President Higgins leads tributes on 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday

Irish president Michael D Higgins has led tributes on the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

Mr Higgins said the victims continue to be honoured through commitment to the rights that "were won at such great cost".

Thirteen civil rights protesters were shot dead by British soldiers on 30 January 1972 in the city.

Another man shot by paratroopers on the day died four months later.

While many consider him the 14th victim of Bloody Sunday, his death was formally attributed to an inoperable brain tumour.

UTV's Gareth Wilkinson reports as events mark the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

In a virtual address on Sunday, Mr Higgins paid tribute to the victims of Bloody Sunday and all those who lost their lives throughout the Troubles.

He also paid tribute to the people of Derry and their long campaign for justice.

Mr Higgins said: "The 30th of January 1972 will live on in our collective memory, as will your efforts of vindication of the truth.

"We honour the morality of that memory today. We honour the men who died. And we continue to honour them into the future by our continued commitment to the rights that were won at such great cost.

"We do so best by protecting these rights won, and sustaining the principled and inclusive peace that we have built together.

"Let us all celebrate that, in transcending all the darkness and the wrongs, the exclusions, today Derry stands as a beacon of hope and justice, of battling and succeeding against the odds, a peace and a people with an inclusive achievement of dignified and respectful ethical remembering.

"That is your legacy and the legacy of those who lost their lives on that day, Bloody Sunday, and on subsequent days.

"It is a contribution to be sustained and extended."

A number of events have been held in Londonderry over the weekend to mark the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

The names of all the victims was read out by actor Adrian Dunbar at the Beyond the Silence event held at the Millennium Forum in Derry.

A choir sang Danny Boy while images of the 1972 march and subsequent justice campaigns, as well as the Saville inquiry ruling, were displayed in the background.

Families of those killed on Bloody Sunday held pictures of their loved ones at the front of the stage.

Mr Dunbar said the "emotion is palpable" across the city.

Singer-songwriter and Derry man Phil Coulter also performed at the event.

"It's always nice to come home, especially on a day like today," he said. "I have performed this song on many occasions and I cannot think of a more fitting occasion to sing this song than right here, right now. This really is the town I love so well."

Playing on his white Roland Digital Grand piano, he sang an emotional rendition of The Town I Loved So Well.