The British soldier who shot and blinded a 10-year-old Derry schoolboy has asked him to deliver the eulogy at his funeral, should he die first.
On May 4, 1972, Richard Moore, founder and CEO of charity Children In Crossfire, was shot in the face with a rubber bullet, fired by then Captain Charles Innes of the Royal Artillery regiment.
The shooting happened as Mr Moore was leaving Rosemount Primary School with his classmates to head home to the nearby Creggan estate.
Having run past the school exit, Mr Moore described hearing loud bang. The next thing he recalls is being frantically attended to by his teachers and medics.
“I remember seeing all the houses at the back of Creggan Hill. I remember approaching the army lookout post. Next thing, I was lying on a table in the canteen,” he said.
“My music teacher, Mr Giles Doherty, had heard the bang. He ran over, lifted me and carried me to the school canteen. I can remember him asking my name and I told him, ‘My name is Richard Moore’.
Mr Moore was speaking to The Irish News, following the announcement the Great James Street mural featuring the Dalai Lama and himself was moving to a new location.
He explained it was the leader of Tibetan Buddhism who had encouraged him to meet Charles Innes.
“Documentary makers, Hot Shot films had tracked Charles down,” said Mr Moore. “Having met and become friends with Dalai Lama on his first visit to Derry in October 2000, I met him again in Belfast five years later.
“I said to him, ‘They have tracked down the soldier. I might be meeting him. What do you think?’ He said, ‘Meet him. You should meet him’ and I said, ‘Right, okay.”
The first meeting between the two took place in 2006. They went on to become friends, with Mr Innes apologising to Richard in 2020.
“I had no difficulty meeting the soldier who blinded me,” said Mr Moore. “I had challenges around the people around me in my life, but I forgive him.”
He added: “Charles has told me had he realised he was going to blind a 10-year-old boy, he would never have fired a rubber bullet.
“That was wrong. He shouldn’t have fired a rubber bullet into a school playground. I have told his this but that doesn’t mean I have to hate him.
“I like him. I am fond of him and the reason is because I wouldn’t like to think, when I reach his age and I am looking back and thinking, ‘I blinded a 10-year-old boy’. Whether Charles feels like that, I don’t know but I would hate to have that on my heart.
“It is very interesting, Charles asked to speak to me privately one time and he said to me, ‘Richard, when I die, would you speak at my funeral?’ I said I would, assuming he dies before me. This request tells me something about what he thinks,” said Mr Moore.
