The publication of the Lord Saville Report into the events of Bloody Sunday have been welcomed by local Fianna Fáil TD Margaret Conlon TD

The Report was published this week, some 12 years after an enquiry was set up by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Deputy Conlon, who is a member of the British Irish Interparliamentary Assembly, said that the Report vindicates the 13 civil rights marchers who were killed on that day.

The local TD hopes that the public declaration of their innocence and of the wrong actions of the British Soldiers involved will provide some solace for the families of those killed. “There is no doubt that the events of Bloody Sunday in 1972 marked a very significant point in the history of the Troubles. That innocent people could be shot dead as their marched for their civil rights, and that British Soldiers should then go on to lie about the sequence of events, ensured that this event was the cause of deep anger and resentment amongst the people of Derry and indeed of all Irish people.”

Deputy Conlon welcomed the apology from Prime Minister David Cameron and said she was heartened to hear the reaction by the families in Derry. “The Report’s findings are unequivocal. These people were doing nothing wrong and they should not have been killed. What happened should never have happened. The families of those killed have waited a long time for this report. They deserve this public statement of vindication and I hope that it is a source of solace for them,” concluded Deputy Conlon.