Dublin and Monaghan bombings case granted leave in High Court
A separate civil action against the British government is said to be at an advanced stage.
The High Court has granted leave for a judicial review brought against the Irish authorities over an alleged failure to provide information about the Dublin and Monaghan bombings in 1974 to the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (PONI).
The families and survivors of the Dublin/Monaghan bombings feel they have been forced to lodge proceedings against the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee over what they say is their failure to date to provide files to PONI inquiry.
This inquiry, entitled Operation Newham, is an investigation by PONI into allegations of collusion between the then RUC and the activities of the so-called Glenanne gang.
No person has ever been held responsible for the attacks, and the Garda investigation files into these bombings and the murders remains open.
PONI is currently in the final stages of preparing a thematic report into allegations of collusion between the former RUC and the mid-Ulster UVF in the mid-1970s.
As recently as June of this year, shortly after the 50th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, Minister McEntee indicated to the Dáil that An Garda Síochána had been assisting PONI in relation to Operation Newham.
“An Garda Síochána has engaged with PONI over those years in relation to a number of investigations, including Dublin Monaghan, and is continuing its work in providing assistance to PONI,” she said.
“This co-operation between State authorities and Operation Newham is a matter to be dealt with through the appropriate formal channels and is, of course, an operational matter for An Garda Síochána.”
She added that Gardaí “remain committed to cooperating to the greatest extent possible with Operation Newham and PONI generally.”
The High Court formally granted Leave yesterday (Tuesday) for Paddy Askins, son of Patrick Askin, who was killed in the 1974 bombings, to take the case to a full hearing.
Solicitor Kevin Winters of Belfast-based KRW LAW LLP, which acts on behalf of families and survivors of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, said: “It was bad enough for the families and survivors to learn that the Garda Commissioner had failed to hand over intelligence files to PONI. However, then to learn recently that, in fact, nothing at all had been provided on the Dublin/Monaghan case, was very demoralising.”
This, he regards, “makes a mockery” of all previous ministerial promises about the Irish State co-operating with their Northern counterparts to “ensure transparency”.
“It is depressing that, after 50 years, families have to traipse to court to force the Irish authorities to make files available on the worst atrocity of the conflict.
“We welcome the fact that the High Court has made an order granting Leave to take the case to the next stage. We now call on the authorities to do the right thing and make these files available as soon as possible.”
A separate civil action against the British government is said to be at an advanced stage.