As thousands of Civil Rights marchers set off from the Bishops Field in Creggan just before 3 o'clock the mood was upbeat. The sun was shining, the air was crisp and the atmosphere was akin to a carnival. The march had been banned by the Stormont government but there was no sense of fear as the marchers, singing and chanting, wound their way down from Creggan and through the Brandywell and Bogside. It was common knowledge that the IRA had withdrawn from the Bogside.