Saville Report Finds That British Paratroopers Fired First Shots

The First Minister Peter Robinson said the Saville Report should give closure and a sense of justice to the families of the victims after 38 years of waiting.

He said he accepted the conclusions of the report.

The Saville Report which took 12 years to complete at a cost of £195 million ($290 million), is heavily critical of the Army and found that soldiers fired the first shot.

The British government apologised for the army's actions after the publication of the report on Tuesday.

The report concluded that none of the victims were armed, that soldiers gave no warnings before opening fire and that the shootings were a "catastrophe" for the North, leading to increased violence in subsequent years.

The 5,000-page report is based on evidence from 921 witnesses, 2,500 written statements and 60 volumes of written evidence.

Thirteen people died after paratroopers opened fire during a civil rights march in Derry on 30 January 1972. Another person died of his injuries some time later.

Lord Saville's report said now Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness was present on the day and probably armed with a sub-machine gun but did not engage in any activity that caused the soldiers to open fire.

First Minister Peter Robinson said what happened was "wrong" and "unjustified". "After the length of time, the detail that is provided in that report, I think you cannot pick and choose the elements of that report that you accept and those that you do not."

The former Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward suggested there should be what he called "a process of reconciliation and truth recovery" to examine all unresolved killings.

Speaking following the publication of the Saville report, the Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin T.D. said: "Our thoughts today are with the people of Derry, the family, friends and relatives of those killed and those injured. 

"Their perseverance, determination and dedication in the search for the truth has been rewarded today with the clear and unequivocal conclusions of the Saville Inquiry that what happened in Derry on 30 January 1972 was both unjustified and unjustifiable. 

"Today, a great wrong has been corrected and the families have rightly proclaimed the innocence of their loved ones.   

"While we will need to examine the full detail of the report, its principal findings and [the] statement from Prime Minister Cameron, including a clearly stated apology, together underline that we have all turned an important page.

"Now, like the people of Derry, all of us of this island must continue our collective effort to build a shared and better future."