Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said today he would have killed every single British soldier in Derry in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday if he had been able to. The self confessed former IRA man said feelings were running so high in the wake of the killings he would have had no difficulty killing every soldier in the city.

A total of 13 civil rights marchers in the Bogside area of Derry in 1972 were shot dead by paratroopers. A 14th died later from his injuries.

Derry born and raised Mr McGuinness, the Sinn Fein MP and MLA, said the shooting "hardened our attitudes considerably".

Speaking during a wide-ranging interview on RTE - the Irish State radio - he said: "There is no doubt whatsoever that in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday there was a renewed determination to oppose the British army and the RUC."

"If I had had the ability to kill every single British soldier that was on the streets of Derry I would have killed every single one of them without any difficulty whatsoever."

The report of the official inquiry into Bloody Sunday is still nowhere near being ready the British government revealed recently.

What has become the longest running inquiry in UK legal history has run up a bill of £181.2 million (£1 = $1.94) so far, Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward revealed in a Commons written reply earlier this month.