Bloody Sunday report: Your views

Although the details of the Shootings are still very painful to many, the whole process of the enquiry will turn out to be a waste of time and money. Whatever the conclusions reached, few will either accept them or agree with them.
It was possible to predict the main findings before the start of the inquiry, my suggestions are.

1. It was evident that many witnesses were not telling the full truth.
2. It was not possible to find who fired the first shot.
3. It was not possible to refute the claims that shots were fired at troops.
4. It was not possible to absolutely refute the claims that some of those killed handled firearms.
5. It is probable that several of the deaths were 'unlawful' but it is impossible to prove at this time.
6. Prosecution of anyone involved would be difficult.

The report will of course run to hundreds of pages, and of course cover many features in great detail, but I am sure that in the end it will not satisfy anyone. I guess that it will come within the area of 'Justice seen to be done', and the costs written off.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

The failure of successive governments to have an earlier genuine inquiry into Bloody Sunday was disgraceful. Those who refused to sanction an immediate full public inquiry and to deal with this and other civil rights abuses in Northern Ireland are partly responsible for the many subsequent deaths in the "troubles".

The lesson never seems to be learned. It happened again in Iraq. Attempting to cover up misconduct by our own side gives our opponents a valuable propaganda weapon. Illegal behavior must be dealt with promptly and appropriately. Failure to do so inevitably costs more lives on both sides.

It took too long and cost too much but thats a failing of consecutive British governments.

The relatives of he victims deserve answers, but there must have been a more efficient, more humane way to deliver them.

Will it help people move on from the events of 1972?

I suspect that all those emotionally capable of moving on will have done so by now, whilst some will have been so deeply traumatised that they will never move on.

On the brighter side, UK relations with both Irelands are now far better than they have right to be considerering the interactions we've had since the Norman conquest, so the future is looking pretty positive.

The enquiry was pointless and a complete waste of money. When we talk about potential spending cutbacks we should look at enquiries like this and the Iraq enquiries, which just eat up money, and achieve nothing. How can any enquiry take 12 years to report?
The problem is that the enquiry will satisfy very few people. Some will want prosecutions to result, irrespective of what the evidence shows. Most people have already made their minds up, and nothing in the report will change it.

Of course the report will have to say the protesters were shot unlawfully otherwise there will have to be another inquiry which will cost another £190 million of wasted tax payers money. Let's not forget the so called peace process this of course will have to be considered as an unfair report will have an impact on the "peace process"

A total waste of £195 million. It happened years ago when the world was a different place. This report will serve no useful purpose except to stir up the hornet's nest of religious hatred again.

It will stir up a lot of horrible memories and re-open old wounds, but in doing so, hopefully it will shed light on some things, and allow some those wounds to heal better.

Something of value for the £191m that has been chucked into this bottomless pit. I fear however it will have proved to be a complete waste of public money, a nice little earner for the legal fraternity and totally pointless for the rest of us.

The same, I fear will be the case for the 7 July enquiry, and the latest Iraq enquiry.

If the government want to save some money lets scrap this ridiculous "enquiry" mania

If we are talking about reports into killings in N Ireland - why has there been a cover up of the biggest mass killing - Omagh. The IRA can't have it both ways. Sorry, I take that back, they can and do have both ways due to our weak, lily livered appeasement at any cost governments.

Though the HYS here may be filled with various rhetoric on the troubles and who did what to who I would just like to see the following:

An unbiased report on what we do truly know to have happened with citations and cross references to have the clearest possible view and conclusions drawn for what occurred on that day.

What people might want to see in the report is irrelevant. What matters is the truth.

At 5000 pages long and 195 million pounds spent, I don't think that's too much to ask.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

I want to see justice. People shot in the back are not causing a threat.

The British army have got away with this for far too long and I for one, am embarrassed about it.

The only winners are the lawyers who have made a fortune. I doubt we will ever know who gave the order for for the soldiers to open fire on unarmed civilians, It will do no good taking the soldiers who fired the shots to court its the goverment of day and the officers who gave the order to shot who should be in court.

Why is it that a public enquiry is always too brief and accused of being a whitewash, or buried in minute detail so it takes too long and every commentator ignores or forgets about it.

This is the latter case, and will be forgotton about in a very short time.

How about a public enquiry into public enquiries?

