Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 November 2019
59. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the outcome of the most recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the UK Foreign Secretary in relation to the need to have comprehensive investigations into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of May 1974 as requested in motions passed unanimously in Dáil Éireann; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46426/19]
View answer17 May last marked the 45th anniversary of the appalling attacks of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings in which 33 people were murdered. The Minister for Justice and Equality, Charles Flanagan TD, represented the Government at the remembrance ceremony in Dublin.
The Government stands in solidarity with all those who lost loved ones or were injured on that day, and who suffer still as a result of these bombings.
The implementation of the All-Party Dáil motions relating to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings is a priority for the Government, as highlighted in the Programme for a Partnership Government.
The All-Party motion on the 1974 Dublin Monaghan bombings adopted by the Dáil on 25 May 2016 has, like those adopted in 2008 and 2011, been conveyed to the British Government.
These motions call on the British Government to allow access by an independent, international judicial figure to all original documents relating to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, as well as the Dublin bombings of 1972 and 1973, the bombing of Kay’s Tavern in Dundalk and the murder of Seamus Ludlow.
The Government is committed to pursuing the implementation of these all-Party Dáil motions. We have consistently raised the issue with the British Government on a bilateral basis, including at the British-Irish Inter-Governmental Conference, most recently on 8 May, and will raise it again at the next BIIGC.
I and Minister Flanagan have made clear to our counterparts at the Conference that the absence of a response from the British Government is of deep concern to the Government, and that there remains an urgent need for a response.
We will continue to engage with the British Government, at senior political level and at official level, to pursue all possible avenues to achieve progress on this issue, consistent with the request made by this House, until a resolution is found.
The Government maintains a close and cooperative relationship with Justice for the Forgotten, as we continue work to seek the full facts of the appalling events of 25 May 1974 and of other attacks in this jurisdiction during the Troubles.
