Article from Labour Comment:—January 2004 Dublin/Monaghan Bombings Wrong Bombers!
- The truth is that the wrong bombers struck in Dublin and the Cosgrave Government acted politically dumb— the right bombers struck in Omagh and the Dublin Government, with political opportunism, acted as if that catastrophe struck at the heart of its own jurisdiction.
- A full judicial Inquiry, with powers to subpoena witnesses and documents is the least people are entitled to following the greatest mass murder in the history of the state and the subsequent attempt at a cover-up.
THE REPORT of Mr. Justice Henry Barron into the Dublin-Monaghan bombings of Friday, 17th May, 1974, which killed 33 people, was released on December 10, 2003. It contains 288 page and cost 1.5 millon Euros.
It brought to an end a four-year investigation that was delayed for over a year by what one legal source described as "semi-detached co-operation" from the British authorities, who refused to hand over some of the relevant documents.
The bombings, marking the worst single day in the Northern War, were investigated by former Supreme Court judge, Henry Barron and his predecessor, the late Justice Liam Hamilton for almost four years.
The Barron investigation was sanctioned by Bertie Ahern in 2000.
In August, 1999, the former Fianna Fail Tanaiste, John Wilson of the Victims' Commission, published a report recommending such a private Inquiry.
However, in truth, the impetus towards opening the files and eventually setting up the Barron Inquiry came not from Dublin, but from the Yorkshire Television documentary Hidden Hand broadcast in 1993.
"One source close to the Report said the findings would prove embarrassing for some, but would 'give Sinn Fein a further lift in the polls" (Irish Independent, 10.12.2003).
Barron
"The magnitude of this task should not be underestimated", Justice Barron states in his introductory statement to the Oireachtas Joint Committee. He stresses in his report that, as 30 years were allowed to pass and with the loss of vital documents, it is not easy to reach definitive conclusions.
"By Judge Barron's own admission his report does not meet fully with the terms of reference" (Bruce Arnold, Irish Independent, 13.12.2003).
"It took Sir John Stevens 14 years and three inquiries (with greater powers and resources than Barron's) to conclude earlier this year that there was collusion during the 1980s between loyalists and British security forces. He defined it as 'the wilful failure to keep records, the absence of accountability, the withholding of intelligence and evidence, and the extreme of agents being involved in murder'. He added that his inquiries had been obstructed. By this definition, Barron has revealed that collusion is still being practised" (Sunday Tribune, 14.12.03).
Justice Barron's Report is divided into five main sections, covering background information, the Garda investigation into the bombings, assessment of the investigation conducted by the 1993 Yorkshire Television Hidden Hand television documentary on the bombings and "perpetrators and possible collusion".
- The Commission says it is "satisfied" the persons principally responsible for carrying out the bombings were loyalist paramilitaries, most though, not all, members of the UVF.
- The bombings were primarily a reaction to the Sunningdale Agreement—in particular to the prospect of a greater role for the Irish Government in the administration of Northern Ireland: Council of Ireland, etc.
- On the question of British State Collusion, the Report makes clear that there are ground for suspecting that the bombers may have had assistance from members of the security forces in the Six Counties.
- On the role of the Garda Siochana, the report says there have been no allegations that any agency in the Irish state played a "deliberate part" in the bombings. However, it said allegations were made that members of the Garda "were actively co-operating with the security forces in Northern Ireland in ways that were not officially sanctioned".
The Report states it is clear the British authorities were very keen to open such lines of communication. "In the circumstances, if contacts between Gardai and the British Army/Intelligence services were pursued informally, it could not be condoned, but it would be understandable".
"There is evidence which shows that the informal exchange of information between Gardai on the border and their RUC counterparts was extensive. There is some evidence to suggest that some Garda officers, unwittingly or otherwise, may have been giving information to members of the British Army or Intelligence Services."
The Report criticises the Garda investigation for failing "to make full use of the information obtained". Certain lines of inquiry were not pursued and certain suspects were not questioned. "The main failure of the Garda investigation team was not to act promptly", the Report states.
Other criticisms of the investigation were "a failure to appreciate the extent of the information obtained", "a too-ready acceptance of information supplied" and the loss of "potentially vital clues", such as information on whether the Dublin bombs were made from purely commercial explosives.
