Making peace

He was only five years old when British soldiers shot dead 14 Republican protesters in Londonderry in January 1972. The Prime Minister was not even an MP when Tony Blair set up the Saville Inquiry as part of the Northern Ireland peace process.

Never again can an inquiry be allowed to take so long.

That said, Mr Cameron had to say "sorry" after Lord Saville concluded that the soldiers concerned lost their self-control, fired indiscriminately at the dying – and then fabricated their accounts at the elongated inquiry.

Given the anger in the Prime Minister's voice, and the emotional scenes witnessed in Londonderry, it is going to be very difficult to resist calls for the soldiers concerned to be prosecuted – a move that will be resisted by many supporters of the Armed Forces and Unionist sympathisers in Northern Ireland.

It is why another period of careful reflection is required. Forty years on, it will be almost impossible to obtain a level of proof against individual officers that satisfies the criminal courts.

However, it should also be remembered that the Army suffered horrendous losses – both before and after Bloody Sunday. The tragic events of that solitary day are just one chapter in Northern Ireland's troubled past.

Yet what the peace process has demonstrated is that reconciliation is more important than a sense of vengeance, and that countless Republican atrocities have been

forgiven in recent times as politicians from all sides sought to build a peaceful future in the province.

It is why the response to Saville will be a test of both the Republican leadership, and also the British Government.