A PSNI investigation into the shooting dead of 13 unarmed civilians by British soldiers on Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland is nearing completion, TDs and Senators have been told.
The PSNI investigation arose from the outcome of the Saville Inquiry which found the killings in Derry in 1972 were unjustified and none of the dead posed a threat when they were shot.
John Kelly, spokesman for the families of the victims of Bloody Sunday, told TDs and Senators the inquiry was planning to interview 26 of the 29 soldiers who fired on the civilians in 1972. The remaining three soldiers are not available through death or illness.
Mr Kelly said the interviews would take place in coming weeks, culminating in October. He warned there was a danger the inquiry could be ascribed to the Historical Inquiries Unit, which is to be set up under the Stormont House Agreement. But, he said, “nothing must be allowed” to get in the way of the PSNI investigation’s report which he believed would be ready by early next year.
Mr Kelly also told the politicians the British Army’s Parachute Regiment which took part in Blood Sunday, had earlier been involved in the Ballymurphy Massacre. The Ballymurphy Massacre saw 11 people killed during the introduction of internment without trial, in August 1971.
John Teggart, of the Ballymurphy Massacre Committee, said the forthcoming legislation to underpin the Historical Inquiries Unit must meet international obligations to investigate deaths. He said such legislation was “critical to the families confidence” in the process.
Mr Teggart recounted how civilians were shot on the side of the road as they went about their business, including his father who received 14 bullets from a group of 85 soldiers who stood 25 yards away.
Amanda Fullerton told the committee her father, Sinn Féin councillor Eddie Fullerton, had been killed by a loyalist hit squad on May 25th 1991. She said the hit squad had travelled to Buncrana, Co Donegal to kill her father who was in bed with his wife at the time.
Ms Fullerton said despite the availability of a key witness and information being given to the gardaí by the authorities in the North, there are serious questions as to why the gardaí did not progress an inquiry.
The Oireachtas Committee on the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement which is inquiring into legacy issues affecting victims and relatives in Northern Ireland, also heard from Austin Stack of the Independent Victims and Survivors Coalition.
Mr Stack said families and victims had been living for up to 40 years and more in the “shadow” of such crimes. He said any proposals for a “truth recovery” forum in which people could tell their stories “must be victim centred” and “must be done in public”.
The hearings are continuing Thursday afternoon with representatives of the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation and the Pat Finucane Centre and Committee for Administration of Justice.