The Saville Inquiry report into the Bloody Sunday killings in Northern Ireland is expected in December.
More than four years after hearings closed, authoritative sources close to the investigation confirmed the report should be presented to the Government by Christmas.
The inquiry was established in 1998 by then prime minister Tony Blair to re-examine the events of January 30 1972, when British soldiers shot dead 14 people attending a civil rights march in Derry.
Costing nearly £200 million, it was the most expensive inquiry in British legal history and lasted for five years, with the first witness heard in November 2000 and the last in January 2005.
The tribunal was chaired by Lord Saville of Newdigate, alongside two other judges from Australia and Canada.
There were 2,500 witness statements, of whom 922 were called to give direct evidence.
There were also 160 volumes of evidence, containing an estimated 20-30 million words, plus 121 audio tapes and 110 videotapes.
Eamonn McCann, Bloody Sunday Trust chairman, welcomed the news.
"It has been a long, long wait. If, as it would appear, we are getting fairly definite dates after half a dozen false alarms then I know the families will be pleased," he said.
He said most of the mothers and fathers of the victims had died before seeing publication of the report.
"There will be a lot of relief but some apprehension as to what the report might contain but this is welcome news," he added.
PA