A Mass and commemoration service was held in Belturbet, Co Cavan, yesterday to mark the bombing that claimed the lives of two teenagers there 40 years ago.
On December 28th, 1972, a car bomb exploded in the town, killing local girl Geraldine O’Reilly (15) and Paddy Stanley (16) from Clara, Co Offaly. She was buying chips when the bomb went off. He was in a phone box talking to his parents.
Others were injured in the explosion and the bomb devastated the small Border town. A loyalist group is alleged to have been responsible but no one has ever been charged. A monument was erected in 2007 on the site of the bomb.
The victims’ families continue to press for an inquiry into the bombings and the call was repeated by the Justice for the Forgotten group yesterday. Sinn Féin TD for Cavan Monaghan Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin called on Minister for Justice Alan Shatter to release the files in his department on the incident.
The call came after it emerged yesterday that a Freedom of Information request by RTÉs This Week programme had been refused by the Department of Justice.