Fine Gael/Labour Coalition
- Dublin Government role: The Report found "no evidence" to support the proposition that the Garda investigation was wound down as a result of political interference.
The suggestion is "absolutely denied" by former Government members with the Minister for Justice at the time, Mr. Paddy Cooney, pointing out that any such direction would have been "grossly improper".
"However", the Report says, "it can be said that the Government of the day showed little interest in the bombings.
"When information was given to them suggesting that the British authorities had intelligence naming the bombers, this was not followed up. Any follow-up was limited to complaints by the Minister for Foreign Affairs that those involved had been released from internment."
- The Report found "no explanation" for the fact that Department of Justice files on the matter are "missing in their entirety". Nor was it possible to indicate when they went missing. The former Minister for Justice, Ms. Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, told the inquiry that there was "very little" in the departmental files concerning the bombings.
- Bemoaning the lack of original documentation, the Report notes that correspondence with the Northern Ireland Office undoubtedly produced some useful information.
In this issue, Labour Comment will largely confine its opinions to the internal issues involved: the role of the Dublin Government and the Garda Siochana.
The Omagh Blunder
The comparison with Omagh keeps coming up—yes, there's a statistical comparison, that's all. The fact remains: Omagh was an awful blunder. Dublin/Monaghan was a cold, calculated, politically planned attack to cause as much loss of human life as possible.
'Did he tell you they were used for planting a bomb in Omagh?'
'No, he didn't have to say it. He wouldn't talk about it. It was a disaster, nobody set out to kill anybody in Omagh, it was just a complete mess, a disaster.' (Evidence presented to the Special Criminal Court in the trial of Colm Murphy, the first person to be tried and sentenced in connection with the Omagh explosion.)
Whereas the Omagh bomb was a propaganda gift to the Dublin and British Governments, enabling them to hard-sell the Belfast Agreement—Dublin/Monaghan was the wrong political choreography altogether, it drew attention away from the 'satanic' Provos.
The Dublin Government's sheer contempt for its own citizens and its sub-conscious attachment to Britain and all its trappings better explains the cowardly and treacherous regime of Cosgrave, Cruise-O'Brien and their Cabinet colleagues to face up to the responsibilities thrust on them in the biggest mass murder in the history of the state.
- The simple fact is that latter-day Dublin Governments are simply afraid of the consequences of finding a British Government guilty of crimes against humanity.
These impeccable custodians of law and order, guardians of the institutions of the State, trample on the first duty of a democracy: the care and protection of its citizens. The blunt truth is that the 'wrong' bombers struck in 1974 and Cosgrave and Cruise-O'Brien violated the first duty of a democratic government, for fear the people might accord some succour to the Republican Movement.
It suits both Governments to hype up the Omagh blunder, and ignore all other bombings. Much like calling the Belfast Agreement the Good Friday Agreement, as if it embraced some spiritual or scriptural source : an infallible document.
"On September 1, 1998, the Government called a special session of the Oireachtas, the Irish Parliament, to pass the toughest security laws ever introduced in the history of the state" (Mooney & O'Toole, Black Operations—The Secret War Against the Real IRA, p184, 2003).
This was following Omagh.
Following May, 1974, they sat on their hands.
"The Minister for Justice, Mr. Cooney, told a press conference in Dublin last night that the Gardai had no theories as to who was responsible for the bombings" (Cork Examiner, 18.5.1974).
It gets worse!
"The Minister was asked if the I.R.A. documents seized by the British and shown to the Dublin Government on Monday last had given any indication of a bombing campaign in Dublin. Mr. Cooney said that there was nothing in the documents to indicate such a thing but he added: 'I don't deduce from the absence of a Dublin reference in those documents anything that would enable me to exculpate any particular group.'
"'I have a particularly open mind at the moment', he added." (ibid.)
As Chesterton used to say: he's so open minded, his brains will fall out!
"Specific measures to tighten security and increase the strength of the security forces following Friday's bomb attacks in Dublin and Monaghan were decided upon by the Government at an emergency two and a half hour session of the Cabinet on Saturday morning" (Cork Examiner, 20.5.1974).
