A BRITISH paratrooper who was in Derry on Bloody Sunday 25 years ago has described actions of the British army that day as "shameful and disgraceful".
The Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, said the latest evidence further bolstered calls for a fresh inquiry.
The Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, responding to the soldier's comments last night, said, the British authorities "need to, acknowledge Bloody Sunday for what it was, an inexcusable act of state terrorism that was subsequently covered up and spawned many other evil acts".
The soldier described how a statement he was to give to the Widgery inquiry into the shootings was tampered with by his superiors.
His claims about his evidence being altered coincide with comments from a senior BBC journalist who yesterday recounted how lengthy evidence he gave to the Widgery inquiry was inaccurately summarised in the published report of the inquiry.
The interpretation of his evidence suggested that a shot was fired at the British army during the march, when in fact the journalist, Mr David Capper, told the inquiry a single shot had been fired over two hours before the march and the subsequent British army shootings.
As the campaign for a fresh inquiry intensifies, last night's Channel 4 news reported the evidence of a paratrooper who was in Derry on the Sunday. The soldier, whose identity was not disclosed, said the situation on Bloody Sunday was "something of a shambles".
It is certainly the case that the forward soldiers who became involved in the shooting were in a situation where command and control was absent for a period of 15 minutes when the bulk of the shooting occurred," he said.
"During that period a number of fairly unfortunate - to say the least - decisions were made by individuals on the ground which led to some shameful and disgraceful acts being perpetrated."
The soldier said that to his knowledge there was no order to fire. The firing started in a spontaneous way.
Channel 4 news said shots allegedly fired by a soldier from the Royal Anglian regiment from Derry's walls may have led the paratroopers to open fire, thinking they were being fired at.
But it added that even if that were the case it could not explain how four civilians were killed and three injured in Glenfadda Park. Channel 4 claimed the Glenfadda Park shootings happened after a ceasefire order was issued by the British army that day.
The soldier rejected any suggestions that raking over the embers would only give succour to the IRA. "If you live in a civilised country, as Britain is, there are certain moral boundaries which the state has a duty to operate within. On this particular day things went wrong. The fact that that has never been acknowledged has left this festering sore.
Mr Bruton said the claims in the Channel 4 report would form an extremely important part of the dossier of new evidence about Bloody Sunday which the Government will present to the British government in its efforts to have a new inquiry, or some other action initiated.
Mr Bruton said the allegation that a statement the soldier was to give to the Widgery inquiry was altered was also extremely worrying.
"Democratic civilised governments are not on the same [moral] level and must never be seen to be on the same level as terrorist organisations of any kind. So it is very important that there be a process of an admission of error, be a process of apology, be a process of allowing victims to be heard.
"Because it is only when those things happen that forgiveness can begin, and it is only when there is forgiveness that there can be reconciliation, and it is only when there is reconciliation that there can be true and lasting peace, as distinct from a mere truce.
Mr Capper told yesterday of how evidence he gave to the inquiry was inaccurately reported in the Widgery report.
Mr Capper, a senior BBC reporter, said the Widgery version of what his evidence had been was "wrong" and "very condensed".
The summary of his evidence suggested that a gunman fired on the paratroopers during the height of the shooting, which contradicted what he actually told the inquiry.
His evidence was summarised in the Widgery report in two sentences: "Mr Capper, a BBC reporter, heard a single revolver shot, from the crowd he was with at Kells Road in the direction of the soldiers in William Street.
"He heard this shot after the shooting of Mr Johnson and Mr Donaghy in William Street, but, before the Paras moved into Rossville Street."
