The penultimate phase of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry starts in Derry today with the closing speech of the inquiry's counsel, Mr Christopher Clarke QC.
Mr Clarke's closing statement is expected to take no more than two days, in contrast to his opening speech which lasted 42 days, the longest in British legal history.
The inquiry, chaired by Lord Saville of Newdigate alongside Mr Justice William Hoyt from Canada and Mr Justice John Toohey from Australia, is into the deaths of 13 civilians and the woundings of 13 others after British paratroopers fired 108 shots when they were deployed into the Bogside area of Derry on January 30th, 1972, during an illegal civil rights march.
Following Mr Clarke's closing speech, the judges will retire to consider their findings, the results of which are expected to be submitted to the British government by the middle of next year.
The inquiry's counsel will give an overview of the issues for the inquiry to decide and an overview of what Mr Clarke believes are the significant bodies of evidence. He is also expected to indicate options in terms of any conclusions the three judges could reach.
The final cost of the inquiry is expected to be some £155 million. Excluding today and tomorrow's sittings, the inquiry has sat for a total of 432 days from March 27th, 2000.
The inquiry's solicitors took 2,500 witness statements, after which 921 witnesses gave their direct evidence when the inquiry was either sitting in Derry's Guildhall or when it was sitting in Central Hall, Westminster.
The move to London, from September 2002 to October 2003, was to accommodate the hearing of evidence from soldiers, civil servants, members of the intelligence service and politicians, among them Sir Edward Heath who was prime minister on Bloody Sunday.
The largest category of witnesses was civilian (506), followed by military (245), media (49), politician and civil servants (39), RUC (33), the paramilitary or former paramilitary (33).
Evidence was to have been heard today from Mr Johnny White who, on Bloody Sunday, was the officer commanding the Official IRA in Derry, but Mr White has been excused on medical grounds.