Mourners line the streets near St Mary’s Church to watch the funeral procession of the 13 people who died on Bloody Sunday in 1972.

The families of 13 people killed by soldiers in Northern Ireland on Bloody Sunday have been offered $75,000 each in compensation.

Paratroopers opened fire on innocent civil rights marchers in Derry in 1972.

Thirteen others seriously injured have also been offered $75,000 each as part of a total compensation package from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) worth around $1.9m.

Kate Nash, whose brother William was killed and father Alex injured, said: “My brother cannot be replaced and all the money in the world won’t bring him back.”

A solicitor for one of the families said the offer was derisory and an insult to those killed.

There have been months of discussion between lawyers for the MoD and the families’ legal teams.

Her father, Alexander Nash, saw his son William, 19, being shot by members of the Parachute Regiment in the Bogside area on Bloody Sunday on January 30, 1972, and went to help him. He was then shot and wounded himself.

Ms Nash said she was simply interested in accountability and not money. She said: “I became slightly outraged at that. How do they pick out the seriously injured? My father recovered, he was shot through the arm and the side. My father was in a bunker watching his son die. How in terms of compensation could you ever make up for that?”

She added: “My father was not just physically seriously injured, he was mentally seriously injured.” He died in January 1999.

The Saville Report into Bloody Sunday was published in June 2010, prompting Prime Minister David Cameron to apologise to the families and describe the killings as “unjustified and unjustifiable”.

The massive document, which took 12 years to complete at a cost of $291m, was heavily critical of the Army and found that soldiers killed people without justification.

Matt Baggott has said the investigation will need resources. (Pic: PA)

Police are to open a murder inquiry into the Bloody Sunday killings 40 years ago in Northern Ireland.

The probe has not started because the resources are not available for the four-year investigation, senior officers said.

It follows the Saville Inquiry’s report which said civil rights demonstrators shot dead by British soldiers in Derry at the height of The Troubles were innocent.

Chief constable Matt Baggott said: “It is a matter that I think we should be investigating and will be investigating.”

The Police Service of Northern Ireland has consulted prosecution lawyers as it prepares to open a major investigation. That would require a team of 30 and extra specialist help which are not available at present.

Assistant chief constable Drew Harris said: “This will be and is a long and resource-intensive investigation. Sustain it we will, but there are some questions we need to bring to the (policing) board in relation to prioritisation of that and other issues in regard to legacy matters.”

Thirteen people were shot dead when soldiers opened fire on civil rights marchers in Derry on January 30, 1972. Another man died five months later.

A report by Lord Saville unequivocally blamed the Army for one of the most controversial days in Northern Ireland’s history.

Key findings included: No warning had been given to any civilians before the soldiers opened fire; none of the soldiers fired in response to attacks by petrol bombers or stone throwers; some of those killed or injured were clearly fleeing or going to help those injured or dying; andn one of the casualties was posing a threat or doing anything that would justify their shooting;

It also found many of the soldiers lied about their actions; and Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin was present at the time of the violence and “probably armed with a sub-machine gun” but did not engage in “any activity that provided any of the soldiers with any justification for opening fire”.

Relatives of those shot dead on Bloody Sunday, marching in silence in Derry in June 2010 ahead of the release of the Saville report. (Pic: Paul Faith/PA)

The British Ministry of Defence is preparing to pay compensation to relatives of those killed or injured by soldiers on Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland.

Fourteen people died after paratroopers opened fire in January 1972 during a civil rights protest in Derry.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has already apologised to victims and said the shootings were wrong.

An MoD spokesman said: “We acknowledge the pain felt by these families for nearly 40 years, and that members of the armed forces acted wrongly. For that, the Government is deeply sorry.

“We are in contact with the families’ solicitors and where there is a legal liability to pay compensation we will do so.”

Lord Saville drew up a landmark report last year which criticised the Army over the killings.

His panel ruled that the British Army fired first and without provocation.

It found all 14 who died and the others who were injured almost four decades ago had been unarmed and were completely innocent.

The troops had also continued to shoot as the protesters fled or lay fatally wounded on the ground. One father was shot as he went to tend to his injured son, the mammoth 5,000-page report revealed.

:: Unjustifiable

Soldiers later insisted they had only retaliated, in a bid to cover-up the truth, the document – described as “shocking” by Mr Cameron – said.

“We found no instances where it appeared to us that soldiers either were or might have been justified in firing,” it said.

“Despite the contrary evidence given by soldiers, we have concluded that none of them fired in response to attacks or threatened attacks by nail or petrol bombers. No one threw or threatened to throw a nail or petrol bomb at the soldiers on Bloody Sunday.”

Bloody Sunday was one of the worst state acts of the conflict and helped ignite 30 years of violence by the IRA.