"The main measure announced after the meeting was a decision to recall from U.N. duty in the Middle East a contingent of 340 Irish troops.
"At their meetings, the Taoiseach and his Ministers had considered fuller and more up to date reports from the security forces on the bombings but the Minister for Justice said later that there were still no definite theories about who the perpetrators were and the Government were still completely 'open-minded' about whether any particular organisation was involved."
"The possibility of making greater use of the F.C.A. for barrack duties to release the regular troops for Border patrols would be considered."
"The Minister for Justice also revealed that co-operation between the Gardai and the R.U.C. was to be stepped-up. Fortunately, he said, they had got full co-operation from the R.U.C. following Friday's attacks. They maintained an office open in Belfast on Friday night to give the Gardai all the help they could" (ibid).
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"Parliament 'four square behind law and order'""DUTY TO UPHOLD STATE'S INSTITUTIONS"
"Every Irish man and woman had a duty to uphold the institutions of the State, and never more so than at present, when subversives and violence threatened them, the Minister for Defence, Mr. Paddy Donegan, told the Dail yesterday" (Cork Examiner, 17.5.1974, the day before the bombings).
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"However, I was informed that the government had taken a view that it was unlikely to get any co-operation in following up the affair from the RUC and that the net effect of making noise about the bombings would be to give aid and comfort to the IRA, thus the matter was shelved" (Tim Pat Coogan, Irish Independent, 11.12.2003).**********************************************************
"If the new Ireland is served by a force which will uphold the best traditions of the Royal Irish Constabulary she will be fortunate, indeed"
The Irish Times, 18.8.1922.**********************************************************
Garda Files
Garda and Department of Justice files that were 'missing', combined with the repeated failure of the British Government to provide requested information, seriously hampered the ability of Justice Henry Barron to investigate the bombings.
(A newspaper report by Jim Cuasck, Secret Garda Files From 1970s Will Never Be Released (Sunday Independent, 21.12.03), indicates deliberate official determination to suppress information on these matters in perpetuity.)
Describing the difficulties encountered in obtaining information from all sources, Barron concluded:
"Filing records were incomplete or in some cases non-existent documents had been lost or destroyed".
The report also reveals that crucial files, which should have been retained at Garda headquarters, were missing, while relevant files in the Louth/Meath division had disappeared completely.
The Gardai keep annual files on the UVF/UDA. However, the annual files for the period surrounding the bombings—1974 and 1975—could not be found.
UVF files kept by the Special Detective Unit (SDU) were forwarded to Barron, but these would not have included information kept by Garda Security and Intelligence (C3) at Garda Headquarters, which were not seen by the Inquiry.
While the gardai were able to furnish the Inquiry with their Monaghan security file, the Dublin file vanished.
Also missing were the files on the Dublin bombings of 1st December 1972. These bombings led to the introduction of the amended Offences Against The State Act, and are strongly suspected of being been carried out by British Intelligence agents.
The Garda investigation made a number of critical mistakes and failed to probe all avenues of investigation.
Barron states:
"the garda investigation failed to make full use of the information obtained. Certain lines of inquiry that could have been pursued further in this jurisdiction were not pursued".
Further failures in the investigation included:
- A delay of 11 days before forensic evidence was sent for testing to Belfast
- The absence of any transport record for evidence, resulting in likely evidence contamination
- A decision not to investigate suspects in the North, despite R.U.C. invitations to do so
- The speedy completion of investigations within 12 weeks.
Criticising the investigation, Barron said its main weakness was the failure of gardai to act quickly."Whatever evidence there might have been as to the movements of suspects, if this information had been sought within a week or two of the bombings, it is quite clear that months later any such information was unlikely to be of value", the report reads.
However, despite a failure to act quickly in gathering information on witness movements, gardai wrapped up their inquiries just weeks after the atrocities.
By 9th July 1974—less than eight weeks after the 17th May bombings—the Chief Superintendent in charge of the investigation had noted: "The investigation unit… have returned to their stations".
The Monaghan investigation report was subsequently issued on 7th July 1974, while the Dublin report was finished on 9th August 1974.
