Written answers

Tuesday, 5 July 2016

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Dublin-Monaghan Bombings

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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327. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views regarding the most recent response to an independent inquiry into the Dublin-Monaghan bombings. [19370/16]

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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Dealing with the legacy of the past relating to the conflict in Northern Ireland and pursuing the issue of the Dublin Monaghan bombings is a major priority for me as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and for the Government. This commitment is reflected in the Programme for a Partnership Government that was agreed in May.

The all-Party Dáil motion on the 1974 Dublin Monaghan bombing that was adopted in this House on 25 May has been conveyed to the British Government. This motion, like the two previously adopted in 2008 and 2011, calls on the British Government to allow access by an independent, international judicial figure to all original documents relating to the bombings.

The Government is committed to actively pursuing the implementation of these all-Party Dáil motions relating to the Dublin Monaghan bombing atrocities. To this end, I wrote to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in late May, conveying a copy of the recent resolution. In addition, I raised the matter in my bilateral meeting with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in Belfast last week. In this meeting I advised the Secretary of State that this latest motion represents the consensus political view in Ireland that an independent, international judicial review of all the relevant documents is required to establish the full facts of the Dublin Monaghan bombings.

I underlined that the absence of a response from the British Government was of deep concern to the Government and indeed this House and emphasised the urgent need to respond to the three Dáil motions. Secretary of State Villiers recognised the importance that the Government and Dáil Éireann attach to this case and she indicated that the British Government is considering a response which would adequately address the motions.

The Government will continue to raise this matter with the British Government, urging them to provide a satisfactory response to the motions that have been adopted by this House. I have made clear to the Secretary of State that there is a pressing need to provide answers to the families of the victims. The Taoiseach has also raised this issue with Prime Minister Cameron emphasising the Government’s continued support for the Dáil motions.

Many families continue to deal not only with the awful pain of losing a loved one, but also with the struggle for answers decades after these traumatic events. Accordingly, the establishment of a new comprehensive framework for dealing with the past, as envisaged in the Stormont House Agreement, is a priority for the Government.

I continue to engage with the British Government, the Executive and the Northern Ireland political parties in discussions to find a route to a final agreement on legacy issues. The Government believes that the legacy institutions agreed under the Stormont House Agreement offer the best hope of helping the thousands of families impacted by the Troubles. I am therefore working to secure the necessary political agreement to get the legacy bodies established and up and running as soon as possible.

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