Edward Daly

Edward Kevin Daly (5 December 1933 – 8 August 2016) was an Irish Catholic priest and author. He served as the Bishop of Derry from 1974 to 1993. Daly took part in several civil rights marches and events during the Troubles. He came to wider attention during Bloody Sunday in January 1972, waving a blood-stained white handkerchief as he escorted a group carrying a mortally wounded protester after British troops opened fire on demonstrators.

Early life and ministry Daly was born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, but raised in Belleek, County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. His parents were Tom Daly and Susan Daly (née Flood), who were shopkeepers; he was the eldest of six siblings, including Tom Daly junior, who became a prominent politician. His first appointment was as a curate in Castlederg, County Tyrone. In 1962, he was appointed a curate in St Eugene's Cathedral in Derry, with responsibility for the Bogside area of the city. He left briefly in the 1970s to serve as a religious advisor to RTÉ in Dublin in the Republic of Ireland but spent the majority of his career in Derry.

Bishop of Derry (1974–93) In 1973, Daly worked with RTÉ in Dublin as a religious adviser for several months. He appeared on numerous television programmes and contributed to many television documentaries on religious and Northern Ireland affairs. He was appointed Bishop of Derry in 1974—at 40, he was the youngest bishop in Ireland. The Association of Catholic Priests publicly supported his stance. Daly later clarified that he valued his own vow of celibacy, and that it enhanced his own life as a priest. He said, "I am not saying that celibacy should be abolished—I am saying to look at other people who feel they would not be able to live up to a vow of celibacy or undertake it and to look at the possibilities of introducing them to the priesthood [...] but I feel that the church must look at this again". He received criticism from some quarters for waiting until long retired to express his views, rather than airing them while he was in office.

The Saville Inquiry was established by British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1998 as part of the Northern Ireland peace process in order to re-investigate the events of Bloody Sunday. The inquiry superseded the Widgery Report, which had been accused of whitewashing since its publication, and Daly welcomed the new inquiry, saying he was "full of hope" for it in 2000. He gave evidence to the inquiry in which he repeated his affirmation that the protesters had not been armed and described the sequence of event surrounding Jackie Duddy's death. Daly was part of a large crowd gathered outside Derry Guildhall when the report was published on 15 June 2010 and its conclusions read out by the prime minister, David Cameron, and broadcast on a large screen. The Saville Report upheld Daly's evidence that the marchers had been unarmed. Lord Saville believed that armed men were likely present, but did nothing that would prompt the army to open fire, and that many of the soldiers involved had lied in their accounts of their actions, though the shootings were not premeditated. He also found that the soldiers had fired without warning, had fired on people who were fleeing or rushing to help the wounded, and that none of those injured or killed posed a threat, nor had they done anything to give the soldiers cause to fire at them. Cameron apologised for the shootings, describing them as "unjustified and unjustifiable".

He was awarded the Freedom of the City by Derry City Council in 2015 in a joint ceremony with Bishop James Mehaffey, with whom he had worked closely while the two were in office. Daly was ""hugely pleased to accept [the award], particularly when it is being shared with my friend and brother, Bishop James". The city's mayor, Brenda Stevenson, announced that the joint award was in recognition of the two bishops' efforts towards peace and community cohesion.

Death and legacy

Daly died on 8 August 2016 at the age of 82, at Altnagelvin Area Hospital in Derry, having been admitted after a fall several weeks previously; he had also been diagnosed with cancer.

Donal McKeown, the incumbent Bishop of Derry, announced Daly's death and paid tribute, saying that Daly "served, without any concern for himself, throughout the traumatic years of the Troubles, finding his ministry shaped by the experience of witnessing violence and its effects". Public figures including the Irish president, Michael D. Higgins, and his predecessor Mary McAleese paid tribute to Daly's work for peace during the Troubles, as did the leaders of various religious denominations in Derry. Archbishop Eamon Martin, Primate of All Ireland, described Daly as having "literally spent himself in the service of others", and said he will be remembered as "a fearless peacebuilder". which the BBC described as "the iconic image of Bloody Sunday". Daly was never comfortable with the public profile he gained following his actions on Bloody Sunday and did not enjoy his duties as a bishop, particularly disliking the administrative responsibilities that came with the post. He believed he would not have been made Bishop of Derry had it not been for Bloody Sunday, and worried that his other work was overlooked as a result—that he "was the priest with the handkerchief and that was it". The bells of the cathedral tolled for one hour on the morning of Daly's death while many local people arrived to pay tribute. The mayor of Derry, Hilary McClintock, opened a book of condolence in the city's guildhall for members of the public to sign.