Bloody Sunday Inquiry Day 385 A former member of both the Provisional IRA and the INLA yesterday accused members of the republican movement of trying to discredit him prior to him giving his evidence to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry.
Mr Paddy Ward also told the inquiry into the January 1972 shootings of 26 civilians in the Bogside that he stood by his claim that Sinn Féin's Mr Martin McGuinness had played an active role in planning a nail-bomb attack on the city centre on the afternoon of the Bloody Sunday march.
Mr Ward, who is giving his screened evidence in London after the inquiry ruled that his fears for his life were both "reasonable and genuine", has also claimed that one of the 13 Bloody Sunday victims, Mr Gerry Donaghy, was armed with two nail bombs just hours before he was shot dead by paratroopers.
Before giving evidence yesterday, Mr Ward was told by counsel to the inquiry, Mr Christopher Clarke QC, that former members of the Provisional IRA, among them Mr Gerry "Mad Dog" Doherty, Mr Eddie Dobbins, Mr Michael "Killer" Clark and Mr Sean Keenan, had, along with two former members of the IRA's youth wing the Fianna, submitted statements which contradicted his evidence.
Mr Ward's barrister, Mr Anthony Jennings QC, described last Friday's submission of the statements as "no real surprise", saying they were "in effect an ambush in relation to Mr Ward".
Mr Clarke said the inquiry had also received statements from Mr Ward's former parents-in-law which contradicted "in whole or in part" the witness's evidence.
Mr Ward accused the former IRA members of trying to discredit him.
"It seems to me it is a concerted effort to discredit my character; basically yes. I see the same pattern through all the witness statements that I have read, so they have obviously been either coerced or coaxed or all pulled into line to make the same accusations to discredit my evidence to the inquiry."
He said Mr McGuinness, who was the Provisional IRA's second in command in Derry in 1972, told a meeting of IRA volunteers days before Bloody Sunday that the civil rights march planned for the day presented an opportunity to nail-bomb commercial premises in the city centre.
He said he was one of eight IRA men who were armed with two nail-bombs each, and that the detonators for the devices were supplied by Mr McGuinness.
Mr McGuinness has described Mr Ward's claims as "ridiculous".
Mr Ward said once the march was prevented from entering the city centre, the nail-bomb attack was called off.
"Of the 16 nail-bombs issued, 14 therefore came back. I do not know what happened to the two bombs issued to Gerry Donaghy, but they were not the nail bombs found on his body later in the day."
He said the four nail-bombs later found on Mr Donaghy's body were "not like any nail-bomb I have seen".
Mr Ward said he had helped to make the nail-bombs for the planned city centre attack.
Among the targets were the General Post Office, a real estate agency owned by a UDR man, a building society office, the vehicle tax office and a shoe shop.
He said the plan was to use the civilian marchers as "cover" to get into the city centre, launch the nail-bomb attack and then escape.
His evidence continues today.