Findings of Bloody Sunday inquiry could be ‘buried in rush’ of next year’s General Election
The findings of the £200 million Bloody Sunday inquiry could be ‘buried’ during next year’s General Election campaign, the Tories have warned.
Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward has provoked anger in Northern Ireland by confirming that the publication of the long awaited report is to be delayed again until March next year.
Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson said there was now a real danger that the results of the 11-year inquiry could be ‘buried in the rush’ of the General Election campaign.
The inquiry into the deaths of 14 Roman Catholic civil rights protesters in Londonderry in 1972 has been mired in controversy since it was ordered by Tony Blair in 1998, with critics seeing it as a sop to Republicans.
The inquiry has gone on to become the longest, and most expensive in British history.
Inquiry chairman Lord Saville had indicated that the 4,500-page report would finally be published by the end of this year.
But he has now said it will not be ready until March 22. Mr Woodward is expected to consider the report for at least a fortnight before its publication, with the result that it is now likely to be released in the run-up to the election expected in early May next year.
My Woodward said he was ‘profoundly shocked’ by the delay and promised to meet families to discuss the situation.
But Mr Paterson accused Labour of presiding over a costly shambles. He said: “The date now being suggested is absurd. Having spent this titanic sum of money and taken so long, this report deserves to be considered coolly. Instead there is a real risk it will be buried in the rush of a General Election campaign.
‘The delay is a huge embarrassment to Labour and terrible for the families on both sides.’
Mr Woodward said he had written to Lord Saville asking him to ‘move more quickly’ but had been told there were reasons for the delay.
‘My profound shock at this is nothing like the anguish and anxiety caused to the families and of course the soldiers who are affected by this report.
‘It’s very, very difficult for them to understand that after more than 10 years this report continues to be delayed, and undoubtedly it’s causing real heartache for the families and very real anxiety for those soldiers who were there on the day.’
The Northern Ireland Secretary also said the Saville probe raised more general questions about how public inquiries are carried out – but highlighted its importance to the peace process.
He said: ‘I think we do genuinely need to look at how we can have independent inquiries in which there is at least some sense of accountability to the taxpayer, who of course is funding it, and to the public who wait it out.
‘It doesn’t for one moment take away from its value, which frankly is inestimable.
‘Without the Saville Inquiry taking place I doubt we would have got the peace process under way in the way that it came with the Good Friday agreement, but nonetheless to have taken more than 10 years to have produced this inquiry really does beg some very serious questions.’
