Phase II of Museum of Free Derry was completed in the Bogside
in February 2017 | The Museum of Free Derry
These are among the first words that are read by up to be an active part in the process of resolution
visitors to the Museum of Free Derry. They set out and reconciliation, not just a passive window on the
the aim of the museum – to educate people on what past. It was set up as part of a campaign for justice.
happened here and on the impact of those events on
the decades of conflict that followed.
The history we tell in the museum is a contested
one. When Ireland was partitioned by the British
But these words do not seek to define or delineate government in 1921, the Unionist Party set about
who we want to educate. They don’t impose any creating their planned “Protestant State for a
restriction on who we seek to educate based on Protestant People”, arming themselves with a range
age or background, political opinion or religious of repressive legislation and security powers that
affiliation or, for the purposes of this essay, where even the apartheid regime in South Africa expressed
they come from. envy about, and for the next forty years nationalists
in the north of Ireland were forced to endure
The Museum of Free Derry was set up by the Bloody extremes of political, religious, social and economic
Sunday Trust to tell the story of the civil rights and discrimination.
Free Derry eras of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
These were years that had massive local, national At the beginning of the 1960s nationalists in the
and international impact, and the events of these north of Ireland, taking very direct inspiration from
years, and the differing perceptions of these events, the civil rights movement in the USA, decided that
had and continue to have a major divisive effect on enough was enough. Taking to the streets in peaceful
the different communities in the north of Ireland. protest they demanded change and they demanded
The issues raised in these years still have to be equality. Their peaceful demands were met with a
dealt with, and our museum was set up as a way of violent reaction, as the Unionist government sensed
resolving them, not just recording them. It was set a threat to their comfortable position of power.
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