Victims have spent years campaigning for justice and the revision of an original probe into the massacre which they branded a whitewash.

The MoD’s move followed the sending of a letter by solicitors for the families to the Prime Minister asking what he was going to do about Bloody Sunday.

He described the killings as unjustified and unjustifiable.

Defining who would be eligible for compensation could be complicated as many immediate family members are dead.

Relatives have already received a small payment from the MoD without it admitting liability many years ago.

The British Public Prosecution Service has been considering the matter.

Relatives of those killed on Bloody Sunday arrive at Government Buildings in Dublin to meet the Taoiseach Brian Cowen and present him with a copy of the long-awaited Saville Inquiry report.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has apologised for what he said were the “unjustified and unjustifiable” events of Bloody Sunday.

He was speaking following the publication of the Saville inquiry report into the killing of 14 civilians in Derry in 1972 which was released on Tuesday.

In a statement, he said the 5,000-page report found that “on balance” British troops fired the first shots during the “tragic events” of January 30, 1972 without issuing a warning.

He told MPs: “The conclusions of this report are absolutely clear. There is no doubt, there is nothing equivocal, there are no ambiguities.”

Mr Cameron told a hushed House of Commons: “Some members of our armed forces acted wrongly. The Government is ultimately responsible for the conduct of our armed forces and for that, on behalf of the Government – and indeed our country – I am deeply sorry.”

The lengthy and massively costly inquiry also concluded that Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness was present at the time of the violence and “probably armed with a submachine gun” but did not engage in “any activity that provided any of the soldiers with any justification for opening fire”.

The soldiers of Support Company who entered the Bogside area of Derry “did so as a result of an order which should have not been given” by their commander, the report said.

The civilians died after troops opened fire on a civil rights march.

While shots were fired by republican paramilitaries, the report says that “none of this firing provided any justification for the shooting of civilian casualties”.

The report also found that “in no case was any warning given before soldiers opened fire”.

There was a “serious and widespread loss of fire discipline” among the troops and that none of the soldiers “fired in response to attacks or threatened attacks by nail or petrol bombs”.

Many of the soldiers “knowingly put forward false accounts in order to seek to justify their firing”.

The findings also disclosed that many of those shot were fleeing the troops or assisting the wounded.

While the report concluded that “immediate responsibility” lay with those members of Support Company who engaged in “unjustifiable firing”, Mr Cameron said that the use of terms such as “murder and unlawful killing” was not a judgment the Saville tribunal – or politicians – could make.

But he acknowledged: “These are shocking conclusions to read and shocking words to have to say.

“We do not honour all those who served with such distinction by keeping the peace and upholding the rule of law in Northern Ireland by hiding from the truth.”

Families of the Bloody Sunday victims gave a triumphant thumbs-up as the report into the deaths was published.

They waved a copy of the report at the Guildhall in Derry as they prepared to listen to Mr Cameron’s assessment.

Crowds watched on a big outdoor screen as the British leader said he could not defend the British army by defending the indefensible.

Meanwhile, the North’s Chief Constable Matt Baggott and Alasdair Fraser, head of the Public Prosecution Service, are to have talks to consider whether any of the paratroopers who opened fire on Bloody Sunday will face criminal charges.

Any decision is solely a matter for the PPS, acting independently in accordance with the Test for Prosecution, according to a statement from Alasdair Fraser’s office in Belfast.

It added: “The Director of Public Prosecutions, together with the Chief Constable, will consider the report to determine the nature and extent of any police inquiries and investigations which may be required to enable informed decisions as to prosecution to be taken.”

The Saville Report’s key findings ::

:: “The firing by soldiers of 1 Para caused the deaths of 13 people and injury to a similar number, none of whom was posing a threat of causing death or serious injury.” This also applied to the 14th victim, who died later from injuries. The report added: “We found no instances where it appeared to us that soldiers either were or might have been justified in firing”.

:: “Despite the contrary evidence given by soldiers, we have concluded that none of them fired in response to attacks or threatened attacks by nail or petrol bombers.” The report added that no one threw, or threatened to throw, nail or petrol bombs at soldiers.

:: The explanations given by soldiers were rejected, with a number said to have “knowingly put forward false accounts”.

:: Members of the so-called Official IRA fired a shot at troops, but missed their target, though crucially it was concluded it was the paratroopers who shot first on Bloody Sunday.

:: The report recounts how some soldiers had their weapons cocked in contravention of guidelines, and that no warnings were issued by Paratroopers who opened fire.

:: Speculation that unknown IRA gunmen had been wounded or killed by troops, and their bodies spirited away, is also dismissed. There was no evidence to support it, and it would surely have come to light, the report said.

:: Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, second in command of the Provisional IRA in Derry in 1972, was “probably armed with a Thompson submachine gun” at one point in the day, and though it is possible he fired the weapon, this cannot be proved. But the report concluded: “He did not engage in any activity that provided any of the soldiers with any justification for opening fire”.

:: Nail bombs had been found in the pockets of 17-year-old Gerald Donaghey, sparking claims they were planted by security forces. The report concludes the nail bombs were “probably” in his possession when he was shot, but adds: “However, we are sure that Gerald Donaghey was not preparing or attempting to throw a nail bomb when he was shot; and we are equally sure that he was not shot because of his possession of nail bombs. He was shot while trying to escape from soldiers”.

:: Lord Saville concluded the commander of land forces in Northern Ireland, Major General Robert Ford, would have been aware that the Parachute Regiment had a reputation for using excessive force. But he would not have believed there was a risk of paratroopers firing unjustifiably.

:: The commanding officer of the paratroopers, Lieutenant Colonel Derek Wilford, disobeyed an order from a superior officer not to enter troops into the nationalist Bogside estate; while Lord Saville found his superior, Brigadier Patrick MacLellan, held no blame for the shootings since if he had known what Col Wilford was intending, he might well have called it off.

:: No blame was placed on the organisers of the march, the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association.

:: Neither the UK nor Northern Ireland governments planned or foresaw the use of unnecessary lethal force.

James Nesbitt and Liam Neeson in a scene from Five Minutes Of Heaven which goes on limited release in Australia in March.

Five Minutes Of Heaven, a hard-hitting new Irish film about the Northern conflict and which had its premier in Sydney last June, will go on limited release in cinemas in Australia from March 18, it has been revealed.

The film’s Irish stars Liam Neeson and James Nesbitt, as well as director Oliver Hirschbiegel, were all in Australia in last June for the premiere which took place as part of the Sydney Film Festival.

And so well was it received at the festival that it went on to win the audience choice award.

An at times emotionally trying tale, the film tells the story of real-life UVF assassin Alistair Little (Neeson) and the attempted reconciliation between himself and Catholic man Joe Griffin, whose older brother was murdered by Little in Lurgan back in 1975.

The story is based on real events, but tells the tale of a reconciliation between the two men which has yet to happen in real life. The inherent message nevertheless remains powerful and uplifting.

The film was extremely well received when it premiered at Sydney’s State Theatre on June 11, after which the Irish Echo caught up with Nesbitt, and director Hirschbiegel, to speak about it.

“The last project I worked on about Northern Ireland before this was Bloody Sunday, which told the story of a defining moment in the Troubles,” Nesbitt explained. “But with the North now emerging from conflict it was a challenge for filmmakers to decide what to do next.

“How can you address the past but still look to the future? This film is about just that. It’s about the notion of reconciliation, and about two individuals in particular.”

Although the script was extremely well received by Hirschbiegel and Nesbitt, it was only when Hollywood star Neeson came on board that the project really got off the ground.

“I’m good friends with Liam – he actually grew up on the same street as my granny and remembers her well – and we had been looking for something to work together on,” Nesbitt added.

“He came on board with this project and it all kind of went from there. When Liam Neeson gets on board with something the funding seems to suddenly arrive!” he laughed.

The story itself is at times heart-breaking. “It certainly isn’t a comedy” admits director Hirschbiegel, who was also responsible for the Oscar-nominated World War II masterpiece Downfall. But it is highly engrossing, and also represents Nesbitt’s finest performance to date in the role of a man broken by his past.

He says the challenge was trying to get into the mindset of Griffin who was tormented by his brother’s murder.

“I investigated the possibility of spending time with Joe and he was up for that. This is a very damaged man – but both of these men have a serious history of damage.

“Joe’s pain is just so much more complicated because one day he was an 11-year-old boy who was loved and literally overnight he was suddenly unloved.

“He was honest and truthful with me, but he was articulate and courageous. These boys didn’t do this film for money, but they were happy to have their story told. I suppose it was a kind of a catharsis for them.

“Joe, I’m happy to say, is now attending counselling for the first time in his life. It’s the beginning of a long road but at least he’s on it now.”

Nesbitt added that while he and Neeson enjoyed the filming process and the time they got to spend together – “they couldn’t keep us apart for the social process!” Nesbitt laughs – the seriousness of the subject matter was something close to both their hearts.

“As much as I’d like to say that I’m an actor who just happens to be Irish, Liam and I both felt that, coming from there, subconsciously you can’t help but have an instinct or even a responsibility to in some way tackle the Troubles in our work.

“You can’t help but bring some part of yourself to every part you play and we haven’t forgotten who we are or where we come from. It really was a privilege to be able to be a part of a project like this.

“Northern Ireland is still only emerging from all this but it’s an incredibly exciting place to be right now.”

by Aaron Dunne