Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)

It is important to get the truth, where deaths are unaccounted for. People are putting forward the proposition that there has been collusion as regards the deaths of these two RUC officers. Judge Cory was frustrated by the British Government in his attempts to find out what he needed to know in the past. There is a great need to find out whether collusion has taken place.

I have been reading in Lost Lives the story of the men, women and children who have died as a result of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The book describes the killing of Chief Superintendent Breen. As the Minister said, he tried to reverse away, but was unable to do so. The vehicle's back wheel became stuck in a ditch. When security forces went to the scene, they found the car still in reverse gear, with the driver's foot still fully depressed on the accelerator pedal. Chief Superintendent Breen was lying by the roadside. Apparently documents had been taken from the car and the ignition key was in the lock of the open boot. The policemen were unarmed, as required by law in the Irish republic. They had been at a meeting in Dundalk that lasted for an hour and the two policemen drove north soon afterwards.

It is important that allegations of collusion are investigated. There is a view, however, that there was also collusion in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. Mr. Justice Barron suspected as much and Mr. Seán Donlon, the former Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs, appeared convinced that there had been collusion and said so to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights. There is strong evidence of collusion between the British secret service and loyalists in the 1972 bombings, particularly given the background of the debate on the Offences Against the State Act.

The Dublin and Monaghan bombings of May 1974 were the worst single atrocity in the Troubles. Three bombs exploded in Dublin city centre, on Parnell Street, Talbot Street and South Leinster Street, on a busy Friday evening. There was no warning and the explosions killed 26 people, including a pregnant woman. A short time later a bomb exploded in Monaghan town and seven people were killed as a result. There are unanswered questions and a strong suspicion of British army collusion in these attacks. These families, like the families of Chief Superintendent Breen and Superintendent Buchanan, are entitled to the truth.

There have been delays. The British Government said it would treat sympathetically any request put to it by Mr. Justice Barron, but when he requested information on security and other files on the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, he did not get a proper response. The British Government must have files on this. For 12 years the UVF claimed responsibility for the bombs but many relatives believe the UVF was helped by British intelligence services that wanted to warn the Irish Government not to interfere in Northern Ireland. The bombings took place during the Ulster workers' strike and the UVF was blamed for them, but the sophisticated nature of the devices fuelled suspicions that it had British military help.

There are unanswered questions across the board and it is important that the truth comes out. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights did victims a service by giving them an opportunity to express their feelings on the situation and recognising the importance of getting to the bottom of the matter. The sub-committee that reported on the findings of the Barron inquiry noted the lack of co-operation Mr. Justice Barron received from the Northern Ireland Office and the British authorities. The Dáil and Seanad committee experienced the same difficulty. Correspondence was sent to current and former office holders in Northern Ireland and Britain and the responses were not adequate. The report clearly states that this caused difficulties and, as a result, it was unable to say if there had been collusion or who the perpetrators were.

This works both ways. We want the IRA to co-operate in bringing the murderers of Robert McCartney to justice, and rightly so. It is important, therefore, that the British authorities co-operate in bringing forward the truth about the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. It has been noted by the joint committee that the failure to bring forward this information is in breach of the Good Friday Agreement, which states that the participants believe it is essential to acknowledge and address the suffering of the victims of violence as a necessary element of reconciliation. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. It is impossible to reconcile the stance of the authorities in Northern Ireland and Britain with this element of the agreement, as is stated in the report of the sub-committee into the Barron report.

I brought to the British-Irish Parliamentary Body the question on the need for an inquiry and for an answer from the British authorities. I asked for a public inquiry into the matter and warned that we would, if necessary, take them to the European Court of Human Rights. I was told in a reply:

Prime Minister Blair wrote to the Taoiseach on the Dublin and Monaghan bombings in 1974 and the Dublin bombings of 1972 and 1973 on 10 January 2005. The letter was passed on to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights. . .

In that letter the British Prime Minister said: "The Government welcomed the establishment of the Barron inquiry and co-operated with it as fully as possible, conducting a thorough search of all government records. . .

The Government notes Mr. Justice Barron's conclusions that, while allegations of collusion between the British security forces and the perpetrators of the bombing were not fanciful, he had not seen any evidence to corroborate it and it could not be inferred, even as a probability.

In the circumstances, the [British] Government concludes that no further benefit to the public interest would accrue from the establishment of an inquiry, within the United Kingdom, to re-examine these allegations.

On the matter of British co-operation with Justice Barron's extended inquiry into the Dublin bombings of 1972 and 1973, it was our [the British Government's] judgment at the time of Justice Barron's approach that, given our experience of the scale of the task in identifying relevant material in the Dublin-Monaghan and Dundalk bombings, it would not be possible to conduct another major search through our records relating to the 1972/73 bombings within the timescale of the inquiry."

This deserves an inquiry and the Irish Government is doing its bit. The British Government should also do its bit. I note the response from the Irish Government to my question:

The Government continues to believe that a mechanism should be found that would allow for independent scrutiny and assessment of material and files held by the British authorities. This view was reiterated by the Taoiseach when he met Prime Minister Blair in London on 1 February. The issue was also mentioned by Minister Ahern at his meeting with Secretary of State Murphy on March 2.

Now that the report of the joint committee has been published, it must be considered by Government. In its response to my question, the Government stated:

Recommendations include the proposal that in the event that an inquiry based on the Weston Park proposals failed as a consequence of a lack of co-operation with the Government or the authorities in Great Britain or Northern Ireland, the Irish Government should consider instituting proceedings in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg . . . However, it would be our preference to get an outcome through persuasion and work with the British Government.

We all agree with working with the British Government and that the truth must come out. There is room here for co-operation. Collusion is debatable but so far there is no doubt about non-co-operation.

I have an interest in this because Mr. Thomas Duffy, who was killed by the car bomb that exploded in Sackville Place in Dublin on 1 December 1972, was from Castlebar and was working as a bus conductor in Dublin. He was only 24 years of age. His wife, Mrs. Monica Duffy-Campbell, attended the sub-committee and gave evidence. She was anxious that there be some resolution to this situation because it is difficult to reconcile what has happened with any degree of closure. Time might dull the feeling but it never goes away. There are still unanswered questions and it is vital that we sort out the question of collusion. Mrs. Duffy-Campbell told the joint committee:

I will go on fighting for the next 32 years for some truth. I cannot come to terms with this. I will not find closure and my family will not find closure until somebody stands up and says "OK, we think these people were responsible".

The same was said by the other victims and their relatives. The truth is important and those on both sides of the spectrum deserve no less.

See this speech in context