Concern grows over Bloody Sunday Inquiry
By Ned Kelly
Amid growing concerns about the new Bloody Sunday inquiry, Gerry
Adams has told Tony Blair he must ``remain focused and be prepared
to stand up to those within his own system who are prepared to
perpetuate injustice.''
Relatives fear that the British inquiry team will use arguments
about cost to undermine their entitlement to legal representation
and constrain efforts to engage experts capable of challenging
the British version of events on Bloody Sunday.
Gerry Duddy of the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign told An
Phoblacht that his ``biggest fear is that the inquiry will end up
the same as the Widgery inquiry''. He said he felt the inquiry was
using the cost issue as a ``stalling tactic''.
Since the discredited Widgery inquiry was conducted in the
immediate aftermath of Bloody Sunday many pieces of evidence have
emerged that the 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment was involved in
a premeditated and politically motivated attack.
Relatives of the 28 people killed or wounded on Bloody Sunday are
entitled to 3 legal representatives each, in theory a total of
84. But in Lord Saville's opening statement he asked families
with a ``common concern'' to consider joint legal representation,
and in response to this the families and their legal team agreed
to scale down their representation. They proposed a legal team
consisting of about 20 lawyers, 20% of their entitlement.
But it is now believed that the inquiry team will only allow the
Bloody Sunday campaigners a legal team of one senior counsel, two
junior counsel and one firm of solicitors. This represents minute
resources in comparison to those available to the British
Ministry of Defence and Civil Service, and even less than were
permitted during the original 1972 inquiry when the British
attempted to brand those murdered and wounded as gunmen and
bombers.
Also, in light of the inquiry's announcement last Thursday, when
the inquiry said it intends to postpone public hearings by six
months, until February 1999, due to the overwhelming volume of
evidence, the legal representation on offer to the families can
only be seen as hopelessly inadequate.
The Bloody Sunday relatives hoped that the preliminary hearing
scheduled for 20 July in the Derry Guildhall would address their
concerns. But news of the delay only came to light when the
inquiry team was contacted by the Derry Journal. ``This can only
increase concerns that the inquiry will fail to act openly and
honestly,'' Don Mullan told An Phoblacht.
Mullan, author of Eyewitness Bloody Sunday and press secretary to
the relatives legal team, said, ``not only is the right to engage
our own experts being questioned but the problems about legal
representation should have been decided months ago.''
He said the inquiry was to require the families' legal team to
explain exactly why they may need certain expert witnesses. This,
he suggested, would allow the British to monitor and manipulate
the nature of evidence they were able to gather. ``Given the
background and previous experience of the families these
developments are absolutely disgusting. There is a real belief
that they are by and large emanating from civil servants. And
they are deliberately allowing rows over costs and confusion to
develop.''
With the prospect of the families walking away from the inquiry -
the family of Jim Wray already has - Mullan asked, ``are people
trying to create the conditions where the families will have no
option but to walk away from this inquiry because they have no
confidence in it?''
Mullan has also been in contact with Bertie Ahern the Taoiseach
and the Fine Gael leader, John Bruton about the relatives'
concerns. Mullan said that Bruton described the actions of the
inquiry as ``insulting'' and prompted him to table two questions
for the Dail on Tuesday.
During Tuesday's debate on the issue Ahern said there was ``no
question'' about the need for strong legal representation. He
pledged to support the families and monitor the inquiry but
essentially side-stepped the issue of responsibility for the
rights of Irish citizens living in the Six Counties. While
calling for the legal entitlement to representation for the
relatives to be respected, Bertie Ahern failed to offer any
concrete support. He also confirmed that the Dublin government
would decline the opportunity to seek representation for
themselves at the inquiry.
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