This afternoon, I listened to BBC4 radio broadcast about the reaction to the recently announced further delay in the publication of the findings of the Saville Enquiry. It is now scheduled to be published in the Spring of next year.
It is more than 10 years since the Saville enquiry was launched. Altogether, this enquiry has now cost more than £200 million. It is the longest and most expensive public enquiry in UK (and probably world) political history. It dwarfs the previous record for an enquiry (by Lord Scarman into Sizewell (1987) which took two and a quarter years).
We cant do anything about the cost now. The matter has to run its final course. Let us hope that there will be no more further delays.
It has been argued that Saville misinterpreted his terms of reference. It has been stated that his approach should have been broader and less detailed but would that have achieved closure?
Given the amount of time that the enquiry is taking, one must assume that Lord Saville will leave no stone unturned in the quest for truth and that when the findings of fact finally emerge, they will almost certainly be unchallengeable. If that means that closure will soon follow then in the eyes of many (including my own), it would mean that the money was worth expending.
Filed under: Northern Ireland politics, Saville enquiry, terrorism Tagged: | Bloody Sunday, Northern Ireland politics, Saville enquiry, terrorism
