Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this the 50th anniversary of the awful bombings in Dublin and Monaghan. I also welcome to the Gallery some members of the families of the 27 Dublin victims and the seven who lost their lives in Monaghan along with representatives of Justice for the Forgotten. The impact of the tragic events in Dublin and Monaghan still reverberates through every one of those 50 years. Despite several motions in the House since at least 2008, there is still no resolution. The horrific events of that sunny May day in 1974 and the innocent lives lost in Dublin and Monaghan will never be forgotten by anyone of us who lived through them.

Despite being in the full knowledge that those atrocities were carried out by loyalists, aided and abetted by British security personnel, successive British governments have denied the victims and their families the closure and justice they so richly deserve. Now to add insult to injury, the passing of the callous legacy Bill by UK Parliament has copper-fastened the British Government's unwillingness to be open and transparent.

The 2005 report by Mr. Justice Barron was absolutely clear and unapologetic in concluding that the events of 17 May 1974 were acts of international terrorism that were colluded in by British security forces. Yet after 50 long years neither the innocent victims nor their families have had even a hint of justice being done.

I remember the events of that day as a child with my mother telling me about the O'Brien family - mother, father and two beautiful baby girls - all killed outright by the Parnell Street blast. Innocent lives were lost and we are still waiting for the truth to be told. I implore all in this House to support this motion and call on the Government to leave no stone unturned, no avenue unexplored to ensure that this matter is no longer unresolved and to bring all possible pressure to bear on British Government to provide full disclosure of all requested documentation and material. All victims are equal. They are all innocent and all equally deserving of justice. This Government must do what its predecessors did not. The Tánaiste must raise this with the British Prime Minister, Mr. Sunak. Fifty years is far too long.

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