Bloody Sunday inquiry switching venue

The Bloody Sunday Inquiry is to move from Derry to the UK, it was announced today.

The huge hearings, currently sitting in the city where 13 Catholics were shot dead by troops nearly 30 years ago, are being transferred for the phase when ex-soldiers testify in person.

The Appeal Court ruled last year that the soldiers would not have to return to Northern Ireland to give oral evidence - they claimed their lives would be in danger - and the tribunal chaired by Lord Saville of Newdigate was considering remaining in Derry and taking their evidence through a video link.

However Lord Saville said today that following submissions from the interested parties, ‘‘we have concluded that the better course is to move to Great Britain’’.

The move will involve the transfer of as many as 100 lawyers working on the inquiry and a mass of elaborate technical equipment currently in the Guildhall in Derry, as well as the tribunal of three Commonwealth judges.

Lord Saville said that according to present estimates, the inquiry would be ready to make the move some time in the early summer.

The inquiry was set up in 1998 and its running costs have provoked an outcry, currently standing at more than £52m (€84m).

The final bill is expected to top £100m (€161.4m) when the tribunal reports back, some time in 2004.