Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 May 2022
625. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Justice if she will ensure in view of recent reports (details supplied) that there is full co-operation by statutory agencies under the remit of her Department with an ongoing inquiry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24922/22]
View answerThe Dublin and Monaghan bombings were horrific atrocities. They represented the largest loss of life on a single day in the Troubles, with many more injured and countless families affected. Despite the passage of 48 years, the tragedy and loss are as stark today as they were on this date in 1974.
As the Deputy will appreciate, it is the role of An Garda Síochána to investigate these appalling crimes. The Garda investigation remains open and any new evidence provided to the Garda authorities will be investigated.
The Government continues to seek the full truth of these attacks. An all-party motion that was adopted by the Dáil on 25 May 2016, like those 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 Dublin and Monaghan bombings. The Programme for Government reiterates Ireland’s commitment to engaging with the British Government on this issue as a matter of priority, in accordance with the All-Party Dáil motions. I, along with my colleague the Minister for Foreign Affairs, continue to raise this matter regularly with our British counterparts.
With respect to the ongoing enquiry referenced in the Deputy's question, former Chief Constable Jon Boutcher heads up a series of ongoing independent UK police investigations or reviews into Northern Ireland legacy cases that are collectively described as the Kenova cases.
An Garda Síochána is committed to cooperating to the greatest extent possible with Kenova and already has in place a High Level Agreement which supports mutual co-operation and exchange of information with the Operation Kenova Investigation Team in the context of criminal investigations. The Historical Investigation Coordination Unit within An Garda Síochána continues to support this partnership.
In 2019, the Barnard Judgment in the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal led to Operation Denton / the Barnard Review under Kenova. Unlike the criminal investigations under Kenova, Operation Denton is an independent Analytical Review into concerns of collusion in what has become known as the Glenanne Gang Series. While the bombings do not come under the Kenova criminal investigations, they are being examined as one of the incidents in Operation Denton.
Operation Denton is a distinct strand in the work of Kenova, an analytical review rather than a criminal investigation and, as a result, it was necessary to request legal advices from the Office of the Attorney General in order to progress how cooperation can take place with An Garda Síochána. Given the lack of a statutory framework for information sharing, cooperation necessarily involves complex legal issues.
Following the receipt of advices from the Attorney General, work is already underway in my Department to establish the necessary mechanism to allow relevant information from An Garda Síochána be shared with Operation Denton and it is anticipated that the mechanism should be in place by the summer.
