Anger as Bloody Sunday inquiry delayed again
By politics.co.uk staff
The interminable wait for the conclusions of the Bloody Sunday report has been extended once again after Lord Saville of Newdigate announced he would not be able to meet his deadline.
The chairman of the inquiry had previously told Northern Ireland secretary Shaun Woodward it would be delivered before Christmas at the latest, leading Mr Woodward to announce the autumn deadline to parliament.
“I am profoundly shocked at the news of a further delay and concerned at the impact on the families of those who lost loved ones and those who were injured,” the Northern Ireland secretary said.
“I am equally concerned at the increased anxiety that soldiers serving on that day will suffer.”
But families of the dead also expressed anger at the inquiry, which has become symbolic of costly and slow legal investigations.
John Kelly, whose brother Michael was killed on the day, told the BBC the news of the further delay had come as a shock.
“When I got the information yesterday telling it would be March, it knocked me for six,” Mr Kelly said.
“I couldn’t believe what I was reading and I can’t understand the reasons behind it.”
The probe studied the reasons for the deaths of 13 Catholic demonstrators in Londonderry in 1972.
It has cost £188 million so far, and the delay will add another £1 million to the bill.
The inquiry began 11 years ago.
