Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)

On the British side, they have failed to make available any of the information related to the role of loyalists and others who, it is strongly believed, worked for one or other of the security services. At a time when there is much talk of reconciliation it would be fitting if the British were to co-operate in this matter.

With regard to the investigation in this jurisdiction, the Barron report claimed that many of the documents relating to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings have been lost or destroyed. The inquiry was not able to see the security file on the Dublin bombings, for example, and there are no files on the UVF and UDA for 1974 and 1975, while there are files for all other years. According to the Barron report, the commission was not given any explanation for their disappearance nor was it allowed to see the files on the Dublin bombings on 1 December 1972, which led to the introduction of the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1972, and which, it is strongly suspected, was carried out by British intelligence agents.

It is also worth remembering that on the day the Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1972 was introduced, the Government was on the verge of falling were it not for the intervention of the then leader of the Fine Gael Party, former Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave. The bombings in this city on that day prompted him to support the Fianna Fáil Government.

Apart from the missing files, the report states:

The Garda investigation failed to make full use of the information it obtained. ... The Government of the day showed little interest in the bombings.

Why this was so must also be the subject of an inquiry. It is vital that there be an investigation not only into the events referred to in the preface to the report, but also into all incidents that took place within this State from 1969 onwards-----

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