Justice Barron also found the handling of forensic evidence was far from satisfactory. "There is no doubt that the delay in delivering samples for forensic analysis fatally compromised the forensic investigation", he writes.
Even senior ballistics officers were unaware that reliable detection of volatile organic components could only be done within six hours of an explosion taking place, Barron found.
Of course, he cast no opinion about the wisdom of ever sending evidence for testing to Belfast or any part of the British jurisdiction in the first place.
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The Chairman of the Inquiry, Mr. Justice Henry D. Barron, is a former Supreme Court judge with a strong academic record and a vast experience serving on the bench. A High Court judge since 1982, Mr. Justice Barron became the first member of the Jewish faith to be appointed to the Supreme Court in 1997. He retired from the court in May 2000, five months before taking up his appointment as sole member of the Commission of the Inquiry.He specialised in family and marital law. Previously famous for having granted the State's first divorce.
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Garda Collusion?
Were our own security forces involved in the bombings?
Such questions are entitled to be asked, especially if the Irish Government doesn't come clean! Allegations regarding Garda collusion with the I.R.A. have been raised by the Canadian Judge, Peter Cory, in his investigations in the British jurisdiction, but the real collusion was the relationship of a number of Gardai with the RUC and MI5 and it is this aspect of his security responsibility that Justice Minister McDowell should concentrate on.
British Spies
The Phoenix Magazine, Dublin (19.12.2003), cuts to the chase:
"Barron doesn't spell it out, but it's clear that this was not a loss of files. RIC intelligence files going back to Fenian times are extant—and there are C3 and Justice Department records relating to matters before and after the event.
"So the disappearance of this large quantity of documents is not attributable to poor administration. All the signs are that this was a cull of records at four different locations (Dublin Castle, Stephen's Green, C3 at Garda HQ and Dundalk Special Branch offices) which ensured that there was no trail for Barron to follow.
"The implications of this are huge. The Irish Government—and Barron—have criticised Tony Blair's government for providing nothing but a 16-page letter from Northern Secretary, John Reid, which gave a synopsis of the British intelligence records sought by the Inquiry. The Faceless Ones in Whitehall must have laughed aloud when they heard that the Paddies had shredded all their relevant files.
"Or perhaps they already knew. Older readers will remember that self-confessed Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) agent, Detective Patrick Crinnion, worked as a C3 record-keeper at Garda HQ until his arrest in 1972.
"HM spies would have been remiss if they had not sought to recruit one or more replacements in C3. More importantly, if Bertie, the Oireachtas Justice Committee, or families' lawyers at Strasbourg ever seek to force Tony Blair to open his intelligence files on the Dublin bombs they will likely be told: if Bertie shows his, I'll show you mine."
"Remember those were very different days" (Mary Harney, Tanaiste, Irish Times, 13.12.2003), when referring to 1974 and the lack of British co-operation. Whatever about the Tiger, Mary—the Progreessive Democrat Leopard—never changes its spots!
On 16th December 2003, the Sinn Fein TD for Kerry North, Martin Ferris, called for a public inquiry into the issues highlighted by the Barron Report.
Ferris also asked that such an inquiry would consider all allegations of British military and intelligence involvement in violent incidents within the state between 1969 and 1976. Such an investigation was vital as there was strong evidence of involvement by the British military and intelligence services.
"We have hints of this in the Report with references to British military personnel seen in Dublin at the time of the December, 1972 bombs, and immediately prior to the May, 1974 incidents. Another British officer was found in possession of weapons in Dublin on the very day of the bombings. [See below, LC] Such an Inquiry should take place in public so that we can have a full account of what took place.
"Another issue touched on is the role of agents within the Garda Special Branch. John McCoy, who was central to the Monaghan investigation, is mentioned and there have been strong allegations over the years regarding his connections with the British security forces. It would also appear that former Garda Commissioner Ned Garvey was well aware of whatever contacts were taking place."
Garda Extortion And FraudWhatever about the order and discipline of the Garda Siochana 30 years ago, the ongoing exposure of corruption and graft amongst elements of the force in the North West Division—County Donegal—certainly leaves a wealth to be desired by way of authority, direction and reform of the Garda Siochana.
The infiltration of the Gardai and the shameful willingness of Ireland's security forces to collude and conspire with British security has been highlighted in recent episodes in County Donegal.
