Londonderry , Northern Ireland ( CNN ) -- I cut my teeth reporting from Derry during the early days of the `` Troubles '' in Northern Ireland . One thing I remember was the fear -- the fear of the British Army that the Irish people felt , and the fear felt by the British soldiers who came under regular attack by the Irish Republican Army and stone-throwing youths . Another thing I remember was the complete absence of any trust in the government among the mainly Catholic community . Bloody Sunday destroyed all hope that it would be restored anytime soon . On that day , January 30 , 1972 , 14 people were shot dead by British paratroopers . Everyone knew they were unarmed demonstrators protesting against internment without trial of IRA suspects . But the former head of the British Army , Gen. Mike Jackson , drew up a `` shot report '' claiming that those hit , mostly teenagers , were gunmen or bombers . Then English Chief Justice Lord Widgery , after an inquiry in which he ignored the evidence of eyewitnesses , cleared the soldiers of wrongdoing and accused the innocent victims of illegal activities . The outrage was felt across the whole of Ireland and fueled the IRA campaign of attacks on British targets . Bloody Sunday became a defining moment in the fraught history of British-Irish relations . I returned to Derry Tuesday for the result of the Saville inquiry , a new investigation ordered by the British government as part of the peace process , which has already given Northern Ireland a power-sharing government and the disbandment of paramilitary forces . The atmosphere in the hours before the findings were officially disclosed by British Prime Minister David Cameron was emotional and optimistic . Thousands gathered in Guildhall Square in sunshine as relatives of the victims were given an advance look at the report under strict orders to respect a 3:30 p.m. embargo . But four minutes before the deadline , a hand appeared from an aperture in the second-floor stained-glass windows of the century-old building . It was a thumbs-up . Other hands appeared , waving excitedly , as the crowd cheered and cried . Thus did the people of Derry learn that the slur on the mostly young victims and their families had been removed at last . It was not just a vindication of the relatives , who campaigned for 38 years for justice . Martin McGuinness , former commander of the IRA and now co-leader of the power-sharing government , told me he felt it was `` a moment of liberation for all of us . '' As I watched men in their 60s who had marched that day shedding tears of joy , I felt that I was experiencing a moment of closure in the history of the Troubles . A great historical injustice was corrected . It was as if Bloody Sunday and the British prime minister 's apology were bookends to the press 's reporting of the Troubles -- a feeling reinforced by the return of many correspondents from around the world who reported from Derry that day , like Simon Winchester , formerly of the Guardian , to witness the event . Cameron accepted that British soldiers were responsible for `` unjustified and unjustifiable '' deeds and said that the report exonerated the victims of any wrongdoing . In how many countries in the world would this happen ? It is the outcome and climax of a drawing together of the British and Irish governments in the last 20 years to find a joint solution to what seemed to me and everyone else in those dark days of the 1970s to be an insoluble problem . 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 . Many complained it was too lengthy and expensive . But if Widgery had not whitewashed the paratroopers back then , it would never have been necessary . Relations between the two islands are now at their best in history . The spirit of reconciliation has triumphed -- in Northern Ireland , and in relations between Dublin and London , which were ripped asunder by Bloody Sunday and took so many years to repair . There is a lesson here for the whole world . Lies and coverup make problems worse . The truth can mend fences . The families showed that in their first statement after the report . Their spokeswoman , Kay Duddy -- sister of Jackie Duddy , age 17 , the first to be killed that day -- called on the thousands in the square for a minute 's silence for all the victims of the violence of the past 40 years . It was a gesture that will not go unnoticed by the victims of the IRA in Northern Ireland 's Protestant community . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Conor O'Clery .
On `` Bloody Sunday '' in 1972 , 14 protesters shot dead by British soldiers in Northern Ireland . Thirty-eight years later , UK government finds that shootings were unjustified . Conor O'Clery says the Saville report corrected a `` great historical injustice '' O'Clery : `` Lies and coverup make problems worse . The truth can mend fences ''