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

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. I am very glad both he and Prime Minister Johnson committed to supporting all the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement. The agreement must be implemented in all its aspects, with no cherry-picking of its provisions. It is very important that the Taoiseach raised a number of atrocities that were committed, including, unfortunately, some in my constituency, namely, the Belturbet bombing and the Monaghan bombings, as well as the Dublin bombings.

On many occasions in this House and in committees, I have repeated my call for a full, thorough and comprehensive investigation into the Belturbet bombing of December 1972. That appalling atrocity resulted in the death of two young teenagers, Geraldine O'Reilly from Belturbet and Patrick Stanley from Clara, County Offaly. Last September, the University of Nottingham provided information to me, through the work of Professor Edward Burke, which I put on the record of the House. I am very glad the Minister, Deputy McEntee, referred that information to An Garda Síochána for investigation. The work done by the University of Nottingham, involving research into state papers in Britain, clearly shows there was collusion by state forces in Northern Ireland with the UVF and other paramilitaries, which resulted in a bomb being brought across the Border from County Fermanagh into Belturbet that cost the lives of two young people and caused injuries to many more. Unfortunately, the perpetrators have never been brought to justice for that heinous crime. We need a comprehensive investigation in Northern Ireland into the atrocity. It happened nearly 50 years ago but it is never too late to get to the truth. I have campaigned along with the O'Reilly and Stanley families, who have made their case with great dignity despite their terrible grieving for the loss of their young family members. I am very glad the Taoiseach has raised this matter and I sincerely hope the information I put on the record of the House will be thoroughly investigated by the Northern Irish and British authorities.

In regard to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, it is absolutely reprehensible that the British Government has not responded to the requests of this Parliament in July 2008, May 2011 and May 2016, when we, as a Dáil, unanimously passed motions calling on the British Government to give access to an independent international legal person to all files and papers pertaining to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974. The 47th anniversary of that desperate atrocity, when 33 people were killed and hundreds more injured, has just passed. The Taoiseach will agree it is absolutely scandalous that the British Government has not responded to the unanimous calls from this sovereign Parliament on three occasions for Britain to co-operate in a meaningful way and advance the investigation into an atrocity that resulted in the greatest number of deaths in a single day during the era of the Troubles on this island.

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