Reaction in Britain to news of the inquiry was broadly positive. Mrs Rita Restorick, whose son Stephen was serving in the British army when he was murdered by an IRA sniper last February, said it was long overdue. Provided it was independent, she thought the nationalist community in Northern Ireland would be happy with it.
Mr Enda Finlay, one of the organisers of last week's Bloody Sunday March in London, questioned the inquiry's capacity to find the truth.
"It depends on the parameters of the inquiry and how widely or narrowly they are set. That's the real test of the inquiry."
He added that appointing two members of the tribunal from the Commonwealth would go some way to ensure its independence.
A Tory MP, Mr Gerald Howarth, whose Aldershot constituency includes the home base of the Parachute Regiment, said the inquiry could jeopardise counter-terrorist operations in the North. Frontline soldiers might feel they did not have the politicians' support. "These tragic events belong in the past - not my words, those of your predecessor, Lord Callaghan," he told the Prime Minister, Mr Blair.