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

I thank the Minister and appreciate that she will take this up with her counterparts in Northern Ireland. The University of Nottingham recently contacted me with a recent detailed document on loyalist activities in Northern Ireland and, particularly, in Cavan and Monaghan. A very detailed article has been written by Edward Burke, an assistant professor in the University of Nottingham, entitled "Loyalist mobilisation and cross-border violence in rural Ulster, 1972-1974". One of the sub-headings is "Blowing up Belturbet: Loyalist operations in County Cavan". It contains the following:

At approximately 9:00 p.m. on the night of December 28, a red ford escort with at least two passengers, a young man and a woman, crossed the bailey bridge at Aghalane and made its way to the nearby town of Belturbet in County Cavan. An hour and a half later, the same car exploded on Main Street, Belturbet, killing two teenagers, Geraldine O’Reilly (15) and Paddy Stanley (16). Twelve more people were injured, some seriously, including Geraldine O’Reilly’s brother.

I will forward this document to the Minister, to her Department and to An Garda Síochána. There is a lot of information in this. I hope the Northern Ireland authorities will co-operate with our authorities, An Garda Síochána and the Minister's Department to ensure a necessary and proper investigation is carried out.

See this speech in context