The Bloody Sunday inquiry will be told next week that three former prominent members of the Official IRA in Derry in 1972 are willing to provide a full account of their activities on the day of the killings, it was learned last night.
The men are believed to include the officer commanding the Official IRA in the city at the time and two other men who may fit the descriptions given by several witnesses of civilian gunmen seen at two locations in the Bogside.
One of these is understood to be the man who has become known in inquiry circles as "Father Daly's gunman". He was described in evidence by Bishop Edward Daly last Tuesday, and yesterday another witness told the inquiry he believed he knew this man, but refused to name him.
A lawyer representing the three men is expected on Monday to offer their names to the tribunal and to say they will give an account of where they were and what they did on Bloody Sunday.
The lawyer will ask the tribunal to keep their identities confidential for the moment as they may later wish to apply formally for anonymity on the same basis as it has been provided for soldiers and RUC officers who will give evidence.
It is now believed the men want it to be known that they had already made contact with the tribunal some time ago.
Their solicitor had a meeting with a senior tribunal lawyer some weeks ago to discuss the basis on which they would provide evidence.
This development would represent a significant breakthrough for the new inquiry into the killing of 13 men by British soldiers on January 30th, 1972, and the wounding of at least 14 other people, one of whom died five months later.
Tribunal lawyers are known to have written months ago to at least 40 people in the Derry area who were reputed to have had connections with one or other wing of the IRA in 1972.
They were invited to supply statements to the tribunal but the response is understood to have been very limited - with one or two exceptions.