The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has intimated a growing impatience with the British government's delay in concluding its review of the events of Bloody Sunday. He told 1,200 supporters at the Fianna Fail presidential dinner in the Burlington Hotel, Dublin, last night that an apology may be the correct approach to historical tragedies or the collective acts of nations.
"But what is at issue here is the acknowledgment and correction of a deep injustice experienced by those still living," he said.
"We have given the British government a great deal of time and space in which to consider the matter," he continued, referring to the report supporting the case for a new inquiry submitted by his predecessors last June. "But this matter cannot be conducted behind closed doors forever."
It was his intention, he announced, to publish that report in the early months of 1998, so that public opinion in Ireland, Britain and elsewhere could judge what was the next appropriate step.
Progress on the North and the economy were stressed by Mr Ahern in his presidential address to the annual gathering.
But he also referred obliquely to the McCracken tribunal's findings, saying that Fianna Fail has had to confront difficult elements that had emerged from its past. "And we handled them correctly, understanding what true loyalty both to the party and to the country requires.
Personalities at the dinner included the boxer Steve Collins, footballer Paul McGrath, and swimmer Michelle de Bruin. The former Taoiseach, Mr Reynolds, was unable to be present but was represented by his wife, Kathleen, and daughter Leonie.
