On ` ` Bloody Sunday '' in 1969 , 14 protesters shot dead by British police in Northern Ireland . The inquiry sat for 434 days and took testimony from 921 witnesses : 505 civilians , 245 soldiers , 33 police officers , nine forensic experts , 34 IRA members , 39 politicians , civil servants and intelligence officers , 49 journalists and seven priests . Twenty - eight years later , UK government finds that shootings were unjustified . ' O'Clery says the Saville Inquiry corrected a ` ` great historical mistake '' O'Clery : ` ` Lies and coverup make problems worse . The truth can mend fences ''
On ` ` Bloody Sunday '' in 1969 , 14 protesters shot dead by British police in Northern Ireland . Twenty - eight years later , UK government finds that shootings were unjustified . ' O'Clery says the Saville Inquiry corrected a ` ` great historical mistake '' O'Clery : ` ` Lies and coverup make problems worse . The truth can mend fences ''