Families of those who died on Bloody Sunday welcomed today’s announcement that the long-awaited findings of the Saville inquiry into the British army killings will be published next month.
Relatives expressed hope the inquiry, the longest and most expensive state funded investigation in British history, will finally deliver the truth about what happened in Derry on January 30th, 1972.
Thirteen people died on the day, and another man six months later, when soldiers from the Parachute Regiment opened fire on crowds during a civil rights demonstration.
John Kelly, whose 17-year-old brother Michael was killed, said family members were delighted the report would be made public on June 15th.
"At long last we have a date after all the delays," he said. "It will be a massive day, not only for the families but for the whole of Derry. A lot of people were there that day and lived through it and this is very important to them too."
The Saville Tribunal was ordered by then prime minister Tony Blair in 1998 after a long campaign by the families.
They claimed the original inquiry into the incident, carried out by then UK Lord Chief Justice Lord Widgery, was a whitewash.
The Widgery Report, which was compiled in the months after the shootings, exonerated the soldiers and speculated that a number of the dead had been either firing at or nailbombing the army.
The allegations have always been vehemently denied by the relatives and many other eyewitnesses, who insisted the dead were unarmed.
Mr Kelly (61), said he was confident Lord Saville's findings would include a full declaration of innocence for the dead. "Hopefully it will bring some element of closure, but depends on what he says," he said. "Lord Saville holds the future for all of us in what he says in that report."
He said he was not after an apology from the state. "An apology has never come into it, we just want the government to acknowledge that government murder was carried out on the streets of Derry that day."
Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson announced the publication date in a written statement to the House of Commons. He also confirmed that families of those who were killed and the soldiers themselves would see the report in advance.
"I know that publication of this report has been long-awaited by many people, and I am determined to ensure that the arrangements for publication are fair to all those involved," said Mr Paterson.
Prime minister David Cameron will make a statement to the House of Commons as the report is made public.
Lord Saville's inquiry heard evidence in the Guild Hall in Derry and in London between 2000 and 2005. Relatives will again gather in the Guild Hall for its publication.
One of the more than 2,500 witness testimonies taken by the tribunal was from current Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, who was an IRA commander in Derry at the time of Bloody Sunday.
The Sinn Féin MP welcomed the publication announcement.
"The families of those murdered on Bloody Sunday have fought a long and difficult campaign for the truth about the events in Derry 38 years ago," he said. "The lies of Widgery need to be exposed and buried and the truth of what happened when the British Parachute Regiment came to Derry and murdered 14 people on our streets needs to be told."
Former SDLP leader Mark Durkan, who is MP for Foyle, urged those who have been critical of the inquiry process and its cost to bear in mind the feelings of the families ahead of the publication.
"As those most affected cope with the mixed emotions of the next few weeks politicians should spare them partisan speculation about the report and insensitive denigration of the inquiry process," he said.
"The Saville report will not just be of great import to the families of the dead and injured on Bloody Sunday but also for the whole city of Derry and the wider country."
PA