Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for allowing me to come in. I thank Ms Urwin and Ms Cadwallader for their contributions. I have met Ms Urwin many times. She is a Trojan worker. I do not know how she keeps it up because it is a huge task and a demanding one. I have not read Ms Cadwallader’s book yet but I hope to do so soon.

I have been a republican all my life. I have been involved in the republican struggle. Like many republicans I have always believed that there was a British Government agenda, a huge behind-the-scenes influence on the conflict as it unfolded. Living in the South I saw that many people did not fully understand that. I believe the Irish Government and the State were happy enough that people did not get the proper information. In my opinion the Irish Government was aware of much that was going on, that there was a lot of collusion. The Governments during that period were in contact with the British Government and its security services, passing information. The Irish Government has questions to answer about those who were in government at the time. That this was going on has passed under many people’s radar.

People in the nationalist and republican areas knew this was happening but it did not seem to come across and there did not seem to be any big outcry. I happened to be in Dublin on the night of the bombings. I was going to a stag party and got off the bus in North Frederick Street when I heard the explosions. Unfortunately, that remains in my memory. The truth has to come out and there has to be a mechanism found for everybody to speak out.

It does not matter whether a person is republican or loyalist. Whoever was involved in what happened and unfolded, it is better the truth comes out. We have members of families who need to know what happened to their family members. We need to have closure for the many people who have been affected. I hope, in time, whether it is through a truth commission or otherwise, that we will get a full picture across the board of what happened, how things unfolded and what happened to people's family members. That is what I hope to see in the future. I look forward to finding a proper mechanism to do that.