"Kevin Carty, the police Commander in charge of the North-West division of An Garda Siochana,… uncovered a web of corruption and garda malpractice that rocked the very foundations of the police force. The people of County Donegal knew for a long time that elements of the gardai engaged in extortion, fraud and fitted up innocent suspects. But there was little anyone could do. The corruption was endemic. The list of officers that fell under suspicion was startling; Carty know some of them personally" (Mooney etc, Black Operations).
One of the accused was Detective Sergeant John White, who handled the Dublin gangster Paddy Dixon, in the role of conduit to the Real IRA. Dixon supplied the 'bomb' vehicles and it is alleged he supplied the Omagh vehicle, but rather than expose a key informant, the Garda remained silent on that day.
White was suspended from duty.
In 2002, he contacted the RUC and met them on two occasions in the Six Counties—that in itself was bad enough, but he was then taken to the UK, whilst still a member of the Garda Siochana, though suspended.
"The new PSNI, successors to the RUC, investigation team were intrigued by White's story. In the darkest of subterfuge, detectives assigned to the PSNI arranged to meet White to access his information for themselves. This was an unorthodox move. The PSNI flew White to a secret location in Britain where he was debriefed for three days. The operation was conducted on a need to know basis. Garda Headquarters were not to find out. The PSNI provided White with accommodation in a hotel where he was questioned at length about the black operations mounted by Crime and Security [the Gardai, LC] Elements of the PSNI concluded that White was lying while others believed his story" (Black Operations).
Within days, the Gardai learned of White's visit to the UK:
"The immediate effect of the news was to collapse the good relationship that existed between the two police forces. The detective branch at Monaghan Garda Station politely declined to entertain their counterparts from Omagh PSNI Station. The decision by the PSNI to question a serving member of the Garda, who was suspended for corruption, proved too much. Elements of the PSNI were now treated with contempt. The Garda detectives who investigated the Omagh bombing had also investigated White. There would be no sharing of intelligence or pooling of information" (p298, ibid).
The Nally investigation headed by Mr. Dermot Nally, a former Dublin Government Secretary has found that there was no foundation to allegations that the Garda failed to pass on information to the RUC that could have prevented the Omagh bombing.
"Mr. McDowell said he would not be publishing the report 'for valid security reasons'" (Irish Times, 17.12.2003).
"The Nally Report into the Omagh bombing has met with a cool response from the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman's Office and an outraged reaction from the families of the 31 victims" (Irish Examiner, 18.12.2003).
"… the whole direction of the security policy of the 26 Counties Government has been solely against republicans while British and pro-British agents enjoy total immunity to do their deadly work" (Ruairi O Bradaigh, President Sinn Fein, Cork Examiner, May 18, 1974).
But, unless the Gardai answer solely to themselves—and surely Justice Minister McDowell would be the first to refute such an allegation—over the years and especially during the Northern War, one got the impression that the force recognised that the most assured method of placating their political masters was to promulgate and exercise an unrelenting war against the Republican Movement, by any and every means at the disposal of the force.
This was accommodated by some of the most draconian and heavy-handed legislation passed by the Dail, in questionable political circumstances at the time: Special Criminal Courts; Offences Against the State acts; Directing Terrorism legislation.
And the force was given a free hand to brutalise Republican suspects.
Conviction was all made easy for the Gardai and—provided it only impinged on the Republicans—the mealy-mouthed liberals didn't give a damn.
Instead of pussy-footing around on so-called 'peace missions', the security services of the state should be organising and streamling our own resources on a much greater basis of independence and self-sufficiency.
Free State Under SiegeThe most fascinating reaction to the Barron Report was by Eoghan Harris, former chief ideologist of the Official Republican movement, which appeared in the Sunday Independent (14.12.2003).
He passed Barron by and launched into a tirade against RTE:
"Dublin was not the only city to suffer death by bombing… The people who died in Dublin were no different to the people in Belfast… in 1974 the Irish state was under siege, and… Paddy Cooney, the Minister for Justice held his nerve in 1974 [he did nothing, ED.], just as Kevin O'Higgins had held his nerve in 1922 and as Michael McDowell is holding his nerve right now."
