A security force cover-up of a loyalist pub bombing that killed 15 people in 1971 is to be raised at Westminster tomorrow.
Northern Ireland Secretary of State Shaun Woodward has already apologised in a letter to Scottish MP Michael Connarty whose great uncle was killed in the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) attack on McGurk's bar in north Belfast.
Investigators from the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) probing cases from the Troubles discovered British military officials at the time falsely claimed the explosion was an IRA `own-goal.'
Speaking ahead of Commons discussion, Mr Woodward said his apology reflected his concern for all those who died in the Troubles.
'The tragedy of the Troubles is that any of those people died and one of the things that politicians have to get much better at is actually taking on their responsibility as a Secretary of state and saying, I'm sorry.
'Michael [Connarty] has a relative who was in that bar. I am sorry his relative died.
'I am sorry for the extraordinary additional pain they suffered from the descriptions at the time of who was behind the bomb.'
Two children and three women were among those killed in the bomb attack, which came without warning.
Eye-witness evidence pointed to loyalist involvement, but the British Army claimed the blast was caused when an IRA bomb being prepared in the pub exploded prematurely.
The accusation angered bereaved families, who have campaigned for decades to clear the names of those killed.
Documents recently emerged to show that military advisers told politicians the bomb was in the hands of one of the customers and urged them to make this public.
But the HET dismissed the Army comments from the time: 'It was an irresponsible and inaccurate piece, which could not be based on facts but instead reflected a desired outcome.'
Seven years after the attack a member of the UVF received 15 life sentences after he was convicted for the bombing.
It is understood the government does not see Mr Woodward's comments as being linked to wider talks between Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) on the future of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
However, his apology forms part of continuing efforts to deal with the legacy of violence.
