Call for Dublin-Monaghan bombing files to be released
Posted By: May 17, 2015
Luke Holohan @Luke_UTV. Ulster TV. 16 MAY 2015
British government files on the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings should be opened up to an independent judiciary figure – according to political parties Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil.
A ceremony was attended by relatives of the bombing victims on Saturday to mark the 41st anniversary of what has been described as one of the darkest days of the Troubles.
Wreaths were laid on Dublin’s Talbot Street, the scene of one of the bomb blasts.
34 people were killed – including an unborn baby – and 300 injured when three car bombs in Dublin city centre and another in Monaghan town exploded on the 17 May, 1974.
To date no one has ever been prosecuted over the cross-border bombings, although the UVF did claim responsibility for it in 1993.
Campaign group Justice for the Forgotten have been pursuing the British government over the years in order to gain access to classified files.
They say there are serious questions over the “complicity of British state forces in Northern Ireland in the bombings”.
“Without co-operation from the British government enabling us to access vital information, the question of who was culpable for so many murders remains, and will remain, unanswered,” note the organisation on their website.
At the commemoration, Sinn Féin TD Seán Crowe commended Justice for the Forgotten for their work in seeking the truth behind the attack.
“We know that the Dublin and Monaghan bombings were carried out by loyalists with logistical and technical support from British security personnel,” he said.
“The no warning bombs resulted in the highest amount of deaths and casualties in the conflict and yet no one has been brought to justice.
“The British government maintains its public position of denial and continues to refuse to release any files or information they have on these brutal bombings.”
Mr Crowe added: “On this the 41st anniversary of the death and carnage that visited Dublin and Monaghan, I again call on the British government to release these files and to assist the families in assuring that justice is pursued and delivered.”
Fianna Faíl leader Micheál Martin said the anniversary provided a chance for the new Conservative government to take action.
“Releasing all files pertaining to the Dublin Monaghan bombings will help the victims and relatives of those who lost their lives to find the justice that has eluded them for decades.”
He added: “Releasing these files to an independent judicial figure is the fairest way to deal with this legacy issue.”
