The British Prime Minister had to "make a very substantial move forward himself" to conclude that a fresh inquiry should be initiated into Bloody Sunday, the Taoiseach has said.
Warmly commending Mr Tony Blair for his announcement in the House of Commons yesterday, Mr Ahern repeatedly told a press conference in Government Buildings that he wished to acknowledge what the Prime Minister had done.
"I know . . . that the British Prime Minister had to make what I consider a very substantial move forward himself - based on his judgment. He has done that," Mr Ahern said. While the details of the inquiry's membership were not known, he would "certainly be more than happy" to accept the chairman, Lord Saville, as someone who would do an "excellent job".
He added: "I am totally confident that this [inquiry] is what we sought, that it is independent, that it is judicial and that matters that we need to discuss can be settled very amicably. "The new tribunal is set up to get at the truth, hopefully free from any kind of motives other than getting at the truth . . . Hopefully what we are going to see is a successful exercise at getting to the truth. That is all we sought," he said.
Expressing confidence that the new inquiry's report would establish why events of January 30th, 1972, happened, Mr Ahern said he was not too sure of Lord Widgery's motives but had argued all his political life that it had come to a "flawed conclusion". Refusing to place the new inquiry in the context of the talks process, Mr Ahern said that, even if the Troubles had ended after Bloody Sunday, people would still have demanded the truth. This tribunal was sought because "people disbelieved entirely the conclusions of Lord Widgery's report".
He said the last government's assessment of Bloody Sunday was deeply comprehensive and the officials behind it had done "a first-class job".
The Taoiseach confirmed that he had continued to raise with Sinn Fein the issue of people who were abducted by the IRA and never seen again. These were among the most "appalling" acts of the Troubles and he believed those to whom he had spoken were "listening".
The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, said the Irish government report, sent by him to the British government last year before he left office, had proven "very persuasive". He wrote to Mr Blair at the time, making it clear that what was at issue was the action of the forces of a democratic government. Bloody Sunday was "in a different category to other terrible events in Northern Ireland", he said. Expressing the hope that others "not associated with Government" would follow the courage of the Prime Minister and the Conservative leader, Mr William Hague, he said paramilitary organisations should accept the necessity that they must make amends to their victims.
The two governments, particularly the British, had shown the moral courage to face up to the past and "I hope paramilitaries will follow".
According to the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, the inquiry decision was recognition of the serious questions raised about the accuracy of the original report into the events in Derry 26 years ago.
Labour party leader Mr Ruairi Quinn said the decision "will go some way to building confidence in the peace process". He joined the Taoiseach and the Fine Gael leader in calling on those responsible for other deaths in Northern Ireland to follow the British government's example. In particular, the families of those people described as the "disappeared" should have the same rights accorded to them as the relatives of the Bloody Sunday victims.
The Democratic Left leader, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, said the British government move was "a genuine attempt to establish the truth". The Widgery Tribunal was "an affront to justice and truth".
Sinn Fein TD Mr Caoimhghin O Caolain said the Government's report was "a damning indictment", not only of the Widgery Tribunal, but of successive governments who stood by that "whitewash".