28/09/2012

Ulster Covenant 'Blood Signature' In Doubt

Tests carried out on behalf of the BBC show that an Ulster Covenant signature believed to have been signed in blood may not actually be genuine.

It is widely believed throughout Northern Ireland that many of the signatures which appear on the Covenant signed by just under half a million people in 1912 were carried out using the signees’ blood.

But a forensic science test carried out by Dr Alastair Ruffell of Queen's University on behalf of the BBC’s Knowledge and Learning team has shown that, in the case of Major Fred Crawford, this probably isn’t the case.

"I'm 90% sure this isn't blood, but there is that margin of error," he said.

Major Fred Crawford, famous for the orchestrating the 1914 unionist gun-running ploy, wrote on his own copy of the Covenant oath: "I signed at 3:45 in City Hall in my own blood".

Dr Ruffell’s test used Luminol, which reacts with the iron present in haemoglobin and produces a blue-white glow.

He told the BBC the results carried the possibility of a margin of error because "this material has been uncontrolled for 100 years."

But according to Dr Ruffell, the test is capable of detecting tiny traces even in old samples.

"Some years ago we did a test in the Colorado desert where they put some blood on some rocks and we went back ten years later and we were able to find the blood using the Luminol test”, he said.

"The iron in the blood degrades very slowly."

Unionist MLA Robin Swann remains unconvinced by the results.

"I'm confident enough that the 10% is enough for me to say that Fred Crawford signed the Ulster Covenant in his blood", he said.

(IT)

Related Northern Ireland News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

21 May 2024
Swann To 'Carefully Consider' New Infected Blood Inquiry Report
Health Minister Robin Swann has committed to "careful consideration" of the newly published final report of the Infected Blood Inquiry. The Inquiry was established by the UK government to examine the circumstances in which people treated by the national health service were given contaminated blood.
28 November 2002
Patients warned after blood donor's CJD diagnosis
There are concerns that a small number of haemophiliacs in Northern Ireland and Scotland may have received blood products from a donor who later was diagnosed with variant Creutzfeld-Jacob disease (vCJD). Health agencies in Scotland have written to patients warning them that they may have been given treatments derived from the donor's blood.
07 August 2012
Decade Of Centenaries Exhibit Opens
A new interactive exhibition, detailing some of the many important centenaries being marked in Belfast over the coming years, has opened at the City Hall. At an opening ceremony last night, junior minister Jennifer McCann said this decade was a "historic opportunity to revisit the past".
24 January 2024
Alliance Calls For Urgent Reform Of NI Dementia Care
The Alliance Party has called for dementia treatment in Northern Ireland to be urgently reformed and updated to capture new breakthroughs arising from research.
02 April 2015
£15m To Be Invested In GP Services
£15 million is to be invested in GP services across Northern Ireland. Health Minister, Jim Wells, made the announcement during a visit to a GP surgery in Carryduff. Minister Wells said: "GPs across Northern Ireland provide a high standard of care to their patients.