INTERVIEW WITH JIMMY McGOVERN 

When Jimmy McGovern was first approached to write a drama about Bloody Sunday he refused. That was six years ago. Since that time, a number of things have happened which changed McGovern's mind and led him to pen the powerful docu-drama Sunday which will be shown on Channel 4 in January. 

He explains, 'I was asked about six years ago to write the story of Bloody Sunday. I thought it had to be written by an Irish person. But four years ago I was invited to Derry to participate in the Bloody Sunday commemorative march on the 26th anniversary. Again I was asked to go away and think about writing the story. I thought and thought and I read about the march and the events that day. And when I realised that Bloody Sunday was a British tragedy, that the Irish suffered, yes, but the tragedy was ours, I knew I had the right to tell the story.' 

McGovern imagined that the people of Derry with whom he would now be spending a considerable amount of time might have some issues with him and 'all things British,' as he puts it. He knew the research process would involve interviewing and talking to people whose lives had been altered irrevocably on January 30th, 1972 by British soldiers. 

'I thought that the Nationalist people of Derry in general and the families of the dead in particular would hate all things British. I was totally wrong. They hated paratroopers, of course, and they despised Ted Heath but there was no hatred of the British people. Many whom I interviewed were saddened that we Brits did not know enough about the political situation in the North but they did not blame us for that; they blamed the British media. And throughout my three years of research in Derry I was always made to feel very welcome.' 

McGovern's research brought him into contact with representatives of all sides involved on the day of the march. 'I interviewed the families of the dead, all bar three of the surviving wounded, politicians, priests, medical practitioners, IRA people, three British soldiers who were there on the day. In fact I interviewed anyone who was prepared to talk to me. 

McGovern feels he has managed to draw on so many different sources that the picture his drama paints is truly reflective of the testimony of those that were there on the day. And he believes it is objective. 

'The drama is as objective as we could make it. The advantage of drama-doc is that you can take the camera into places that straight-forward documentary cannot visit. In Sunday we are with the people as they shelter in terror from the bullets. We are with them as they die. We are with their relatives when they are mourned. Much of the drama is told from the point of view of Derry people. Because of that it is an intense drama - but don't confuse intensity with a lack of balance. And, remember, I did three years painstaking research to make sure I got it right. I know that kind of effort would put most British journalists to shame.' 

After all of the research, McGovern admits he has changed his opinions about one crucial issue. 'I went into the project thinking that individual members of the parachute regiment were to blame for Bloody Sunday. I no longer think that. I think the blame probably lies in Stormont and at 10 Downing Street. An army that is not controlled by its political masters is no longer an army; it's a rabble. And the parachute regiment is no rabble.' 

This is in effect the third docu-drama with which McGovern has been involved. He wrote the award-winning Hillsborough and then co-wrote Dockers about the Liverpool Dock Strike with numerous ex-dockers. He says what he learnt from those he brought to bear on Sunday.  

'I think the most important thing I learnt while writing Hillsborough was to keep my own mouth shut. All I did on Hillsborough was tell the stories of some of the families. The real effort was put in by the families themselves - throughout all those years of campaigning for Truth and Justice. Similarly in Derry, families have campaigned for 30 years. As a mere writer, I find that rather humbling.' 

But 30 years after the event and with British Soldiers currently involved in a different war on terrorism, what does McGovern hope his film can achieve and why should its lessons be heard? 

'There is now the prospect of peace and reconciliation throughout the North. The Saville Inquiry is fundamental to that process. But this film, too, might play a small part in all that. For 30 years truth has been suppressed and justice denied. That is wrong. If Britain does not believe in truth and justice it is no longer worthy of our love.'