According to the Barron report, many of the documents relating to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings have been lost or destroyed. The inquiry was not able to see the security file on the Dublin bombings, for example, and there are no files on the UVF and UDA for 1974 and 1975, while there are files for all other years. According to the report, the commission was not given any explanation for their disappearance nor for the files on the Dublin bombings on 1 December 1972 that led to the introduction of the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act, which is strongly suspected was carried out by British intelligence agents. It is also worth remembering that on the day the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1972 was introduced, the Government was on the verge of falling were it not for the intervention of the then leader of the Fine Gael Party, Liam Cosgrave. The bombings in this city on that day prompted him to support the Government.
Apart from the missing files, the report states: "The Garda investigation failed to make full use of the information it obtained . . . The Government of the day showed little interest in the bombings." Why this was so must also be the subject of an inquiry. It is vital that the commission of inquiry should proceed immediately with an investigation not only into the events referred to in the preface to the report but also into all incidents that took place within this State from 1969 to 1976 where there is strong evidence of involvement by the British military and intelligence services.
It is also necessary to examine the killing of John Francis Green and subsequent evidence given by members of British military intelligence at that time that they were directly involved in that killing. There is too the case of Thomas Ludlow.
Furthermore, the Littlejohns, self-proclaimed British agents, were at that time acting at the behest of British intelligence. There are 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 day of the bombings. Such an inquiry should take place in public so there can be a full account of what took place.
Another issue mentioned 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 and meetings with British security forces. It also appears that former Garda Commissioner, Ned Garvey, was well aware of whatever contacts were taking place.
The most damning aspect of the report, however, is its verdict on the role of the Fine Gael-Labour coalition Government of the time. This Government contained such upstanding defenders of law and order as Liam Cosgrave, Paddy Cooney, Paddy Donegan and, of course, Conor Cruise O'Brien.