The Tuskar Air Crash Relatives' Support Group is to be involved in a legal action being prepared against the State and Aer Lingus to force the full disclosure of documents concerning the crash 30 years ago, in which 61 people lost their lives.
Ms Hilary Noonan and Ms Celine O'Donoghue from Cork, who lost relatives in the crash, are active in the campaign. Ms Noonan lost her father and Ms O'Donoghue an aunt and two first cousins, when the Viscount aircraft, Aer Lingus flight EI 712 en route from Cork to London, disappeared without trace off the Co Wexford coast near the Tuskar Rock in March 1968.
For over three decades, the memory of this appalling loss of life has not gone away. The relatives feel they have been stonewalled about what actually happened.
Now the Tuskar Relatives' Air Crash Support Group has produced a strategy document. It also has a newsletter, which is sent to relatives of the victims, and a web site, http://www.dingle web.com/tuskar
"The only reason for this group's existence is to get answers to why this disaster occurred," says the document.
Since the memorial services for the victims earlier this year, there have been meetings with the British Ambassador, Dame Veronica Sutherland, as well as Irish public representatives. The British line remains the same - aircraft malfunction - despite persistent rumours that testing of military drones at Aberporth, in Wales, went terribly wrong on the day of the crash, destroying the St Phelim. The official Irish investigation into the crash produced an inconclusive report. The group has engaged a legal team with the help of Cork solicitor Ms Una Doyle. She has assembled junior and senior counsel who are willing to fight the case on a "no foal no fee basis". The legal team wants to take statements from anyone with anything to say about the tragedy. The relatives' group plans to index and reference all documents, comments and stories going back over 30 years so as to tie them back to original sources. The intention is to ensure that information will remain confidential until such time as the group and its legal team want it made public.
A man living in southern Spain made contact recently to say that while working in France some years ago he met a computer expert who had been attached to the British military in Wales. His story, as told to the person who contacted this column, was that on the day of the crash the computer programme used to fly the drones - some people call them high-powered rockets - went awry as did the drones.
He telephoned to say he thought he knew where his friend was and would make contact and come back to The Irish Times. I am still waiting to hear from him.