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

The Widgery Commission handed the IRA a propaganda victory and a recruiting cause as it was clear it was a damage limitation exercise for the government and not a real investigation.
This report may contain some difficult truths although I suspect the fall guys will be the soldiers not their officers or political masters.
It will still be sickening to see the likes of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness claiming the moral high ground over this issue.

38 years is a long time to uncover the truth behind one of the most shameful incidents in our national history. Even so, I doubt that the whole truth will ever be uncovered, just the bits people want to hear. Unless bullets can be matched to rifles, and the rifles can be matched to soldiers, and it can be shown that those soldiers were not acting under orders, then I doubt that any prosecutions will arise from the findings.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

I look forward to the next public enquiry into the unlawful killing of hundreds of civilains and military personnel in Northern Ireland, UK and European mainland by the IRA and associated organisations.

Had the Bomb placed outside the NAAFI in Rheindahlen detonated then I may not have been here to day ( I was there. We were parked 2 cars away from the car bomb) What had I done to offend the IRA as a 16 year old boy?

It is sad that these people died on 'Bloody Sunday' but time will have distorted the truth. With the end of the troubles all these thing should have been put to rest for good. The UK government released a lot of IRA 'personnel' with blood on their hands so why can't the republicans do the same

Just heard BBC say they are providing balanced coverage with a number of comments from individuals, however so far balanced comment only from one side. So the more the BBC changes the more it stays the same.

The Army was mistaken to allow itself to be drawn in beyond the barricades, it was lured in and then reacted. The reaction most likely did result in the deaths of innocents, however I am sure that no soldier set out that day with the intent of killing innocents. Which is more than can be said for some individuals whose past has been white washed or should I say Blair washed. Too many people and include soldiers in this have been sacrificed, we could lose ourselves in inquiries to the deaths of innocents for a hundred years if all tragedies are given this treatment. We need to move past this.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

It will be intetesting comapring views on this subject with the parallel HYS on the inquiry Israel has set up into the flotilla killings. Having just heard on the radio from Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair's special advisor at the time of the Good Friday agreement, that the Widgery inquiry in 1972 was a "whitewash" and it needed a new inquiry to be set up. Whether after 12 years and £191million those who wanted the inquiry will be satisfied will be another matter: giving ex gratia paymenst of £1m to each victim may have been better value but then the "truth" may not have been heard.

Going back to the comparisons with Israel/Gaza today, Bloody Sunday acted as a massive recruitment aid to the IRA which led to more extremism on both sides and put off a negotiated settlement for a generation. An injustice against civilians performed in the name of responding to actual or perceived threats from terrorists merely gives the terrorists more power and a cycle of violence results.

Had this enquiry taken the length of time that this one has in the Police Service, it would be highly probable that the Chief Constable, the H.M. Inspector of Constabulary, and the whole Police Force would have been dismissed. In spite of the difficulties, it should have been completed far quicker.

After such a passage of time, justice - in the form of a trail - cannot be fairly done. That leaves the Relatives and Friends of those who died with no closure. Those Paras who were there have had to live with the threat of prosecution hanging over their heads for two years short of four decades - that will also have taken its toll. That, in itself, is a punishment not just on them, but also on their Families. Therefore there are no winners!

The whole episode, including the costings, is a national disgrace. Yet once again, the Politicians, who should have been overseeing the whole process let both sides down. It is really they who should be on trial!

Leave the paste alone; learn from the mistakes and move on. Surely it needed not to cost about £200million which is a multiple of any payments to the victims.

I doubt whether its findings will appease everyone, especially if it does not include finding/stating the "unlawful" killing by soldiers of those who died.

Given that it's been however-many years in the making, why don't we wait a few more hours and find out what is in the report, rather than what the (comparatively uninformed) public think should be in it?

Quite rightly, the families of victims deserve to know how their loved ones died and will hope that there are genuine lessons learnt to prevent it from happening to another family - surely that is something that any civilised society should aim for? The cost of the enquiry, compared to the overall (financial) cost of The Troubles, is tiny.

What must not happen is for those with vested interests to use the report to stir up hatred and recriminations, all parties involved in N Ireland then and now should make this absolutely clear; no true lover of peace has anything to gain by doing so, only those bent on their own advancement will have anything to gain.

Would it not have been easier to give each bereaved family £5m each?
£65m is an awful lot cheaper than £195m for the enquiry and at least the bereaved families would have benefitted from the money.
In the current financial climate, can we really afford legal cases of this magnitude? My sympathies are with the families of the bereaved, but who has really benefitted from this expenditure and what does it prove?

