Post by Taxigirl on Nov 22, 2004 9:55:51 GMT
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4031241.stm
The Bloody Sunday inquiry has entered its final phase - six years after it began.
Counsel to the inquiry Christopher Clarke QC is giving a brief summary of the evidence in a closing speech expected to last two days.
Lord Saville is investigating the deaths of 14 civilians shot by soldiers during a civil rights march in Londonderry in 1972.
The inquiry has so far cost £130m and the final bill will be around £150m.
The Bloody Sunday inquiry was established in 1998 by Prime Minister Tony Blair after a campaign by families of those killed and injured.
Longest inquiry
Mr Clarke told the tribunal on Monday that in the vast majority of the shootings it was still not clear which soldier shot which civilian.
He also said the tribunal may attach some significance to the fact that the soldiers have not explained most of the shootings of the known dead and wounded in Rossville Street, Glenfada Park and Joseph Place in Londonderry.
Mr Clarke's speech is a brief summary of eight to 10 volumes of written material collated after more than four years of evidence-gathering.
It is intended to constitute an overview of the issues for the tribunal to decide and an indication of a range of conclusions the tribunal might reach.
BBC Ireland correspondent Mark Simpson said the Bloody Sunday inquiry has been "the longest inquiry in UK legal history".
He said Mr Clarke's speech would look at some key questions.
"The questions he'll be addressing include 'why did the Parachute Regiment open fire on the civil rights' march?'
"'Where they fired at first and was there a cover-up about what really happened?'"
He said the final report and its conclusions will not be made public until the summer of next year.
Hundreds of witnesses
More than 900 witnesses have given evidence to the tribunal since Lord Saville of Newdigate and the Commonwealth judges accompanying him on the inquiry began their work in March 2000.
Only when Mr Clarke has finished the closing speech stage of the tribunal will the three inquiry judges sit down to write their report.
The inquiry has heard evidence from leading politicians, including the prime minister at the time, Sir Edward Heath, civilians, policemen, soldiers and IRA members.
The leader of the Official IRA on Bloody Sunday had been due to give evidence on Friday but pulled out through illness.
The Bloody Sunday inquiry has entered its final phase - six years after it began.
Counsel to the inquiry Christopher Clarke QC is giving a brief summary of the evidence in a closing speech expected to last two days.
Lord Saville is investigating the deaths of 14 civilians shot by soldiers during a civil rights march in Londonderry in 1972.
The inquiry has so far cost £130m and the final bill will be around £150m.
The Bloody Sunday inquiry was established in 1998 by Prime Minister Tony Blair after a campaign by families of those killed and injured.
Longest inquiry
Mr Clarke told the tribunal on Monday that in the vast majority of the shootings it was still not clear which soldier shot which civilian.
He also said the tribunal may attach some significance to the fact that the soldiers have not explained most of the shootings of the known dead and wounded in Rossville Street, Glenfada Park and Joseph Place in Londonderry.
Mr Clarke's speech is a brief summary of eight to 10 volumes of written material collated after more than four years of evidence-gathering.
It is intended to constitute an overview of the issues for the tribunal to decide and an indication of a range of conclusions the tribunal might reach.
BBC Ireland correspondent Mark Simpson said the Bloody Sunday inquiry has been "the longest inquiry in UK legal history".
He said Mr Clarke's speech would look at some key questions.
"The questions he'll be addressing include 'why did the Parachute Regiment open fire on the civil rights' march?'
"'Where they fired at first and was there a cover-up about what really happened?'"
He said the final report and its conclusions will not be made public until the summer of next year.
Hundreds of witnesses
More than 900 witnesses have given evidence to the tribunal since Lord Saville of Newdigate and the Commonwealth judges accompanying him on the inquiry began their work in March 2000.
Only when Mr Clarke has finished the closing speech stage of the tribunal will the three inquiry judges sit down to write their report.
The inquiry has heard evidence from leading politicians, including the prime minister at the time, Sir Edward Heath, civilians, policemen, soldiers and IRA members.
The leader of the Official IRA on Bloody Sunday had been due to give evidence on Friday but pulled out through illness.