Is the Free State still under siege? If it is, this arises from an anti-social, criminal element who had free rein to develop when all other security resources were pitched at the 'awful' Republicans. And the wee Celtic Tiggers were busy accumulating their property and wealth without giving a cuss to the growing social unrest in predominantly working-class estates. Limerick is an example!
From 1923 on, what force—political or social—posed a threat to the Dublin Government or the "institutions of the state"? In the long-term, the Six-Counties had that potential, once the Catholics got off their knees. But Dublin didn't want to know about the Northern statelet.
At its height in the mid-Seventies, the Provisional IRA had about 1,500 volunteers. At its most successful military height, the overthrow of the Dublin Government was the last thing on its mind!
Throughout its history, and especially since Britain partitioned the island, the Republican Movement in all its many hues, has held remarkably true and consistent to one single tenet in its Green Book : which strictly forbids any volunteer from attacking the Gardai or Irish Army personnel.
Would somebody, somewhere, ever ask Harris how many young lads does he think his words sent to the grave? The present writer was in the presence of Harris at 'Official' meetings in the early 70s, so were many young men who later died in conflict. Does he ever wonder that perhaps the right utterances and not some confused babble about National Liberation Fronts could have made a difference between life and death for many of those young volunteers?
To paraphrase his own quote of Kevin O'Higgins in 1922: Harris is "a mad man shouting through his arsehole".
Of course, 'Clyde' Harris was followed by his counterpart 'Bonnie' O'Hanlon in the same issue of the Sunday Independent, Eilis O'Hanlon put forward the proposition that "…the South got off lightly from the Troubles". What is she saying? There should have been more bombings in the South? The Sunday Independent ditched the wee Anglophile, Mary Ellen Synon for a similar noxious remark on the disabled in 2000.
"Trojan Horse"
A British Army officer was taken off a B & I ferry by gardai at Dublin port on the evening of the 1974 Dublin bombings and weapons were found in his bag.
This astonishing information is contained in an Irish Army intelligence report examined by the Barron inquiry. But no reference to the arrest or the find appears in Garda records and no further developments were reported.
At lunchtime on the day of the bombings, a telephone caller told gardai he was worried that a white van with an English registration parked outside the Department of Posts and Telegraphs on Portland Row might contain a bomb.
Garda records show that details of the alleged registration were taken, but those numbers were shown later not to have been issued. At around 5.10 pm, the gardai received a second call from the witness and agreed to send a patrol to examine the van. When two gardai arrived at the scene they were met by the witness who told them a man had driven the van away towards Sheriff Street.
Shortly afterwards the bombs went off. The witness called gardai several times and at 6.30 p.m. he was taken by a garda car to the docks. The witness saw the same van in the deep sea area of the B & I ferry port, Gardai searched the van and found a British Army uniform.
"The Barron report shows that through allowing witnesses to examine photographs of suspected loyalists, the Dublin investigation team found three witnesses who identified David Alexander Mulholland, described by the gardai as a member of the UVF with a history of involvement in car bomb blasts as being in the green Hillman car which contained the Parnell Street bomb" (Irish Independent, 11.12.2003).
McDowell , Progressive Democrat!
Justice Minister, Michael McDowell, said it was "a matter of regret" that the Barron report had drawn attention to inadequacies in the police investigation of the bombings.
But he welcomed the publicationof the report and said it was now "a matter for the people to draw their own conclusions" about the document.The Minister pointed out that since that time there had been "profound changes" in Garda structures, criminal justice legislation, available technology and co-operation between police forces.
Mr. McDowell also said that he was disturbed by what the report had to say about the absence of files in his department dealing with the bombings even though it was virtually certain that any significant information on any such files would have been provided.
After such a highly critical and damning report on his Garda Siochana, one would have thought that the Minister for Justice would have been a little contrite, but not Mr. McDowell: the 'real' enemy must be pursued, the quarry hounded down.
