The chairman of the tribunal, Lord Saville, pointed out yesterday that it has not endorsed either of the films which have recently been released on the theme of Bloody Sunday.
He said he was prompted to comment only because he had been shown media reports of remarks made by the writer of the film, Sunday (which was shown on Channel 4 television last night).
Lord Saville did not name the writer (Jimmy McGovern) but said the reported remarks suggested that the film had "the tribunal's blessing". This appeared to be because he (Lord Saville) had gone to look at the set during filming in Derry and had taken no steps to stop the film.
He said the remark was open to the interpretation that the tribunal or the inquiry somehow approved "the contents, slant, style or approach" of the films. That was not the case, and he had not seen either film, much less approved or disapproved of the content.
He said the inquiry had, however, investigated whether the filmmakers had access to any material which had not been made available to the inquiry.
The tribunal, Lord Saville added, would reach its own conclusions on all the evidence it receives.