Some people (I can guess their religion if they live in Northern Ireland) keep saying that, before the British government apologises for the actions of its Army, the IRA must apologise for their actions.
Isn't the British government on higher moral ground than any terrorist organisation? Don't they have Right on their side - as some less intellectual people would say, God on their side?
It's high time GB stopped treating the Northern Irish like second class citizens, as if they're too high and mighty to ever apologise to an Ulsterman. But then again, it took them 150 years to say sorry for trying to starve us all to death, Catholics and Protestants alike.

10. At 09:01am on 15 Jun 2010, Roy wrote:
If we are talking about reports into killings in N Ireland - why has there been a cover up of the biggest mass killing - Omagh. The IRA can't have it both ways. Sorry, I take that back, they can and do have both ways due to our weak, lily livered appeasement at any cost governments.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The peace process has saved many lives and improved many more over the last 13 years. I'll take that kind of "weak, lily livered appeasement" any day of the week.

if the soldiers get prosecuted, then i want to help pay their legal fees. if soldiers believe they are being shot at, then they have every right to return fire. you cant prove who fired first, and its a testament to the blame-culture thats developed that our brave men and women of the armed forces can be prosecuted for self-defence. a whole unit of trained soldiers dont just fire on protesters. one or two soldiers might. but if the whole unit fires, then there has been a hostile action from the crowd.

History will always serve the purposes of the age that it is presented in and truth this old is a long way from objectivity even if truth is told or evidence available. It was a tragedy, but then there were so many tragedies in that conflict. Claims that this one was 'special' don't really wash.

Thousands of IRA supporters spent years in jail for their part in carrying out bombings etc.How many British troops were jailed?There were attrocities and complicities carried out by the army and police,this is a known fact.I just want to see justice for both sides.

Hi

The death of anyone is a tragedy and we all feel for those left behind.

But in you rush to point the finger at British soldiers remember the IRA killed and maimed thousands of people and many of their relatives have not seen justice.
Killers walking free their leaders now ministers.

I f prosecutions of those involved are allowed all immunity given to terrorists must be withdrawn and investigations leading to prosecutions must also be allowed.

Justice for all not just those supported by a trendy left wing minority

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

I want this to be accepted by all parties, whatever it says.

It was almost 40 years ago now and things have changed. Dragging up the past should be left in the past.

There is no blame to be attached to any of our armed forces in this incident. Many of our men were slaughter on the streets of Ireland and many of civilians were killed not just in Ireland but the on home soil also, this inquiry is an insult to their memory. This inquiry is to satisfy the wants of the republican movement in Londonderry. Shame on the government for holding this enquiry at all. And for those people who insist on insulting the name of our armed forces and making statements like they are embarrassed should take a long hard look at themselves and get away from there liberal fantasy land where everyone should hug.

5. At 08:52am on 15 Jun 2010, David wrote:
The problem is that the enquiry will satisfy very few people. Some will want prosecutions to result,
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Still more taxes to WASTE what a total cockup this country has become now.

All this user's posts have been removed.Why?

Was it 193 million it cost? Yet another lucrative job for the lawyers and judges. I would hope that this will be the end to the matter and everyone will shut up. I for one don't believe that everyone is telling the truth on both sides, why would they?
I certainly don't want to see this going futher than this. It has been suggested that some soldiers may face prosecution. It had better not happen. It would not be a very good morale booster for the army who are currnetly still involved in policing actions around the world.
'Do your duty lads but remember you may be witch hunted 30 to 40 years down the road'.

Why did it take so long? You'd almost think the British Government were trying to hide something.

The IRA spent decades deliberately killing innocent people. they also regularly sniped at Brit soldiers. If in that context some soldiers eventually lost it and opened fire then that is regretable but ultimately you cant expect one way violence for ever.

Can we have an enquiry into why the British state mentality continues to see fit to forcefully invade the lands of others rule by brutality, oppression, divide and conquer cynicism in order to exploit their resources to it's own ends?

Or maybe just look in your hearts and find the answer, at least to why so many foot soldiers blindly follow their master's lead. Stop this and we can move on!

