Criticism leads to meeting talks

Mr Wray said the Guildhall would have been more suitable

Discussions are to be held about the possibility of holding two public reconciliation meetings in Londonderry.

This is after some relatives of nationalist victims said they would not travel to the city's mainly Protestant Waterside.

The Consultative Group on the Past is currently holding a series of public meetings across Northern Ireland.

Liam Wray, whose brother was killed on Bloody Sunday, said objections to the venue were not sectarian.

"It's a matter of people feeling comfortable to express their views in what they perceive to be a safe environment," he said .

Mr Wray said the "shortsighted" organisers had underestimated the depth of feeling among some victims' families.

"The Guildhall in the city centre would have been ideal, people feel it is a neutral venue," he said.

Benefit

Denis Bradley, the Co-Chairman of the Consultative Group on the Past, said the important thing is that people benefit from the meetings.

"This is not a nationalist/unionist dispute, this is a very historic, rooted in history dispute which we need to find our way through," he said.

"And we are finding our way through it, we are getting our way out of it, it is getting better. The great experience of doing this consultation is the amount of healing that's actually happening."

Lord Eames and Denis Bradley co-chair the group

Protestant community worker Michelle Hayden acknowledged that a venue in Derry's Waterside could be difficult for some nationalist victims.

"I think there's a lot of history within both communities where people do not feel either able or willing to make that journey, especially if it is near where a loved one died or was badly injured," she said.

"It can bring about a lot of memories and they're not willing to do that."

A suggestion last week that it may ask the British government to say it fought a war against the IRA sparked anger.

However, both Denis Bradley and co-chair Lord Eames have emphasised no decisions have yet been taken.