The embarrassing delay in completing the Bloody Sunday Inquiry after 10 years is mitigated by the high quality of the report and the authority of its conclusions
Sunday was not the only bloody day, says Geoffrey Bindman
The embarrassing delay in completing the Bloody Sunday Inquiry after 10 years is mitigated by the high quality of the report and the authority of its conclusions. The inquiry began in 2000 and completed its examination of witnesses and collection of evidence by 2005. We do not know why it took a further five years. Certainly it could not have been difficult to determine the result: it was obvious from the outset that the killing of 13 civilians by members of an army platoon in Derry on 20 January 1972 could not possibly be justified.
The report is massive, running to 10 volumes. While it may have laid to rest all doubts about the tragic events themselves, questions remain, which Jon Robins in his recent and otherwise excellent article has not addressed (see NLJ, 2 July 2010, p 919). How can it make sense to spend nearly
