…. that a Tribunal be established for inquiring into a definite matter of urgent public importance, namely the events on Sunday 30 January 1972 which led to loss of life in connection with the procession in Londonderry on that day, taking account of any new information relevant to events on that day.”

Mr Tony Blair MP, The Prime Minister
Statement to the House of Commons
29 January 1998

The Bleeding Hills - A Novel by Wilfried F. Voss

The story line behind my novel “The Bleeding Hills” would not be complete without a look into the two inquiries of Bloody Sunday, the Widgery Report of 1972 and the official Bloody Sunday Inquiry initiated in 1998.

The Widgery Tribual was held in the immediate aftermath of the events of Bloody Sunday; it was conducted by Lord Chief Justice Widgery. The Widgery Report which was produced 11 weeks after the day, but it was widely criticized as a whitewash.

The conclusion was:

• That shots had been fired at the soldiers before they started the firing that led to the casualties;
• That, for the most part, the soldiers acted as they did because they thought their standing orders justified it;
• And that although there was no proof that any of the deceased had been shot while handling a firearm or bomb, there was a strong suspicion that some had been firing weapons or handling bombs in the course of the afternoon.

Click here to read the full Widgery Report.

In his 29 January 1998 statement, the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, said the following:

“The time scale within which Lord Widgery produced his report meant that he was not able to consider all the evidence that might have been available. For example, he did not receive any evidence from the wounded who were still in hospital, and he did not consider individually substantial numbers of eye-witness accounts provided to his inquiry in the early part of March 1972. Since the report was published, much new material has come to light about the events of that day. That material includes new eye-witness accounts, new interpretation of ballistic material and new medical evidence.
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I have been strongly advised, and I believe, that there are indeed grounds for such a further inquiry. We believe that the weight of material now available is such that the events require re-examination. We believe that the only course that will lead to public confidence in the results of any further investigation is to set up a full-scale judicial inquiry into Bloody Sunday.”

Click here to read the full statement.

Even though the judges retired on November 23, 2004, there has been no measurable result to this day. Statements regarding a possible publication of the Inquiry’s Report have been modified from year to year. The current statement on the Wikipedia web site is that the publication “was expected at the end of 2007, or possibly early 2008.” – Note: This blog entry was written on March 22, 2009.

Supplement – March 23, 2010

Here we go again. A year after my last entry on the topic of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry there is still no report on the events of Bloody Sunday. See the following references:

Bloody Sunday families angry at Saville delay

There is growing anger amongst the Bloody Sunday families that they may not see the report into the killings until after the general election. On Monday, Secretary of State Shaun Woodward said the document would remain with Lord Saville if Parliament is dissolved before it has been checked. Government advisers are reviewing it to ensure it does not endanger anyone or breach national security. Read more…

SEE ALSO

March 19, 2010 - Bloody Sunday report plan changed

February 23, 2010 - Sunday families want report date

September 23, 2009 - New delay to Bloody Sunday report