'Blair will be forced into Claudy bomb inquiry'

The British government will be forced to have a Bloody Sunday-style public inquiry into the 1972 Claudy bombings, Democratic Unionist leader the Rev Ian Paisley predicted today.

The North Antrim MP said in his Christmas message that recent police claims that the Government and Catholic Church shielded a priest suspected of the 1972 bombings which killed nine people had “cast a dark shadow” over the festive season.