Collusion raised in Dáil by SF TDs

Following on from the visit of bereaved families and survivors of collusion to Leinster House on 25 March, Sinn Féin TDs on Tuesday combined to raise the issue and to urge the 26-County Government to become pro-active internationally to put pressure on the British Government.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin called on the government to launch "an international initiative to expose the truth of collusion between successive British Governments and their surrogate loyalist paramilitary organisations in the killings of hundreds of people". He pointed to the mandate now given to the government by the Oireachtas Subcommittee on the Barron Report to initiate further investigations into the failure by agencies of the 26-County State to properly investigate the Dublin and Monaghan bombs of May 1974 and to press the British Government to establish a public inquiry into the role of its forces in that atrocity.

When the relatives visited Dublin on 25 March they were met by TDs and Senators from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Green Party and Independents. However, no representatives of the Labour Party or the Progressive Democrats made the effort to meet the relatives. Aengus Ó Snodaigh highlighted this and called for the government to become proactive on the issue of collusion in response to the appeal of bereaved families.

Arthur Morgan highlighted the findings of the Cory Report that clearly indicate that widespread collusion existed between the British Government and loyalist death squads in the killing of Irish citizens North and South of the border over the last 30 years. Seán Crowe pointed to the latest comments from Judge Peter Cory in which he acknowledges that the British Government has failed to live up to clear commitments it made at Weston Park to launch a public inquiry into the death of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane, as recommended in Cory's Report.