I was in the House of Commons on 1 February 1972 when defence minister Lord Balniel said of the Bloody Sunday massacre: "In each case, soldiers fired aimed shots at men identified as gunmen or bombers ... in self-defence or in defence of their comrades who were threatened. I reject entirely the suggestion that they fired indiscriminately or that they fired into a peaceful and innocent crowd."
Thirty-eight years and £191m later, Lord Saville has stated:
"The firing by soldiers of 1 Para on Bloody Sunday caused the deaths of 13 people and injury to a similar number, none of whom was posing a threat of causing death or serious injury. What happened on Bloody Sunday strengthened the Provisional IRA, increased nationalist resentment and hostility towards the army, and exacerbated the violent conflict of the years that followed. Bloody Sunday was a tragedy for the bereaved and the wounded, and a catastrophe for the people of Northern Ireland."
David Cameron has said the killings were "unjustified and unjustifiable". There will be no more such inquiries.
Yet there is an ongoing, articulated need for the investigation of so many of the unsolved and of some of the "solved" atrocities of the Troubles.
The revelation that the then attorney general had stated that soldiers would not be prosecuted in respect of incidents that occurred while they were on duty; the fact that deaths and serious injuries caused by soldiers were effectively investigated only by the military for years (with no obvious outcome); the cover-up of the Bloody Sunday events; and the bizarre events surrounding the Stalker-Sampson inquiries all encouraged the suspicion that the state would not be accountable for the actions of its agents. The activities of paramilitaries, both loyalist and republican, have in many cases not been properly dealt with.
Many argue for closure in these issues, saying, we need to move on. However, international experience tells us that closing down does not necessarily bring closure. Nor does the adoption of a Widgery approach.
Sentences for pre-Good Friday agreement Troubles crimes cannot exceed two years. A number of pardons have been granted. Investigation leading to prosecution may not be possible, because of lost evidence, dead witnesses, and various interventions over the years. That may well be the case in the Bloody Sunday killings. The prosecution of each Troubles case should be considered on its merits, as other cases are.
As police ombudsman, I investigated many complaints where I found serious wrongdoing by police officers, often acting in conjunction with paramilitaries, both loyalist and republican. The Police Service of Northern Ireland's historical inquiries team is concurrently investigating deaths in which the alleged perpetrators were either soldiers or (paramilitary) civilians. Many cases still await coroners' inquests.
After Saville, there will inevitably be calls for further inquiries, for instance into the case of the 11 people who were shot dead by the Paras in Ballymurphy in 1971. What is now essential is the creation of a single, impartial, independent investigation office to deal with all the outstanding cases of the past. Properly funded and empowered for whatever period is necessary, working with full governmental co-operation, it could, in a much more cost-effective manner, deal with such cases. As Maya Angelou said: "History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived; however, if faced with courage, need not be lived again."
Nuala O'Loan, first police ombudsman between 1999 and 2007.