We don't yet know, what conclusions Lord Saville has drawn and speculation is futile, but one thing I cannot fully grasp about this, and many other public inquiries, is the enormous cost incurred.
This amazingly drawn-out twelve-year process has cost a stunning £195,000,000, over £16,000,000 million pounds annually. What on earth is costing £44,000 a day, every day, for twelve years?
Will we be shown a detailed breakdown of where the money went? Has much of it gone on lawyers' fees, as usual? I think the public has just as much right to know how taxpayers' money was spent, as the detail and conclusions of the inquiry itself.

The enquiry must be seen to be honest and address the failings of Widgery's report.
All of the facts which have come out over the years, and the falsehoods of Widgery will have to be accounted for.
I don't see that happening.
I expect another whitewash, albeit not as blatant or absurd as Widgery's.
Honesty doesn't come easily to the British Establishment.

WHAT PRICE PEACE!!!!!

This enquiry was PART of the deal to attain peace in Northern Ireland.

The £195m reported cost is ACTUALLY a PITANCE in comparison to that spent in Iraq and Afganistan.

£195 million is possibly also less than the rise in costs over the years for insuring buildings in the City of London and elsewhere as a result of threat from IRA.

Talking down the costs via being negative about it is pathetic, stupid and ultimately massively IGNORANT, especially in context of continued costs of ACTUALLY experiencing and FIGHTING wars/ social unrest, and any TV broadcaster who negatively puts questions about its supposid "high cost" in my view is basically a cynical muppet, because £195 million is EXCEPTIONALLY cheap to attain peace - WHAT PRICE PEACE?????

Most in N.Ireland STILL want peace REGARDLESS of this reports findings, but there will be some, a minority, who continue to seek justification for a return to violence.

I hope there is little or nothing to justify such violence.

While every parent or relative should ideally learn the truth of how their loved one died in the “Bloody Sunday” riots (for that’s what this was), I’m far from convinced that the £195M cost of this enquiry will provide the answers they seek. All it has done is show the rest of the World how far British governments have travelled down the road of appeasement to our minority communities. After 40 years, no one’s memory is capable of recalling the truth from the murk of fiction invented throughout the years elapsed.

The members of the enquiry board and the lawyers got their exorbitant fees and the parents and relatives of the wholly blameless dead will get an inconclusive answer as to which exasperated and out-of-control soldier shot their particular innocent bystander dead.

As one of the “innocent” taxpayers footing the bill, can we now stop any further exploration of this episode of public disorder on the epic scale and get on with today’s problems please?

For all those who claim that the Inquiry was a waste of money, ask yourself what you would think if an innocent member of your family was murdered in cold blood by the state which was supposed to be protecting them, and then your relative a 'terrorist' and plants evidence on them, would you still call it a waste of money. If this happened in Birmingham or Manchester an immediate inquiry would begin, people would be prosecuted and I dare say a Government would fall. Regardless of any other attrocities in the north of Ireland, the fact remains that this is State Terrorism and if the state wishes to cover-up and deny the truth for 38 years then £190m is a very small price to pay.
Truth costs Nothing, Cover-ups and denials cost £190m.

Of course all the money spent on the enquiry is justified,the people murdered on that day have the right to have their names cleared and for the british goverment to take responsibility not only for the murders commited that day but the whitewash cover up that sucessive british goverments have upheld.The familys of the dead have acted with such dignity through all this holding their heads high and carring the never breakable truth that their loved ones where inoccent people murdered by trigger happy soilders from a forgein state.I hope the families get the answers today that they deserve my thoughts and prayers are with them.

waste of time and money ,the truth will never be know , but if as the so called peacefull proteters claim that the troops opened fire indiscriminately we really do need an inquirey as to why highly trained british paratroops only managed to kill 14 people, surely if they had fired indiscriminately the death toll would have been much higher

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Those who rejoice at the prospect of British soldiers facing court action are guilty of sickening double standards. They should recall the number of republican gunmen who deliberately (and proudly) murdered British soldiers and were rewarded with an amnesty under the so-called peace process.

NOTHING from this report will help those families who lost someone. All this is in the PAST it will open up new wounds do these families need this? IF they do then I hope that BOTH sides are open and honest if the report shows that the killings were unlawful then lets hope that Martin McGuinness and Jerry Adams reciprocate by publishing the names of all of the Republicans who have been involved in unlawful deaths over the years of the troubles.

Do we now not have a PEACE PROCESS LETS KEEP IT

Put the PAST TO BED there is NOTHING we CAN DO ABOUT IT

Just remember those who died with RESPECT

The fact is the British Army opened fire on a civil rights march in the United Kingdom killing 13 civilians.

