Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I welcome the Minister. Today is the 38th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. I want to extend my continuing sympathy to and express my solidarity with all the survivors and the bereaved of that terrible day. Some 33 people were killed in those bombings, which were carried out by agents acting in collusion with British Crown forces. Of that there is now no doubt. However, what we do not have is accountability and truth and justice from the British Government.

During his presentation to the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement on 2 February last, Members from both Houses pressed British Secretary of State, Owen Paterson, MP, on the failure of the British Government to disclose relevant documentation. Mr. Paterson told the committee that the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, William Hague, MP, had indicated that "He assured his counterpart here that we have made available the synopsis that is relevant to this case." This apparently refers to a ten-page letter to Judge Barron from former Secretary of State, John Reid, dated 26 February 2002. Judge Barron expressed his frustration regarding the lack of information contained in this letter. He repeatedly requested the British Government for access to the documents themselves but on every occasion he was refused. With a straight face, Owen Paterson, MP, told the committee that the British Government has been "completely straight and up-front". He also stated, "At every opportunity we have made information available". The Irish Government cannot let this go unchallenged.

On 9 February last, the Seanad agreed unanimously a motion which notes that the question of obtaining access to information held by the British Government has been pursued for many years and requests the Irish Government "to continue to raise the matter with the British Government and to press it to comply with this request and reaffirms the support of Members on all sides of this House". This mirrors a similar resolution adopted by the Dáil on my party's proposal at this time last year. Clearly, the Taoiseach and Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade have a strong mandate from the Oireachtas - this has been repeatedly stated and was the subject of a motion passed unanimously by the House a few short years ago - to pursue this issue with real determination with the British Government.

On 18 April last, The Guardian newspaper in Britain reported that an official review has concluded that thousands of documents detailing some of the most shameful acts and crimes committed during the final years of the British Empire were systematically destroyed to prevent them falling into the hands of post-independence governments. Those papers that survived were flown to Britain, where they were hidden for 50 years in a secret Foreign Office archive, beyond the reach of historians and members of the public and in breach of legal obligations for them to be transferred into the public domain. These files related to crimes by British forces in Kenya and other countries. The Government here should certainly ask the British Government if files relating to the conflict in Ireland, the Dublin and Monaghan bombings and other acts of collusion, in particular, were similarly treated. Were some files destroyed and others retained secretly and, perhaps, illegally? We need answers to our questions in this regard.

The final issue to which I wish to refer is that relating to funding for Justice for the Forgotten. This organisation has been the sole representative voice for victims of the conflict in this State for many years. The previous Government ended funding for the group which has done significant work both to support the survivors and the bereaved and to advance the search for truth and justice. In December 2010, Justice for the Forgotten, while retaining its own name and identity, merged with the Pat Finucane Centre and secured a limited stream of funding. However, that did not cover the Dublin office which is now regrettably closed. The entire office has been vacated and its work and files transferred only the other day to a portakabin at the home of the principal voice and anchor of the group's great work. This is simply intolerable and I urge the Government to restore funding for Justice for the Forgotten to allow it resume its efficient and effective work which is much appreciated by the survivors and the bereaved of those terrible acts of 17 May 1974.

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