SAVILLE INQUIRY: The Bloody Sunday Inquiry heard its last witness yesterday, on its 427th day of taking evidence. George Jackson looks back
"Bloody Sunday was a tragic day for all concerned. We must all wish that it had never happened. Our concern now is simply to establish the truth and to close this painful chapter once and for all."
With these words the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, formally announced in the House of Commons on January 29th, 1998, the setting up of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry into the killings of 13 unarmed civilians and woundings of 13 others by British army paratroopers during a civil rights march in the Bogside area of Derry on January 30th, 1972.
Yesterday, just over six years later, the last witness, Provisional IRA 24, who was witness number 919, gave evidence to the tribunal, chaired by Lord Saville of Newdigate. So far a staggering 14 million words have been spoken at the inquiry, the estimated cost of which will be in the region of £150 million, and the inquiry's website has received nine million hits.
The formal opening day was April 3rd, 1998, when Lord Saville announced the terms of the inquiry in Derry's Guildhall. "We are inquiring into matters that have given rise to very strong emotions . . .
"Those emotions are wholly understandable, for whatever the circumstances, people were killed and wounded," he said.
Lord Saville said his inquiry was not an investigation into the original Widgery Inquiry, which took place in the weeks after the Bloody Sunday killings.
The first person to give evidence to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry was Mr Daniel Gerald Porter on November 28th, 2000. He was followed by 503 civilian, 245 military, 49 media, 39 political, 33 police, 33 paramilitary, seven priest, six forensic and three expert witnesses. Most of them gave their evidence in open court but many, particularly military, police and paramilitary witness, were granted either anonymity or screening.
Among the many high-profile witnesses who gave evidence about the Bloody Sunday killings were Sir Edward Heath, who was prime minister in January 1972, former defence secretary Lord Carrington, Gen Sir Michael Jackson, Chief of the General Staff, who was a captain in the Parachute Regiment on Bloody Sunday, retired Bishop of Derry Dr Edward Daly, former SDLP leader John Hume, DUP leader the Rev Ian Paisley, former Ulster Unionist MP Lord Kilclooney and Sinn Féin MP Martin McGuinness, who, in 1972, was second in command of the Provisional IRA in Derry.
Evidence was also given by relatives of the Bloody Sunday victims and by several of those who were shot on the day. There were also witnesses from the security and intelligence services.
Much of what they had to say was already in the public domain, given the plethora of books, television and radio documentaries and newspaper articles which had been written and broadcast about Bloody Sunday.
From a personal perspective, having covered the inquiry since it started, the evidence of two witnesses stood out in particular - that of civilian Mr Paddy Walsh and that of Soldier F, a paratrooper who, on the day, is alleged to have killed more civilians than any other soldier. Both men are linked to each other by the death of victim Paddy Doherty, whom Mr Walsh prayed over and whom Soldier F admitted he'd shot.
Mr Walsh (68) was witness number 420. He gave his evidence on November 28th, 2001, the 171st day of the hearings. A quiet, shy man, Mr Walsh nervously told his story to a hushed Guildhall chamber. He related how he fled from advancing paratroopers as they opened fire. He threw himself on top of another man to protect him from the gunfire before they both scrambled to safety during a lull in the shooting.
Then Mr Walsh saw Paddy Doherty lying on the ground between Block 2 of the Rossville Flats complex and Joseph Place. The 31-year-old father of six had been shot as he attempted to flee from the paratroopers. Mr Walsh described how, under fire from paratroopers, he crawled out to the dying Mr Doherty.
"I put my hand to his head and lifted him. I could not tell whether he was dead when I lifted him but he didn't move," he said. "I also searched him looking for weapons because I thought that he must be armed or why else would he have been shot? I did not find any," he added.
Mr Walsh then told the inquiry how he whispered a prayer into Mr Doherty's ear. "I also looked for a rosary on him but there was nothing," he said.
"I lifted his head to say a prayer to him. I didn't have my rosary on me that day, it was in my work clothes and I remember being angry about that. I said a prayer over his body. As I was lying there with him I heard the whoosh of bullets going over my head but I did not realise they were bullets at that time," he said.
Mr Walsh was then cross-examined by barrister Mr Peter Clarke QC, who represented many of the Bloody Sunday paratroopers.
"Sir, if I may very briefly join other counsel in saluting you for your courage and compassion," Mr Clarke said at the start of his questioning of the witness.
Soldier F was a lance corporal in the Parachute Regiment who, the inquiry's counsel said, is alleged to have "killed up to four people, possibly even more" and who was also linked to the woundings of two other civilians.
When asked by the inquiry's counsel if he accepted that among his victims was Paddy Doherty, Soldier F replied, "Yes".
He was the 821st witness and he gave his evidence over two days in London's Central Hall on October 1st and 2nd of last year. Initially he told the inquiry that he could not remember "when, where or why" he had fired his SLR rifle and said that on Bloody Sunday, "I was doing my job as a soldier," and that he fired only at identified targets.
Several times during Soldier F's evidence, Lord Saville had to appeal to people in the public gallery to remain quiet. Among those in the gallery were the family of Barney McGuigan, the oldest and the last of the Bloody Sunday victims, who was shot in the head. Their presence was pointed out to Soldier F by the McGuigans' barrister, Michael Mansfield QC.
Several photographs of Mr McGuigan's body were shown to Soldier F before, on probably the most dramatic day of the inquiry, the former soldier admitting killing the 41-year-old father of six. Pressed several times by Mr Mansfield to confirm that he had killed Mr McGuigan, Soldier F repeated that he could not remember.
Members of the victim's family wept when Soldier F suddenly answered "Yes" when asked by Mr Mansfield to "finally accept and recognise" that he had shot Mr McGuigan. The barrister then said that the McGuigan family "are grateful that you have done that".
Soldier F, however, insisted that the man he'd shot was armed with a pistol, although Mr Mansfield said Mr McGuigan was armed "only with a handkerchief".
Challenged by Lord Gifford QC, barrister for another of the Bloody Sunday families, Soldier F disagreed with the barrister's claim that the paratroopers on the day "relished the prospect" of going into the Bogside where, Lord Gifford said, the soldiers "were sent in like a school of piranha fish into a public swimming pool to create mayhem" and that Soldier F "drew blood wherever he went".
At the end of his evidence, Soldier F accepted that the inquiry would have to "consider and determine" whether or not he had killed, in addition to Mr McGuigan and Paddy Doherty, victims Michael Kelly and William McKinney.
The inquiry now enters a new phase. The various legal parties will begin the process of submitting their written submissions. That process will take until June, after which the inquiry's counsel, Mr Christopher Clarke QC, will start his closing submission on October 4th.
Lord Saville and his two Commonwealth colleagues, Judge William Hoyt from Canada and Judge John L. Toohey from Australia, will then retire to consider their findings and conclusions. Their report will be presented to the Northern Secretary ofState in the first half of next year.