Whitewash shortage?
The report of the Saville Inquiry into Bloody Sunday has been delayed until the autumn of 2009, causing huge disappointment to relatives.
The brutality of events on Bloody Sunday are stark. Paratroopers shot 27 civilians, 13 died that day and a 14th victim sometime later. Even after seven years of the Saville Inquiry, lawyers admitted it was still unclear which soldiers actually fired upon whom.
The new delay has disappointed and angered many. In a letter to the victims’ families, Lord Saville apologised but said he and his colleagues were determined to deal fairly, accurately and thoroughly with the issues before them.
Tony Doherty, whose father was shot on Bloody Sunday, said the delay was “very disappointing and confusing as well”.
Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward said he shared the families’ concerns and would be discussing the implications of the delay ” as a matter of urgency”.
Eamon McCann, chairman of the Bloody Sunday Trust, said confidence in the inquiry was being eroded. The investigation was an enormous task, he conceded, but he said, “some people are beginning to ask themselves, what’s going on?”
Partial answer…ask a tobacco corporation why it favours years of litigation, or why it took 3 years for independent witnesses into Jean Charles de Meneze’s killing to be heard. The establishment likes time, it is made up of families who can trace their ancestry for centuries, time abides, the rulers count it on their side-
John Kelly, whose brother Michael was among 14 people killed, told the ‘Journal’: “All of a sudden the timescale changed again and we need to know the reason why. We have waited so long already – and now our patience is starting to wear thin.”
“Since the Inquiry began, six of the injured have died, campaigning siblings have died and there’s only one surviving parent left, Lawrence McElhinney (father of Kevin McElhinney). So time really is of the essence,” he said.
