THE Fianna Fail leader urged the Government to call in the British ambassador and demand a new inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday in Derry.
Mr Bertie Ahern said this should be done because of the new revelations about the incident, which led to the "deaths of 13 innocent men by the British forces".
Mr Bruton said he had previously told the House he believed the Government should, and would, take the matter up with the British authorities. This had already been done and, furthermore, the matter would be raised by the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, at the Anglo Irish Conference within the next seven days.
Ms Mairin Quill (PD, Cork North Central) said that in view of the substantial new evidence, and the fact that the findings of the Widgery inquiry were totally discredited, the Taoiseach should take the matter up at prime ministerial level. She asked if the Government was prepared to make available material from its own archives to any new inquiry.
Mr Bruton said he was not in government at the time and he would have to take into account the views of those who were, but he believed there was no reason why any information of substance, which might be available, should not be given to any subsequent inquiry.
He said he was very conscious of the issue and of the appalling effect Bloody Sunday had on public opinion and of the scars that remained to this day in the minds and hearts of many of the families affected.
Mr Ahern said he agreed with the Taoiseach. He asked that Mr Bruton give a commitment to the House that if the Tanaiste was not successful, although he hoped that he would be, the Government would proceed on the matter with the support of the Dail to the European Court of Human Rights.
Mr Bruton said he would not make a decision of that nature in the context of the kind of hypothetical question posed by Mr Ahern.
The matter was later raised on the adjournment by the Fianna Fail spokesman on foreign affairs, Mr Ray Burke, and Mr David Andrews (FF, Dun Laoghaire).
The Minister for Finance, Mr Quinn, replying for the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, said the Widgery tribunal was never considered satisfactory either by those who were there or by the Government.
The demand for a new inquiry had been strengthened by the reevaluation of the significance of the eyewitness statements and other findings contained in Mr Don Mullan's book (Eyewitness Bloody Sunday).