A spokesperson for the Bloody Sunday Inquiry has given the clearest indication so far as to when the final report into the killings of 13 civilians and woundings of 14 others by British paratroopers in Derry in January 1972 would be ready.
The judicial inquiry, chaired by Lord Saville of Newdigate, stretched over five years during which it heard evidence from 922 witnesses and took statements from a further 1,563 witnesses.
The inquiry, one of the longest and the most expensive in international legal history, ended in 2005. In a letter last week to representatives of the victims' families, Elizabeth Johnson, secretary to the inquiry, said considerable progress had been made but the report would not be ready this year.
"I have, however, been asked by the members of the tribunal to inform you that they now believe that there is a good prospect that the entire draft report will be completed within a matter of months thereafter."
A spokesman for the victims' families said they believed the report would not be ready until mid-2008 at the earliest.