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

As the Taoiseach is aware, the 48th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, which took place on 17 May 1974, is approaching . There were many dark days on our island during the era known as the Troubles, but that was darkest day of all because 33 innocent people were murdered and hundreds were badly injured. Sadly, nobody has been brought to justice for those horrific crimes. The Taoiseach will recall that in 2008, 2011 and 2016 this House unanimously passed motions calling on the British Government to give an independent legal expert access to papers relevant to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. Sadly, the British Government has not responded to the legitimate requests of a sovereign parliament. This inaction on the part of the British Government is absolutely reprehensible.

For many years, the Taoiseach will have heard me express concerns about the Belturbet bombings of 1972, when two young innocent teenagers, Geraldine O'Reilly and Patrick Stanley, were murdered. Some time ago, I put on the record of this House information given to me by the University of Nottingham which showed conclusively that state forces in Northern Ireland colluded in the transport of the bomb from County Fermanagh to Belturbet on that fateful night. Families have waited for decades to try to get to the truth. In the Taoiseach's next engagements with the British Government and Mr. Johnson, these issues must be top of the agenda. We must try to ensure that the truth is obtained for the families involved, who continue to suffer and grieve so much as a result of the actions of murderers operating on behalf of paramilitary organisations and some within British state forces.

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