The British Security Service claim that Mr Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein admitted firing "the first shot" on Bloody Sunday resurfaced yesterday. Further details revealed about the alleged debriefing of an IRA informer codenamed "Infliction" quoted him (or her) as saying this matter was "the one thing that bothers McGuinness" and it seemed to be "on his conscience."
Material, apparently heavily censored and said to have been supplied by the Security Service from its archives, was displayed and read to the inquiry.
An extract from an RUC Special Branch assessment of the security situation over the week of Bloody Sunday was also released.
This assessment said "hooligans" had thrown missiles "including nail-bombs, petrol bombs and CS gas canisters" at the military "who, when they attempted to move in and arrest the ringleaders, were fired upon . . . from nearby flats."
Lawyers representing the relatives of Bloody Sunday victims and lawyers representing most of the British paratroopers involved in the killings have both opposed an attempt to have confidential intelligence material kept secret at the inquiry.
Representatives of the families invoked European human rights legislation to argue that the sensitive information should be made known. But counsel for the Home Secretary and the Security Service contended that these laws oblige the inquiry "to respect and protect the human rights of individuals who have assisted the Security Service".
The inquiry was hearing applications on behalf of the Home Secretary and the Defence Secretary that certain intelligence material should be withheld on the basis of Public Interest Immunity (PII) certificates signed by the relevant ministers.
The tribunal ruled it has the authority to entertain and rule upon PII claims.