Sinn Fein 'Morally Unclean' And Funded By IRA Crime was the front page story in the Irish Examiner on 11TH December 2003, sharing the page with the aftermath accounts of the Barron Report.McDowell claimed Sinn Fein's political purse was directly funded by IRA criminal activities. It must have been Xmas joy to the Democratic Unionist Party and its anti-Agreement allies, who keep referring to the 'hypocrisy' of the Taoiseach in refusing to allow Sinn Fein into government in Dublin, while insisting that Unionist politicans work with it in Stormont.
With talk of the SDLP merging with Fianna Fail, perhaps the former Fine Gael member might now be contemplating a merger between the Progressive Democrats and the DUP.
What McDowell's infantile antics contribute to the 'cherished principles' of the Belfast Agreement just beggers belief!**********************************************************
"Drapier noted with respect the mature judgement of most senior journalists when the Barron Report was published. This report deals with profound and heart-rending matters. Pursuit of justice and truth should not be allowed become the subject of spin"
(Irish Times, 20.12.2003).**********************************************************
The Dublin Media
What 'Drapier' of the Irish Times means here, is that the Dublin media should continue as in 1974, "don't let this get out of hand", the only political beneficiaries will be forces inimical to the Dublin establishment. Truth, "even if the heavens fall", my arse! The scurrilous British press could do no worse.
"The findings of the Barron Report into the Dublin/Monaghan massacre of 33 Irish citizens and an unborn child in 1974 indicted not only successive Irish Government for their lack of interest in finding the truth about who carried out the atrocity but also the southern media. At the time of the bombings, both the Irish Government and the southern media were consumed by their efforts to defeat the IRA as a force of resistance to British rule in Ireland and prevent Sinn Fein from becoming a political alternative to the SDLP in the north and a political threat to the establishment parties in the South.
"It didn't matter that evidence existed of collusion between British Security services and the UVF perpetrators if the massacre could be used to defeat the growth of republicanism. But the Irish government and the Gardai were not alone in this deception. The media, with a few honourable exceptions, also played its part by not exposing the failure to carry out a proper investigation or pursue those responsible. Powerful elements of the Southern media willingly collaborate in the suppression of evidence of British Security Services involvement in murders of Irish citizens, not only in the 26 Counties but in the North also.
"For the Sourthern media to now attempt to wash its hands of any responsibility for the cover-up by heaping blame on successive Irish governments and the Gardai is nothing short of rank hypocrisy. The media had the power and the information that could have brought irresistible pressure on the Irish Government to mount a properly constituted Public Inquiry with powers to subpoena witnesses and put international pressure on the British government to fully co-operate with it."It is incumbent on the Irish media to take its responsibilities to the people of Ireland seriously—stop collaborating in Britain's propaganda war and assist in this expose" (Mitchel Mc Laughlin, An Phoblacht, 18.12.2003).
The Irish Press
"Ideologically, the climate was one in which Dr. O'Brien theorised about cleansing the culture of nationalist infections and a determined effort was made to extend the influence of Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act into the print media.
"Dr. O'Brien is on record as having told Bud Nossiter of the Washington Post that he objected to the sort of letters which were appearing in the Irish Press and saw the Act as being used against its editor (myself)" (Tim Pat Coogan, Irish Independent, 11.12.2003).
Oireachtas Justice Committee
The Barron Report will first be considered by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights, partly in public.
Justice Commitee chairman, Sean Ardagh, (FF), said they would have to decide whether to recommend that a further inquiry was either "required or fruitful". He denied that the report was "a damp squib", saying as far as the Committee was concerned, it was comprehensive. Deputy Ardagh, said he was not expecting to unearth new evidence, nor can his Committee make findings.
The Committee will begin its hearings late this month. It will report its findings to the Dail and Seanad within three months.
"Four of the seven-person committee are Fianna Fail members—Deputies Sean Ardagh, Marie Hoctor and Sean O Fearghail, as well as Senator Jim Walsh. Of the remainder, one is the strongly republican-minded Independent TD, Finian McGrath, and another is Joe Costello, T.D. one of the few republicans in the Labour Party, which may leave Fine Gael's Paul McGrath feeling a little isolated.
"The spectacle of various Fianna Fail deputies cross-examining Sir Garret and the Cruiser, among others, about their alleged negligence in guarding the national interest and Irish citizens is something that 'The Phoenix' is looking forward to" (The Phoenix, 19.12.2003).
