Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I also welcome the families in the Gallery. I was five years old when the bombs were detonated in Dublin and Monaghan and I lived a short distance away, in Sheriff Street. Growing up in the north inner city, the impact of these bombings left a long legacy of fear in the area and the wider city of Dublin. Everyone knows that this attack in Dublin and Monaghan was carried out by a combined group of British army agents and loyalists, with probable direct logistical support from British security services. What we all know is that there has never been a single person brought to justice. What we know is that the British state refused to release its files on who its agents were and what roles its agents and members played in the attacks in Dublin and in Monaghan. It is inconceivable, given that the British state had agents running to the very heart of loyalist groups right up until 1994, that the British state security services did not know the attack was being carried out.

Mr. Justice Barron, as has been mentioned, was very critical of the Garda investigation. His report found the investigation was limited and short in duration and that it was extraordinary that an investigation into an atrocity of this size and scale could, or should, be wound down so soon. Why was this investigation pulled after a number of weeks? Will the Tánaiste help explain that to the victims and their families, and the people of Dublin and Monaghan. Listening to the RTÉ podcast, I was stunned to hear that some witnesses had never been interviewed. Shockingly, one victim of the bombing in Dublin said he was targeted for questioning about the bomb by An Garda Síochána. This man, even now, deserves an apology. I find it inexplicable that successive Governments failed to raise this with the British Government over the years. It is time, 50 years on, that pressure was put on the British state to ensure all material relevant to the work of Operation Denton is provided to investigators. It is time for justice now. It is time for answers for the victims and their families because justice delayed is justice denied.

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