Release Dublin & Monaghan bombings files, Irish Foreign Minister and Shankill bomb victim say

IRELAND'S Foreign Affairs Minister, the Mayors of Dublin and Monaghan and Alan McBride (who lost his wife in the IRA Shankill bomb attack in 1993) all united on the 42nd anniversary of the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings in a call for the British Government to release all the original files and documents it holds in relation to the bombings.

They made their joint call at a ceremony in Dublin City Centre at the monument in Talbot Street to the 34 people who lost their lives when three no-warning car bombs exploded in Dublin and a fourth caused devastation in Monaghan on 17 May 1974. The dead included a pregnant woman and her baby.

It is the greatest loss of life on a single day of the conflict. Although the wave of attacks was eventually claimed by the unionist Ulster Volunteer Force, the deep involvement of the British Army and British Intelligence, who were running agents and informers within the ranks of the UVF and other unionist organisations, is widely believed.

A report in 2003 by former Irish Supreme Court judge Henry Barron found grounds for suspecting the bombers may have had help from members of the British military, intelligence and security forces.

President Michael D. Higgins has called for the British Government to open its files, as has the Dáil in two cross-party motions passed by TDs in the Irish Parliament. Dublin Sinn Féin TD Seán Crowe tabled a new motion on the 42nd anniversary of the bombings reinforcing this view.

In a ceremony organised on Tuesday by the campaign group Justice for the Forgotten, the Mayors of Dublin and Monaghan, Críona Ní Dhálaigh and Noel Keelan, laid wreaths, as did Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan on behalf of the Irish Government.

Relatives of the dead and injured also presented floral tributes in memory of their loved ones.

● Rock band U2, who have highlighted the campaign on their world tours, also sent a wreath.

Alan McBride, now Co-ordinator of the WAVE Trauma Centre in Belfast, gave the main address.

Noting recent killings in the Belfast in which relatives have called for explanations, Alan opened by declaring that, in terms of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings:

“You guys also deserve truth and justice.”

Alan pointed out that the UN Special Rapporteur on Truth Recovery, Pablo De Greiff, was in Belfast as the Dublin and Monaghan commemoration was taking place. Alan recalled that when he had met the UN specialist on his previous visit to Belfast the international observer wondered how, given the relative wealth and resources of the British state and the scale of the conflict in Ireland, the issues of truth and justice had not been resolved. “The question of dealing with the past really should be a no-brainer and sorted a long-long time ago,” Alan and the UN Special Rapporteur concurred.

“Of course,” Alan continued, “I don't need to tell you people that the question of dealing with the past in Northern Ireland is not really about money but it comes down really to political will.

“There has always been an obstacle or a barrier, sometimes raised by republicans, sometimes raised by unionists and, at the moment, they seem to be raised by the British Government in relation to national security.”

He said that while there are “vested interests” who do not want to see the truth about the past emerge, the most important vested interests that need to hear the truth are the families of the victims of the conflict.

● Alan McBride speaks at the Dublin and Monaghan bombings commemoration

Alan said that he understands that “it is never going to be a pure justice or a pure truth” but:

“I think it is up to all of us to make sure that whatever it is that we can put in place, it has to work for the greater number of people.”

He said he had been “reliably informed” that political leaders had come very close to putting in place a truth and justice mechanism during the Stormont House Agreement. He renewed his appeal to all politicians – republican and unionist, Irish and British – that collectively we find a way that deals with all of the hurts of the past.

“The families need truth; the families need justice; they need support. This is not going to go away.”

Alan McBride concluded:

“I would like to encourage the people of Dublin and Monaghan today, on the 42nd anniversary of the bombings – to continue to find your voice; to continue to call for truth and justice; to continue to call on the British state to release whatever documents need to be released.”

◼︎ In his address, Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan said the new Irish Government – like its predecessors – wanted the British state to open all its files on the attacks.

“The Government will continue to actively pursue this objective, and we have made it a commitment in the new Programme for Government,” he said.

● Monaghan Mayor Noel Keelan lays a wreath