Adrian Dunbar quotes Seamus Heaney in Bloody Sunday ceremony

Adrian Dunbar says the "emotion is palpable" across the city of Londonderry as it marks the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

The Line of Duty actor was speaking at an event in the Millennium Forum.

"Bloody Sunday was one of the darkest days since the foundation of Northern Ireland," he said.

"A hammer blow from a callous and cruel Government, designed to squeeze the sense of freedom out of the people of Derry and choke the struggle for civil rights for all, regardless of political view or persuasion.

"Thirteen innocent men and boys from this great city lay dead on cold ground on the Bogside.

"The city were stunned into silence. Lies and propaganda spread throughout the world that the dead were not innocent at all. And that what the cameras showed and what the people said was somehow a figment of their imagination, a trick of the light.

"The Bloody Sunday massacre was made worse by the travesty and the so-called rule of law.

"Lord Chief Justice Widgery, the highest judicial figure in England, confirmed the lies and closed the book, or so he thought.

"So they all thought.

"The cause of truth and justice for our innocent dead shone brightly in our hearts and minds of those left behind.

"The perpetrators and excuses of this gross act of state violence didn't reckon on the Bloody Sunday families, who rose above the silence 20 years later to form the Bloody Sunday justice campaign. One of the most daring and successful human rights campaigns ever fought."

Adrian Dunbar concluded by reading Seamus Heaney's poem Road To Derry.