Just a thought... but couldn't that £195 million have gone into the community of Londonderry and towards trying to compensate the families of victims.

I have no interest in the contents of this report, nor the whole sorry Northern Ireland situation. I've tried to understand it over the years, speaking with people who live there, and soldiers who have served there... and yet still I can't actually get my head around any of it. The more I think of it then it just reminds me of the Dr. Suess 'The Butter Battle Book' (Wiki it) I wish to be no part of either side as I don't wear blinkers.

My first reaction is that lawyers should join the Official British Parasite list, along with bankers, MPs, non-doms, and benefits scroungers. A staggering waste of money.

At 09:15am on 15 Jun 2010, me me me wrote:
I want to see justice. People shot in the back are not causing a threat.

The British army have got away with this for far too long and I for one, am embarrassed about it.

********************************************************

I assume you would also like to see justice for the victims of the Omagh bombing and other atrocities that the IRA committed, and have now been allowed to get away with by the last government.


Now THAT is embarrassing.

I want the report to provide a good reason why so much time and money has been spent on one day. There were substantial atrocities before and after which have not had this coverage.

It is time to move on.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

As I understand it (I'm sure that someone will point out if I am wrong), under the Peace Agreements both Republican and Unionist members of the organisations that were involved in the NI conflict, have been absolved of the resposibilities of their actions/crimes and those that were caught, charged and jailed have been set free.

This incident happened 38yrs ago and whilst it may now bring the whole issue to a close, would it not be a sensible and magnanimous gesture by both the Republican and Union elements of the peace process to allow any charges that may stem from this enquiry to be subject to those same sections in the Peace Agreements that they have benefited from.

I am not suggesting that no one be held to account, but the buck must stop with those that ordered the soldiers to open fire, and the investigation should then focus on if the reason for giving the order was valid. If the conclusion is that it was an erroneous order, then they are the persons that should face any charges and those charges should reflect what was happening at the time in regards to the situation.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Bloody Sunday was a tragedy, not just because of the young ages of a lot of the victims, but because the events of that day and the whitewash and cover up that followed it ensured 20 more years of more grieving families from all sides. I hope this report gives the victims families some closure and eases their suffering. I doubt either side will be completely happy with the outcome though as the events are so confused and chaotic that surely the best we can hope for is a lot of speculation based on probability.

Much too late in the day for any satisfacory conclusion to this tragedy.

The report does not change anything, the investigations that took part, used up a lot of money and what with Gov cutbacks this I see as a waist of time, why take more than a year to write out a report in the first place.

You see the troops knew they where in the wrong and to cover up their poor attempt, the Gov at the time and to days Gov have just swept the report to the side, claiming that it does not exist and does not matter.

To MP's it does not matter, to them, all they care about is keeping the truth and not letting it out.

The report will not show anything, to which we do not know now.
These victims families will not understand whats written.

After all, the people that where shot and killed, will still be dead and there will still be more questions than there will be answers.

Quite difficult contemplating the navel isn't it, looking down and realising that we're not as perfect as we tell eveybody else we are. We spend a lot of time telling other people how to run there lives and then wonder why they react the way they do, get the 'ump and start letting off roadside bombs, or flying aircraft into buildings and the like. I think we call that terrorism, although we called ours 'troubles'.

Troubles is what you get when you go out and drink to much and have dodgy kebab on the way home.

So, if we are telling the world how to live, and that they all must live like us, then surely they all must have a chance to have their own 'troubles'. Maybe, just maybe, other countries governments are nothing to do with us, unless we are willing to hold our hands up and admit that we got it very, very wrong in Northern Ireland. This report should allow some of those ghosts to be laid to rest, for some it will re-open old wounds and be very painful, but if we truly want to move forward and be democratic and be an example to other nations with similar issues, then we must not only show that we want to change, but we must want to change.

Anyone that talks about this in terms of money and time (waste of) is denying any part of what it is to live in the freedom that they enjoy.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Why is this country in billions of debt, this is a prime example. There should be an enquiry into why there was £200 million wasted on lawyers to try and rewrite history. N.Ireland is turning into 1984, with history being changed constantly to fit the political view rather than the reality.

Another disaster from the previous Governments policy of tax and spend culture!.

