Dublin and Monaghan collusion
Court to probe claims of collusion in 1974 bombings
Sean O’Neill
31 May 2005
The European Court of Human Rights will examine claims that British agents collaborated with loyalist terrorists in carrying out the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.
The Strasbourg court has told relatives of 33 people who died in the 1974 blasts that it will begin an examination of the allegations next month.
The campaign group, Justice for the Forgotten, has alleged that Britain has withheld information from Irish inquiries into the bombings because it does not want to reveal the extent of collusion between RUC and army intelligence and loyalist gangs. The court’s intervention coincides with a new commission of investigation set up by the Government and led by Patrick MacEntee, SC.
Three car bombs exploded without warning in Dublin and a fourth in Monaghan on May 17, 1974, killing 33 civilians and an unborn child and injuring 258 people. The bombings were carried out by a unit of the Ulster Volunteer Force, known to have been penetrated by the security forces’ intelligence agents.
The cars had been stolen in the North and the bombs assembled there. The identities of some of the perpetrators were known to police on both sides of the border, but no one was charged.
In 1999 the Irish Government set up an inquiry, led by Mr Justice Henry Barron. He made an official request to the Northern Ireland Office for security files relevant to the incidents.
In his report, the judge said delays in getting information from Belfast were “excessive”. The NIO said it had to examine 68,000 files, while “millions” of British Ministry of Defence files might have to be looked at.
Margaret Urwin, of Justice for the Forgotten, said a joint British-Irish inquiry was the only way to get to the truth of what happened.
