Inquiry halts in memory of Bloody Sunday

The 30th anniversary of Bloody Sunday today comes amid mounting complaints about the cost of the inquiry into the events of the day.

The hearings, which are taking place in Derry, are not sitting today or tomorrow in an acknowledgement of the commemorative events in the city, but will start hearing the evidence of RUC officers when they resume again on Monday after more than a year of civilian testimonies.

Lord Saville and the Commonwealth judges accompanying him on the Bloody Sunday Inquiry started their work re-examining events of January 30, 1972, nearly four years ago and are not expected to report back until 2004, by which time the costs are likely to have exceeded £100m (€163.5m).

The killings of 13 Catholic civilians in Derry’s Bogside by members of the Parachute Regiment on Bloody Sunday and the conclusions of the Widgery Inquiry remain one of the most painful episodes in the history of the troubles in Northern Ireland - especially in Derry itself.

But when Tony Blair announced the new probe early in 1998 in the run-up to the striking of the Good Friday Agreement, the move was not universally welcomed. Supporters of the soldiers claimed they were being sacrificed as a trade-off to keep republicans on board in the peace process.

Last year Ulster Unionist David Trimble called for the plug to be pulled on the hearings during his general election campaign. More recently, the former Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson spoke out against the inquiry in Parliament.

Numerous pieces have appeared in newspapers about the workings of the inquiry and the large fees being paid out to the solicitors and barristers in the chamber. A decision last week to transfer the whole operation to an as-yet-undecided venue in Great Britain for the soldiers’ evidence to be heard is bound to have further outraged those opposed to the inquiry.

Some of Ireland and Britain’s most famous barristers are representing clients at the inquiry: Charles Haughey’s lawyer Eoin McGonigal SC; Michael Mansfield QC who took on the Stephen Lawrence and Barry George briefs in Britain; Sir Louis-Blom Cooper QC who once acted for Nelson Mandela; as well as Michael Lavery QC, Arthur Harvey QC and Eilis McDermott QC, all leading lights in the Northern Ireland legal circuit.

Mr Mansfield has denied claims that he has earned £400,000 (€654,000) from the inquiry so far, instead putting the figure at £200,000 (€327,000), covering a period of three and a half years.

He puts the personal attention on himself and other lawyers such as Sir Louis down to their high public profile and remains unsurprised at the hostility directed towards the inquiry in general.

‘‘Once Tony Blair established the inquiry it was perfectly clear that there were people who steadfastly opposed the establishment and existence of the inquiry and have done so ever since,’’ he said after the hearings rose today.

‘‘One way of seeking to undermine it is to consistently question the costs even though the cost is a standard one; the rate is set by the Government of the day.

‘‘But what has to be remembered is that this inquiry would not have been necessitated at all if the first inquiry conducted by Lord Widgery had been a thorough one, not a failure in the way that is generally accepted.’’