Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join other members in welcoming Ms Urwin and Mr. Brecknell and compliment them on their ongoing work. We have had considerable engagement over the years, particularly with Ms Urwin and more latterly with Mr. Brecknell and their work is very important. Three Dáil motions were passed unanimously in 2008, 2011 and 2016 calling on the British Government to provide an independent international judicial person with access to all papers and files pertaining to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974. Importantly, those motions also requested access to the papers relating to the Dublin bombings of 1972 and 1973, the bombing of Kay's Tavern in Dundalk and the murder of Seamus Ludlow outside Dundalk.

In her initial comments, Ms Urwin mentioned that people are getting older and sadly family members have been passing away. I take the opportunity to pass on to the Ludlow family my sincere sympathy on the recent passing of Kevin, a brother of Seamus. I had many conversations with Kevin over the years and it was always a matter of serious grief to him and other family members that they never got the truth about the murder of their beloved brother. The age profile of the individuals who have not seen truth or justice in respect of the heinous crimes inflicted on their family members is a matter of serious concern to us all.

It is deplorable that the British Government continues to ignore the requests of the Parliament of a sovereign state. It has not even replied to the request to give access to those papers to an independent international legal person. I spoke in the debate on each of those motions when they were before this House in 2008, 2011 and 2016. They were very comprehensive motions and were very reasonable. They put forward the case to get access to papers so that people could get information and hopefully get to the truth. We need to discuss, either publicly or in private, whether we need to renew such a motion at this time. There may be a more appropriate time to have a motion. I am sure that all parties and groupings in this House would willingly support an appropriate motion on the lines of the motions passed unanimously in the past.

I refer to the Belturbet bombings of December 1972. Sadly, Geraldine O'Reilly from Belturbet and Patrick Stanley from Clara, County Offaly, were killed on that night. We will soon reach the 49th anniversary of that heinous crime and again nobody has been brought to justice. Again, I refer to the work of Professor Edmund Burke of the University of Nottingham who through his research of British state papers uncovered clear collusion between the state forces and the UVF in bringing that bomb to Belturbet that night. That information became available to me and I put it on the record of the Dáil in September 2020. Subsequently a documentary on RTÉ carried that information. I commend the work of Professor Burke and his colleagues at the University of Nottingham.

After I put that information on the record of the Dáil, the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, referred that information to the Garda authorities for them to pursue. The last correspondence I had on that matter indicated that the Garda was still investigating the issue. It is not getting easier as every day goes by. Along with others, I would be very anxious that the atrocity in Belturbet would be kept foremost in the inquiries which need to continue.

Ms Urwin referred to the civil court case ongoing in Belfast. What is the importance of that case? What does she hope will be achieved through that court case?