IRA urged to address inquiry

Dr Edward Daly with Bloody Sunday victim Jack Duddy

Members of the Provisional IRA have been urged to give evidence about Bloody Sunday to the Saville Inquiry.

The call has come from journalist and author, Eamon McCann, on the second day of his evidence to the inquiry.

Headed by Lord Saville, the inquiry was established to examine the events of 30 January 1972.

Thirteen Catholic men were shot dead by British soldiers during a civil rights march in the city that day. A 14th person died later.

Mr McCann said the view of the victims' families was that as long as the IRA did not give evidence they were, in effect, polluting the truth about Bloody Sunday, by not clearing up what they had done.

He said it was difficult for members and former members of the IRA to give evidence because they were sworn to secrecy.

However, he urged the IRA army council to release them from that oath to allow them to give evidence.

Meanwhile, counsel to the inquiry Christopher Clarke QC has been accused of effectively blowing the cover of Official IRA men seeking anonymity to testify at the hearings.

It was made by barrister Richard Harvey, who also alleged the previous day's events at the inquiry could have a "chilling effect" on efforts to draw out other potential IRA witnesses.

His comments came after Mr Clarke had questioned Mr McCann about three men named in his book War And An Irish Town.

In it, it was alleged, that they had become members of the Official IRA - the forerunner to the Provisional IRA.

Anonymity concerns

Mr Clarke said it appeared two of them were people who had made an application for anonymity to the tribunal.

Mr Harvey said: "In doing so, in our submission, he has effectively made pointless any application for anonymity by those two individuals.

"Any person who wishes to establish their identities has only to read Mr McCann's book and he will have a two out of three chance of guessing correctly."

Earlier, the inquiry chairman announced the tribunal would not be seeking from Mr McCann the names of those who might have been involved with the IRA on Bloody Sunday "for the time being".

Lord Saville cited concerns about prejudicing "genuine claims for anonymity".

Mr McCann has refused to identify IRA men in either the Official or Provisional wings - and only said he no longer believed Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness was the commander of the Provisionals on Bloody Sunday.