The army should never be deployed against British subjects (Even unwilling ones) on British soil under any circumstances.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

In my opinion a total waste of money.
What about the amount of soldiers and innocent people that died at the hands of the IRA and the rest of the murderers that killed and maimed?
As usual they have been forgotten.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Another consideration is this: Why, if as claimed, the para's opened fire indiscriminately, did they not hit a cross section of the community. There were, as we saw in the pictures at the time, children, women, and old folk hurling bricks and abuse at our troops and yet no-one from those catagories sustained injuries.

The enquiry has taken far too long, cost far too much and will no doubt bring up ghosts of a past that the N. Irish people hoped was behind them. They were horrible days and I doubt anyone can seriously be brought to book as it was quasi-war: quelling troubles perhaps.

Let's hope it lays to rest the troubles.

Hopefully the report will finally tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. But as is the case with government truth and politics do not always sit well.

Will people be satisfied by the outcome of this costly and lengthy Inquiry, I think not.

There is still anomosity and I doubt whether the wounds will ever be completely healed. It appears there were failing on both sides and whilst we're having an Inquiry about these 13 shouldn't there be an Inquiry over all the other so-called innocent deaths?

The "conflict" in Northern Ireland has been likened to a war and in all wars there is death and destruction committed by both sides.

This was all a very long time ago, and I'm sick and tired of hearing the words "Bloody Sunday" and "Northern Ireland" every time I switch on the news. At vast expense, the inquiry achieved nothing of value.

Can we stop living in the past, and move on, please?

Pure waste of time and money. Yes its important to the 13 families but giving them £1m would have been better.

All governments should be ashamed for how long this has taken. The legal costs are appalling especially as no trial has taken place.

As Blair released all of the terrorists anyway, what does it matter.

Ireland needs to move forward and the British Government must accept responsibility.

in the interest of openess and transparency, perhaps we should have another inquiry when this is over, costing more and lasting longer than this one, examining all the deaths in northern ireland, particulalry those at omagh, or those in mainland britain. how about an inquiry into the brigthon bombings and the IRA can send along the bombers to give evidence. the IRA cant have the penny and the bun, although sadly they will by the looks of it. the sight of martin mcguiness and gerry adams acting like whiter than white nobel statesmen makes me feel sick to my stomach

bloody sunday was a very sad unfortunate event in the history of northern ireland but i suspect this inquiry will please no one. 1972 was a different time and we did things differently back then.

Father Daly (later bishop of Derry) said on the day that the people were not even throwing bricks and stones, despite film of him tending to one of the victims as people threw bricks and stones around him. The truth was one of the biggest victims of that day.

I agree this will re-open old wounds, but however much we Brits want to ignore the past, it is still fresh in the minds of the Irish, both sides of the border. I don't think the report will change anything, there is too much history between Ireland and the UK, and no matter how many Irish people you talk to who say it's all in the past and things have changed, the whole of Ireland is very bitter towards the UK, you only need to read the editorials, letters pages and opinions in their press for anti-British rhetoric.
I think they crave attention to be put on their past, no matter how distant in the past it is, and probably only an annual state visit including a speech with a full apology from the Queen (who they have no respect for) would satisfy their need to be truly treated as an independant country. But having said that, as long as Northern Ireland is part of the UK, the Troubles will rumble on, somewhere below the surface. Some credit does have to go to Tony Blair for at least getting it this far, without getting heavy handed like the UK did in the majority of the last century, but saying "times are different" now doesn't do anything to appease the long memories of the Irish. Did no-one notice the fuss kicked up in Ireland when the UK didn't even send a representative to a famine remembrance service ? Lip service certainly won't work with Ireland

I doubt it will accomplish anything much.

We already know that opening fire is not a good way to contain a riot (even if the hoodlums start shooting first).

Those who prefer to brood on injustices, perceived or real, of the past instead of moving forwards will continue to do so whatever is said.

The only winners are the lawyers who've grown fat on their fees. It won't bring anyone back from the grave, nor provide insights on how to manage turbulent situations better in the future.

61. At 10:37am on 15 Jun 2010, SoapyWetDish wrote:
How about a public inquiry for all the innocent victims of IRA violence, to be paid for by the Irish government.
Countless members of terrorist organisations (on both sides) have been allowed to walk the streets with seemingly no consequence for their actions of the past.
I can't be one rule for them and another for the security services. If prosecutions are what comes out of this, then I would hope that some of those who were released as part of the peace process would also come under scrutiny once more.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry, the moderators should have stopped this one for it's complete stupidity

SoapyWet, I didn't read passed your first line because the first line is all I need to know on how little you know anything about that part of our history or how any of these things work.

