Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his persistence and his advocacy for the families of the victims of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.

On 17 May this year, we marked the 50th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, a brutal and devastating act of violence in which 34 people lost their lives and 300 people were injured. Alongside the Taoiseach and President Higgins, I attended the very moving and powerful memorial event in Dublin on 17 May, organised by Justice for the Forgotten, where I spoke to some of the survivors and families of the victims. The strength and dignity they have displayed throughout their fight for truth and justice for their loved ones should be acknowledged.

On 14 May, the Dáil unanimously supported a fourth motion calling on the British Government to allow access by an independent, international judicial figure to all original documents relating to these atrocities, following all-party motions from 2016, 2011 and 2008.

The continuing absence of a substantive response from the British Government to requests for access to material is a matter of significant concern and one which I raise consistently in my engagements. At the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference on 29 April in London, and during a meeting in Dublin on 18 April, I reminded the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland that the victims, survivors and families of those affected by the Dublin and Monaghan bombings have now been waiting half a century for answers and I urged him to respond to the calls made by this House.

The Government stands ready to engage with the new UK Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when appointed and will continue to press the British Government to respond positively to the demand for answers.

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