The Soothing Word of Sorry

'What happened on Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and unjustifiable. It was wrong,' PM David Cameron told the House of Commons on Tuesday. In Britain, the long awaited Saville report (12 years, the inquiry was initiated and chaired by lord Saville in 1998) with the findings after British paratroopers opened fire killing 13 civilians during a civil rights march - the event widely known as Bloody Sunday on 30th January 1972 in Londonderry in Northern Ireland. The event fueled the violent methods adopted by Northern Ireland and troubled the political debates with Sinn Fein. The public apology is historic, and must have been hard for a unionist Conservative to express. But necessary for the peace of mind of the relatives of the victims, and for easing relations between Northern Ireland and England. This is the paradox of the soothing word of 'Sorry'.

For further information, please see:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jun/15/bloody-sunday-report-saville-inquiry
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/northern_ireland/10291990.stm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Sunday_(1972)