Are you suggesting that the Republic of Ireland were the State sponsors of Terrorism? Are you suggesting that the PIRA were representing the Republic of Ireland in some kind of diplomatic mission?

You fool. It has nothing to do with The Republic of Ireland, it's all to do with our governance of a land following invasion by Britian hundreds of years ago.

Learn your history.

Moderators, if you are doing your job properly you must know that this is going to wind people up. Sort it out

Its now considered the forgotten war but NI was at war back in 1972.

I wasn't born then but have studied this and talked to people from both sides and the hatred towards the British Army coming from the local people throughout the 70s easily rivals that of the Taliban hating the West today.

I doubt the truth will ever be out and for my generation it doesn't really mean anything as I said its the forgotten war.

I do understand the relatives need for closure and truth but this kind of thing happens whenever countries are at war.

Although the report hasnt been viewed by the public yet there is an awful lot of why and how and blame apportioned to various groups.
Why not wait and see? I dont see why this HYS is up yet? No one, but no one other than the people involved, the government and the families has a right to comment until after they have seen the report.

I hope it is impartial and honest, and I hope we can close the door and move on afterwards. Lets now just remember those who died and let those who can grieve finally and move on, and lets NOT have another report because no one agrees with this one or its findings! It costs money to keep on having enquiries after enquires and frankly now, we cannot afford it and its time to accept this happened and let go, for the sake of the families and victims, and for Peace in Northern Ireland.

According to the IRA they were engaged in a war with with the British troops. Any lives lost on Bloody Sunday, however unfortunate, must surely have been as a result of this openly declared war. You can't arm soldiers then send them out to engage the enemy without using their weapons.

Let us not forget those who died at the hands of the IRA - where is the £195billion looking into their demise.

Let's draw a line under that whole sorry saga and work instead on maintaining the peace process now in place.

This has gone on long enough and clearly the only winners have been the legal profession.

Twelve years? £195m? Why? the greedy law firms making money again.

But the main question which still remains, why was this not done in the 70's?

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

The fact that Lord Savile has taken so long to produce this report, illustrates clearly that his efforts to discover the truth has most probably failed. No doubt many words will have been written giving 'possibles' and 'probables', but 'actuals', i doubt it. The media coverage will open old wounds for many. The bereaved families of those that died that day do not hold a monopoly on hurt and anguish and a desire for so-called justice. Many people have moved on in the past few years; this will drag us back and i doubt this publication will serve any purpose that will allow Northern Ireland society to move ahead, as a community. A sad day indeed.

A waste of money - the only people who will benefit are the disgustingly, greedy lawyers who had a vested interest in prolonging the enquiry. They should be made to pay back 90% of their fees.

Great example of Nulab's complete disregard for spending OUR money. Nearly £200M spent making Nulab's Lawyer friends very rich to accomplish absolutely nothing.

What a disgraceful waste of time and money.

The Bloody Sunday Massacre marked a paradigm shift in the violence that was already enveloping Northern Ireland. As a result of this many catholics felt they had to join or support the armed insurrection as they were not going to get justice through peaceful means. In many ways the violence that was enacted on Bloody Sunday resulted in more deaths of British soldiers in the following years. My father was serving in the Army at the time and was killed in the following year. I feel his death is directly linked to this turning point. I have also served in the Army and this has given me the understanding to realise that if I was serving on these streets at the time possibly tired from constant vigilance after being on guard or patrol over a sustained period of time, having had comrades shot and injured or killed and then being asked to take part in policing a demonstration after first of all having been briefed on the possibility of being shot and killled by gunmen in the crowd and being told to come down hard on any outbreaks of violence then quite possibly as a young soldier I might have been a little jumpy and prone to react to the slightest thing. When you combine this with the fact that I have a rifle in my hands and I have been trained to use it then it is understandable to expect that there is likely to be the possibility of bloodshed no matter how well trained the soldier is. This does not in any way condone the violence but it comes some way to explaining why it happened. The Army at this time had little training in policing civil marches and in particular Paras were trained for war not peace keeping at the time.The biggest error was allowing soldiers with weapons to be policing a civil demonstration. To answer this question then you have to ask why the police felt thay needed the Army there to help them. The overall context is that violence was constantly being escalated on all sides at all times with ever greater weapons being brought to bear from police brutality to stone throwing to snipers to petrol bombs to homes being burnt down to soldiers on the street to car bombs. All sides contributed to Bloody Sunday happening and if it hadn't happened there then there is every possibility that it would have happened somewhere else. People on all sides were being manipulated by politicians into this corner where violence was inevitable. Before Bloody Sunday the IRA were not seen as the way forward for the catholic people to gain equal rights. The IRA have always been as machiavellian in their motives as the Unionists on the other side. Is it not reasonable to think that the IRA could have manipulated an event such as this but not foreseen the consequences of their actions? A starting pistol or a firework in the middle of a riot would have been enough to make soldiers react under certain circumstances never mind a well aimed round. Will we ever get to the truth of what happened. I don't think it is possible. I do not see any point in prosecuting soldiers for something that happened so long ago particularly when the CO who gave the orders is no longer around to ask about the orders he gave. It is wrong that so many people died on a peaceful protest. We cannot undo what happened but maybe we can start to recognise that all sides have to understand each others points of view. I can understand why terrorists felt the need to take up arms but I don't understand the need to murder and injure innocent people using bombs such as happened on Bloody Friday one year before. If we are to allow convicted terrorists to return to their communities under the Good Friday agreement then surely these soldiers should also escape prosecution. It would have been far better to put the money spent on the Saville Enquiry into combatting poverty and unemployment in Northern Ireland which is still at appallingly high levels for working class people on all sides rather than to funding lawyers who really don't need any more money. I realise justice needs to be seen to be done and if this helps to gain closure for people and rebuild peace then it should be done. However Bloody Sunday was not a premeditated act of war unlike Bloody Friday it was a tragedy caused when you mix a riot with soldiers with weapons. We do need to apologise for Bloody Sunday and other innocents deaths but I doubt whether you will find the UVF, IRA et al similarly willing to apologise for the far more horrific things that they did to far more innocent people (bombings, disappearances, invading peoples homes and murdering the occupants in front of their children, kneecappings, extortion) than the British Army ever managed. These are the things that still outrage the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland today but they recognise that in order to move on and keeep the peace that has taken so long to happen then they need to forgive but not neccessarily forget. People need to talk to each other on all sides and it is only with this talking that we will forge a new understanding of each other. You cannot solve a problem with the same conciousness that created it as Albert Einstein said but you can start to press on with solving the problems of poverty and unemployment that still bedevil Northern Ireland.

I remember the incident and the horror of it. The blame game has been going on ever since. The troops did their job and what they are trained to do. The politicians ordered them there. It is their ultimate responsibility.

'19. At 09:33am on 15 Jun 2010, DIDYOUKNOW wrote:
What a total waste of money.The facts are simple 13 people died in a confused situation in which the soldiers were ordered to respond to extreme provocation on a very large angry demonstration which they did with guns and live ammunition.It is regretable this happened but was it the soldiers fault?I dont think so.Freedom of speech is one thing but a carefully orchestrated demonstration by IRA leaders is another'

Wow, were you there?! In what capacity? Please, do tell, as you claim to be in possession of the simple facts! As far as most of us believe, the demonstration was largely peaceful and the 13 people were UNLAWFULLY killed, but if you know better, we're all ears!

I would Hope that the Government will now launch full scale public enquiries into the Birmingham Pub Bombings.

I am too young for it but i am sure it will benefit the families and possibly those who seek to destabilise the current Irish government.

£200 million could have been spent on better things other than lawyers - sounds like a scam and very similar to the miners claims a few years back.

Investigate those lawyers please.

Just remember many many people with blood on their hands have been released under the good friday agreement. I think that the men who blew up The Grand Hotel Brighton and who also killed a soldier on Lichfield railway station, have all been granted early release.

30+ years on who will this help. I listened with interest to an interview this morning on the Today program, with a man who said he was turned to the IRA after the action of the troops on that Sunday. I then waited in vain for the question to be asked 'and in your time as a member of an illegal organisation how many murders of troops and innocent protestant civilians were you involved in or condoned?' Iniskillen, the Omagh bombing etc. Needless to say it didn't come. Very little eveidence will stand the test of being corrupted by 30 years of anecdote and poor memories. All this money has been thrown away when it could have been used in a more practical way to help ALL those who have suffered at the hands of the men of violence.