Drawing on original research into explosive evidence which had been concealed for twenty-five years, this book offers a devastating critique of the official Widgery Inquiry into the massacre of innocent and unarmed civilians by British soldiers on Bloody Sunday. It exposes the Inquiry as a gross denial of justice and the rule of law. Expert analysis of the subordination of law to security policy in Northern Ireland reveals that the Bloody Sunday experience is an integral part of a sustained pattern. Belated prospects for a restoration of justice and the rule of law are found in the Good Friday Peace Agreement and the unprecedented establishment of a second Tribunal of Inquiry into Bloody Sunday.
'This book is a meticulously researched analysis of a seismic event in Northern Ireland's history and a searing indictment of legal and security policies applied in Northern Ireland in the years which followed. Not everyone will agree with the views expressed, but they are cogently and authoritatively presented. In future studies of the legal system of Northern Ireland there will need to be extensive references to Walsh's arguments.' - Professor Brice Dickson, Chief Commissioner in the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission