Bloody Sunday Inquiry Northern Ireland in 1972 and that while there should be no attempt to justify the killing of civilians by British paratroopers, senior defence officials emphasised that the events of Bloody Sunday were "a tragedy which belonged to another era" and should not reflect badly on the present day's armed forces. The Bloody Sunday Inquiry has generated controversy due to its prolonged nature, mounting costs and questions regarding its relevance. Some like Peter Oborne have labelled the inquiry a "shambles", estimating its final cost at "more than £200 million". He has suggested that while "Most people... accept that in Northern Ireland
Sunday Bloody Sunday and machine-gun drumming [is] crisscrossed by skipping violin." Denise Sullivan commented for "Allmusic" that Mullen's opening drumwork "helps set the tone for the unforgiving, take-no-prisoners feel of the song, as well as for the rest of the album." In 2010, "Rolling Stone" ranked "Sunday Bloody Sunday" 272nd on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time." In 2006, "Q" named "Sunday Bloody Sunday" the 18th-greatest song of the 1980s. The staff of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame selected "Sunday Bloody Sunday" as one of 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. The "New Statesman" listed it