Bloody Sunday Inquiry - Reactions To Publication

Reactions To Publication

Prime Minister David Cameron, addressing the House of Commons after the publication of the report on 15 June 2010, described what British soldiers had done as "both unjustified and unjustifiable, it was wrong". He acknowledged that all those who died were unarmed when they were killed by British soldiers and that a British soldier had fired the first shot at civilians. He also said that this was not a premeditated action, though "there was no point in trying to soften or equivocate" as "what happened should never, ever have happened". Cameron then apologised on behalf of the British Government by saying he was "deeply sorry".

Relatives of the civilians who were fatally shot by the British soldiers gave a "thumbs up" to the crowd which gathered outside the Guildhall to hear the conclusions of the report and to listen to Cameron's apology on behalf of the British government. Crowds of people applauded upon hearing Cameron's apology broadcast on a giant screen which had been reerected in the city. The New York Times called it "an extraordinary apology". Historian Paul Bew, Baron Bew, writing in The Daily Telegraph, summed up the length of the inquiry as follows: "It is astonishing to think that when the tribunal, chaired by Lord Saville, began its work in 1998, David Cameron was not even in Parliament. Now, 38 years after the event itself, Bloody Sunday has come back to haunt another British prime minister".

The Daily Mail stated that Cameron's apology was following an example set by Labour of "sealing off nagging historic disputes by saying sorry". The Belfast Telegraph quoted Labour MP Harriet Harman as saying that the report spoke for itself, but that given its length, many groups regrettably would likely be spurred to, and be able to, identify enough in the report to justify a predictable "flogging of traditional hobby horses".