Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

Tonight's motion comes against a backdrop where the families, survivors and friends of Justice for the Forgotten are hoping that a positive signal will come from a banquet in Dublin Castle and that the files relating to their loved ones will finally be released. Last night in this House a speaker from the Labour Party said he believed the bombs detonated in this city and elsewhere in 1974 were in direct response to the IRA. A relative of one of the victims of the bombing in McGurk's Bar in Belfast sat angrily listening to that speech.

His family were also told by the British and RUC that the IRA were directly responsible for killing his loved one. The false accusations were then used as a propaganda tool against republicans and no investigation was carried out into that atrocity.

We now know that loyalists planted that bomb. We also know that, in the 1970s, loyalists did not have the capability or know-how to construct bombs of the type which caused such devastation on the streets of Dublin and Monaghan. We now know that loyalist counter-insurgency gangs were established, armed and directed to targets by elements of the British security set-up. We now know that checkpoints were removed and they were given free passage. We now know that guns and explosives were brought into Ireland by British agents and given to loyalist organisations. We now know that very little happened within loyalist circles of which the British were not aware. Many innocent people with no connection whatsoever to republicanism were killed at the behest of successive British Governments and their securocrats.

I have no doubt that elements of the British security establishment, in conjunction with their political masters, were involved in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. This State and its political leadership, I suspect, came to the same conclusion. That is the appalling vista behind the closing down of the inquiry into those bombings. I am old enough to remember what happened in the late 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. I remember going into town after one of the bombings to see, in my frustration and helplessness, if there was anything at all I could do to help. Events and experiences such as these shaped my politics. I know that war in all its ugly manifestations destroyed tens of thousands of people's lives. Terrible events happened throughout that period and people are still trying to deal with loss all over these Islands. Why my son, my daughter, my loved one?

I cannot change the past but I have worked with others to try to bring about a better and more peaceful future. Irish Governments have adopted a "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" attitude to the activities of Unionist paramilitaries in this State and the direct collusion in such activity by Britain. More than 50 people have been killed in this State by Unionist paramilitaries since the early 1970s, and not a single individual has been held accountable. The European Convention on Human Rights states that all deaths must be investigated. The festering scandal of collusion will not go away and attempts to cover it up or limit the scope of inquiries only serve to confirm its existence. Both Governments must confront these legacy issues and work towards full disclosure. It is to be hoped tonight is a new beginning and the families of the forgotten will see some closure.

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