Further inquiry into 1974 bombings advised

Dublin/Monaghan bombings inquestThe jury at the Dublin and Monaghan bombings inquest has asked the Government to consider a further investigation into the involvement of loyalist paramilitaries in the atrocities of May 17th, 1974.

Following more than five hours of deliberations yesterday, the jury reached verdicts of unlawful killing by person or persons unknown in the deaths of all 34 victims of the bombings.

It further found that the evidence given during more than three weeks of sittings of the Dublin City Coroner's Court indicated that the bombings had been perpetrated by members of a named loyalist paramilitary group. However, this had not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

"As this inquest does not have extraterritorial jurisdiction, such matters may need to be addressed in another forum and we would ask the coroner to forward the full transcript of the evidence to An Taoiseach for the information of the Government and that the Government in turn would consider forwarding the complete transcript to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland," it said.

Outside the court, the families of the victims called on the Government to establish a public inquiry into the atrocities and said it was "a disgrace" that the PSNI did not take part in the inquest. "We welcome the recommendations of the jury that there are issues that need to be addressed in another forum," Ms Bernadette McNally, of the Justice for the Forgotten group, said.

The question of collusion between loyalist paramilitaries and the Northern Ireland security forces had been "difficult to pin down", she said, because of the refusal of the PSNI to take part.

"The Northern Ireland authorities went into hiding and refused to attend ... if people had co-operated formally and taken part in this we would have got a lot more answers." It was up to the Government to put pressure on the Northern Ireland authorities to participate in a "human rights inquiry", she said.

The Dublin City Coroner, Dr Brian Farrell, apologised to the families yesterday for the "unconscionable delay" in hearing the inquests into their loved ones' deaths.

"The Dublin and Monaghan bombings were the worst atrocities in this part of Ireland arising out of the Troubles."

They were crimes of "savage cruelty committed without warning" against innocent people going about their daily business. They were a gross example of man's inhumanity to man and were perpetrated by cowardly individuals, Dr Farrell said.

The bombings were not only of national concern but represented a mass atrocity of international proportions. "These form part of the mass killings and abuses of human rights that the 20th century, and beyond, has become notorious for."

In addition to the 34 killings, more than 300 people had been injured in the bombings, and innumerable families and members of the public had been traumatised. The evidence of the families of the victims had been one of the most touching aspects of the inquests, he said. They had paid tribute to their dead eloquently and clearly.

"Your quest for the truth has reached heroic proportions."

On behalf of the whole community, Dr Farrell extended his sympathy and acknowledged the families' "deeply felt indignity and outrage" at what happened to their loved ones.

"To the families I say, you came to this inquest to represent your family members you felt were the forgotten. You and your dead family members are no longer forgotten."