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The Guildhall, Derry, home to the inquiry

The Bloody Sunday Inquiry, also known as the Saville inquiry, was established in 1998 by Prime Minister Tony Blair after campaigns by families of those killed and injured in Derry on Bloody Sunday for a second inquiry. The inquiry was set up to establish a definitive version of the events of Sunday 30 January 1972, superseding the Tribunal set up under Lord Widgery that had reported on 19 April 1972, 11 weeks after the events, and to resolve the accusations of a whitewash that had surrounded it.

Although the judges retired on 23 November 2004,1 they reconvened once again on 16 December to listen to testimony from another key witness, known as Witness X.2

Contents

Timeline

2000

The Bloody Sunday Inquiry opened properly in 2000 when formal public hearings began at the Guildhall in Derry. The Inquiry held public hearings on 116 days over the year, clocking up more than 600 hours of evidence. The vast majority of the evidence was from eyewitnesses.

In August, the inquiry ordered the soldiers who had opened fire to return to Derry to give their evidence. However, in December the Court of Appeal overruled the inquiry and accepted that the former soldiers would be in danger from dissident republicans should they return to Northern Ireland. Lord Saville later said that he would not move the hearings from Londonderry and that the soldiers' evidence would be relayed by video link.

2001

Yet again, the role of republicans and the IRA came to the fore when the inquiry heard that there may be a "wall of silence" in Derry over what exactly members of the IRA were doing on the day. The allegations persisted when a witness in February 2001 refused to name a man he said had fired at soldiers. After months of speculation, Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness announced that he would give evidence to the inquiry.

2004

Judges retired on 23 November 2004,3 they reconvened once again on 16 December to listen to testimony from another key witness, known as Witness X.4

2006

Costs are thought to have reached £400 million, adding to the continued controversy surrounding the inquiry.citation needed

2007

Publication of the Inquiry's Report is expected at the end of 2007, or possibly early 2008.5

2008

On 8 February 2008, Secretary of State, Shaun Woodward revealed that the Bloody Sunday Inquiry was still costing £500,000 a month although it has not held hearings since 2005. The total cost of the Inquiry had reached £181.2m (by December 2007) and would not report until the second half of 2008. More than half of the overall cost is believed to be legal bills for the Inquiry.6 On 6 November 2008, the chairman of the Inquiry, Lord Saville, revealed that his report into the events of Bloody Sunday will not be completed for at least another year. The inquiry's final report had been expected to be completed by the end of this year and published in early 2009. The report is now not expected until early 2010.7

Controversy

The Bloody Sunday Inquiry has generated controversy due to its prolonged nature, mounting costs and questions regarding its relevancy. In 1992, John Major, writing to John Hume stated:8

“ The Government made clear in 1974 that those who were killed on 'Bloody Sunday' should be regarded as innocent of any allegation that they were shot whilst handling firearms or explosives. I hope that the families of those who died will accept that assurance. ”

There has also been a general disquiet about the use of public inquiries by Tony Blair; a leader in The Spectator on 14 June 2003 exemplifies this controversy:9

“ During his six years in office, the Prime Minister has perfected the use of the public inquiry as a political tool. When it comes to dubious events which have occurred during his own premiership, an inquiry is something to be strongly resisted as a waste of valuable time and money. When it comes to scandals which have occurred under previous administrations, on the other hand, no effort is to be spared in the quest for truth. ”

Those like Peter Oborne have labelled the inquiry a "shambles", estimating its final cost at "more than £200 million".10 He has suggested that while "Most people... accept that in Northern Ireland the only way forward is by casting a veil of obscurity over the past": however the Saville inquiry marks the "one exception to this rule: the British army"; whose "conduct... is being put under a microscope by the Saville public inquiry".11

The inquiry caused further controversy when on 4 July 2006 the Government revealed its cost to the taxpayer in an attempt "to block an official inquiry into the 7 July London bombings". "Tessa Jowell, let slip on BBC TV's Sunday AM programme that "the latest estimate. . . is about £400 million"": an amount labelled by "Downing Street and ministers" as an ""awful" cost": 12

“ In response to questions about the Bloody Sunday inquiry, Government officials were unable to explain why the cost was more than double the estimates given publicly. Miss Jowell's aides confirmed that she had repeated a figure given to her by John Reid, the Home Secretary, who when he was the Northern Ireland secretary had challenged the hefty fees being charged by lawyers at the inquiry.

Mr Blair's official spokesman later agreed that costs had run out of control, saying that the inquiry had taken a "long time and cost an awful lot of money". It heard from more than 900 witnesses before it ended last November and Lord Saville retired to write his report.

David Lidington, the Tories' Northern Ireland spokesman, said the costs were "scandalous". He would be asking in Parliament why there had been such a dramatic increase. Tory figures say the inquiry has cost everyone in the country £6.64; the total of £400 million would have paid for [a year's salary for] more than 15,000 nurses, nearly 5,000 doctors and 11,000 policemen, or 13 extra Apache helicopters for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 ”

See also

References

  1. ^ "Saville inquiry judges retire" BBC News, 23 November 2004
  2. ^ "Surprise return for inquiry" BBC News, 16 December 2004
  3. ^ "Saville inquiry judges retire" BBC News, 23 November 2004
  4. ^ "Surprise return for inquiry" BBC News, 16 December 2004
  5. ^ BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | Further wait for inquiry report
  6. ^ Thornton, Chris (2008-02-08). "Bloody Sunday probe costing £500k a month", The Belfast Telegraph, p. 4. 
  7. ^ Irish Independent | Ireland | Bloody Sunday report delayed for at least another year
  8. ^ Don Mullan (1997). Eyewitness Bloody Sunday. Wolfhound: Printing Press. ISBN 0-86327-586-9. 
  9. ^ "Bloody ridiculous" The Spectator, 14 June 2003
  10. ^ "The truth is he lied" by Peter Oborne, The Spectator, 10 January 2004
  11. ^ "The politics of bloody murder" by Peter Oborne, The Spectator, 12 January 2002
  12. ^ "Bloody Sunday: Full inquiry, cost £400m. 7 July bombs: No inquiry, 'too expensive'" by George Jones and Jonathan Petre, The Daily Telegraph, 5 July 2006

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