Marchers remember the victims of Bloody Sunday as they walk to David Cameron's presentation in Derry

Today in Derrry, Northern Ireland, British PM David Cameron apologized for the “Bloody Sunday” attacks of British Paratroopers on January 30, 1972. The attacks killed 13 civilians who had been marching in a civil rights demonstration, and were among the primary catalysts in the subsequent decardes of violence in Northern Ireland often called “the Troubles.”

Cameron’s apology comes with the completion and publication of the Saville Inquiry, a 12 year investigation into the 1972 confrontation that cost the UK £190.3 million and involved over 2500 individuals giving testimony. The document was released today simultaneously in Dublin and London.

As the BBC reports,

Mr Cameron also apologised for the events of January 30th, 1972, which left 14 people dead. “The Government is ultimately responsible for the conduct of the armed forces,” he said. “And for that, on behalf of the Government, indeed on behalf of our country, I am deeply sorry.”

Mr. Cameron’s unequivocal apology marks a major milestone in the struggle for peace in Northern Ireland. For many Ulster Nationalists, such a move from the PM marks a major shift in the British Government’s approach to issues in Northern Ireland. Moreover, the Saville Inquiry’s completion overturns a former inquiry (led by Lord Widgery) that largely exonerated the Paratroopers and angered/alienated many Irish Catholics in Ulster whose 1972 march was motivated by concerns of inequal treatment in the governance of Northern Ireland.

But, even as this new inquiry heals rifts in the communal memory of the Bogside and Derry, it has also alienated some Unionists for re-writing the history of the Troubles and highlighting some victims over others.

As the Irish Times reports,

Unionists have claimed that the inquiry was responsible for creating a hierarchy of victims.  “Saville addresses one set of victims, those who lost loved ones on 30th January 1972. The pain and grief of other families will wrongly be largely ignored,” Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey said.

And yet, even the act of reopening and re-examining this controversial event represents new hope that reconsidering history can help heal a fragile present.