Publication of Saville report urged

The families of the 13 civilians shot dead by British army paratroopers in the Bogside area of Derry 36 years ago, yesterday …

The families of the 13 civilians shot dead by British army paratroopers in the Bogside area of Derry 36 years ago, yesterday called for the Saville Inquiry report into the killings to be made available to them on the same day it is submitted to the British government.

A crowd in excess of 5,000 yesterday attended the annual Bloody Sunday commemoration march in Derry, among them Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, SDLP leader Mark Durkan and Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams.

The final report into the killings and wounding of 14 others is expected to be completed by the inquiry's chairman Lord Saville later this year.

In a recent letter to the families of the Bloody Sunday victims, Lord Saville said when the report was ready, it was his duty to submit it first to the Northern Ireland Secretary of State who will then be responsible for making the report public.

READ MORE

Lord Saville, who chaired the six-year long inquiry, said he also intended to give "a substantial period of advance notice to the interested parties of the delivery of the report to the secretary of state".

However, speaking at a rally following yesterday's march, Joe McKinney, whose brother Willie was one of the victims, said the families of the dead and wounded expected to receive the report within the next few months.

"When the Bloody Sunday inquiry completes its report, it will be presented to Shaun Woodward, the British Secretary of State for the North. This may become one more part of our long struggle.

"Shaun Woodward is a representative of the British government and we ask why the British government or anyone else should get to see this report before we do?

"If the British government has this report, we do not believe that the ministry of defence, who represent the soldiers and officers involved in murder here on Bloody Sunday, will not have it also.

"Why should they get to see this report before us and get time to prepare their spin and lies for their tame journalists, while we may only have a few hours to see the report before we have to respond?

"We demand that all interested parties get to see this report at the same time, that there should be no advantage for any interested party just because they are the British government," he said.