Just weeks to wait

THE Saville Inquiry’s much awaited conclusion will soon be upon us. Secretary of State, Shaun Woodward said this week that when he receives the inquiry report on 22 March, he’ll publish it within two weeks.

So, after beginning in 1998 – yes last century – the long and arduous journey will be over.

Will relatives of those dead and injured on Bloody Sunday receive closure? Who knows?

Will there finally be a definitive account of that tragic day? Who knows?

What can be said with certainty is that solicitors and barristers will be shedding a silent tear for the end of the cash cow that so many suckled upon.

And, given the timescales, the inquiry report may yet end up on the shelf. If Shaun Woodward takes two weeks to look at the report, and one factors in the Easter Break, it will be close to the time that Prime Minister Gordon Brown asks the Queen to dissolve Parliament.

That means the inquiry report will languish until new MPs take their seats. And at best, in this scenario it could be a new Government that will be faced with handling the inquiry report launch.

Should it be a hung Parliament, the wait could be even longer – one can only hope that it will see the light of day eventually!