The British authorities planned a detailed defence against allegations that security service operatives colluded with loyalists to plant bombs in Dublin and Monaghan in 1974, killing 33 people, it was reported today.
Britain had planned to mount a defence of "sovereign immunity" if bereaved families and victims of the car bombs pursued legal action, the Sunday Tribuneclaims.
And security service agents would have been disowned if there was evidence they colluded in the attacks which caused the single biggest loss of life of any day of the Troubles, the newspaper said.
The revelation has further entrenched the belief among families of the bomb victims that British security services colluded with the attackers, or at least had foreknowledge of the two bombs which tore through Dublin and a third which exploded in Monaghan on May 17th, 1974.
Internal documents and letters were prepared in advance of legal action against the British authorities which was brought in 1999.
Relatives suspended the action when an independent judicial inquiry was established under Mr Justice Henry Barron. He is set to report in the autumn, possibly leading to a full public tribunal of inquiry.
According to the report, Britain explored the possibility of claiming sovereign immunity if an action was brought against it. The British legal doctrine protects governments from being prosecuted for criminal acts carried out by government agencies on their behalf.
Mr Greg O'Neill, solicitor for the families, said: "This raises still more questions. The only way that such inferences of guilt can be dispelled is for public hearings.
"It is a curious development given that the position of the British government has been that they basically deny any involvement".
A spokesman for the British Embassy in Dublin said they did not comment on alleged leaked documents.
PA