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"It's obscene. The report has been a complete and utter waste of time and expense and my clients are severely disappointed" (Des Doherty, solicitor for the family of the late Edward O'Neill and John O'Brien.).**********************************************************
Justice For The Forgotten
The Justice For The Forgotten group, which represents the families of those killed and injured in the attacks, claims that only in a few instances did politicians visit the families or wounded.
There was no national day of mourning as there had been for Bloody Sunday.
There was no government initiative to set up a fund for the dependants of those murdered. There was no consultation with the families and no counselling was provided.
No progress reports on the investigation were given to the families. A memorial was built 17 years later.
Justice For The Forgotten says that, while the garda investigation appeared to be making good progress, it ground to a halt within a few weeks.
Although gardai had the names of 20 suspects, some on an evidential basis and others from intelligence sources, not one was ever questioned. No one was charged.
While the inquests in Monaghan were convened and concluded, the inquests into the deaths from the Dublin bombings were adjourned less than two weeks after the tragedy. All inquests have since been reopened but will not proceed until well into this year.
"The combination of incompetence and downright carelessness on the part of those charged with protecting the citizens of Ireland is absolutely damnable", stated Greg O'Neill, solicitor for Justice for the Forgotten.
"The time for private inquiries is over. It is no longer our burden. Damnable facts have been established, and it is now your responsiblity.
"This campaign is calling on the Irish Government… to take up the responsibilities and to discharge them to the families, to the dead, to the survivors and to the people of Ireland.
"There are people who are available in this state who need to be put in the witness box and cross-examined. The time for private inquiries into these matters is over" concluded Mr. O'Neill.
Full Public Inquiry?
"But given what we have learned from that report, and how little extra we might learn from the full judicial inquiry that some seek, and given the time and cost involved in such a detailed inquiry, then a tribunal is not merited in this instance" (Sunday Independent, 14.12.2003).
"The fact it has taken so long to produce, and that people are not entirely sure where to take things from here is an indication of the political sensitivities that surrounded the issue then, and which still surround it today.
"Should the Government demand that London undertake an investigation into the allegations of collusion? Should there be a full-scale public inquiry into the event?
"We must remember enormous progress has been made on the North since 1974. Although the peace process is stalled, it remains in place. There are fears that pushing this issue too hard might give rise to increased tensions between the British and Irish governments, and between the nationalist and unionist communities" (Irish Independent, 11.12.2003).
"The push to have a public inquiry into the Dublin Monaghan bombings is hardly likely to stop in the wake of Judge Barron's report. A similar campaign was mounted—also involving some of the same figures—for the setting up of the public inquiry into Bloody Sunday in Derry. That Inquiry under Lord Saville is now in its fourth year of hearing evidence and the latest estimate at its cost is in the region of stg. £240 million or over 320 million Euros. Saville is, in effect, making vast amounts of money for lawyers but it has shed only some additional light on the events in Derry in January 1972.
"A public inquiry on this magnitude here would dwarf the costs of previous planning and corruption inquiries" (Jim Cusack, Sunday Independent, 14.12.2003).
What else but a hush-up can be expected from Sir Anthony's stable of papers? How else would he be permitted to become an international media mogul?
Justin Keating
On 29th December 2003, former Labour Party Minister Justin Keating, who served in the 1974 Cabinet, called for a Judicial Inquiry into Dublin/Monaghan.
Mr. Keating is firmly at odds with three former Cabinet colleagues, who all criticised and rejected the findings:
- Dr. Garret FitzGerald, then Minister for Foreign Affairs, said Justice Barron reached incorrect conclusions.
- Dr. Conor Cruise-O'Brien, then Minister for Post and Telegraphs, said Justice Barron had at times been naive.
- Mr. Paddy Cooney, then Minister for Justice, said many of Justice Barron's findings were without substance.
Whilst such an Inquiry would face the same stubborn refusal of co-operation from the British Government, it should face no such restrictions in its quest for the truth as to the role of the Cosgrave Government and the Garda Siochana. That could only prove positive for the body politic of the State as a whole. The question is, given Dublin Government fears of the inevitable finding of British Government sponsorship of the biggest act of mass killing on the island in recent times, will there be one?
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