's what the people who perpetrated this terrible injustice are afraid off. They are not terrified of guns; they're terrified of the truth; they're terrified of the fact that the eyes of the world are on them today and they are being exposed for what they were," he said.
Mr Travers also revealed a poignant meeting with his friend and former deputy first minister, Seamus Mallon, weeks before his death. He said the former SDLP deputy leader told him he must work with all victims of violence from across the divide. Otherwise, the next generation would be handed a "horrible toxic legacy of hatred".
He paid tribute to the Bloody Sunday families because of the inspiration they gave him when he felt like giving up.
"And I would look up hear and I would see the people of Derry and I would say to myself they had disappointment after disappointment and they are still standing and they're still fighting for truth and for justice," he said.
Similar in numbers to recent years, the annual march is no longer supported by the majority of victims' families who decided to withdraw from the march following the 2010 publication of the Saville Report into the atrocity.
Yesterday's march was joined by several dissident republican-backed groups – including Saoradh, Eistigí and the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, despite criticism about their inclusion.
DUP assembly member, Gary Middleton urged people to oppose the presence of Saoradh because of links with the New IRA, the organisation responsible for the murder of journalist Lyra McKee last April.
However, a large number of Saoradh members and supporters paraded behind the organisation's banner. The commemoration also marked the first public appearance of a new Saoradh flute band named after two deceased former Provisional IRA members, including Stevie Mellon. Mr Mellon was the father of current senior Saoradh figure, Thomas Ashe Mellon.
Organisers of the march said they always operated a policy of not excluding any group.
