A Flawed Report

Abstract

The extent to which the Widgery Tribunal of Inquiry had achieved the vital and onerous task entrusted to it would be determined by the contents of its report. Would this report satisfy the public that the full facts about Bloody Sunday had been established convincingly? Did it identify those who were culpable, and the extent to which they were culpable, in a manner which would restore public confidence, and the confidence of the nationalist community in particular, in the integrity of government? Alternatively, did it convincingly prove that neither the soldiers nor their masters in the political and security establishments were at fault for the deaths and injuries inflicted that day? If it did expose wrongdoing or failures at any of these levels, did it clear the way for the necessary remedial and/or punitive action to be taken to ensure that justice was not only done but also seen to be done? These are the basic questions which have to be asked in order to determine whether the tribunal was a success.