Fianna Fáil leader calls on British Government to release files on Dublin and Monaghan bombings
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Fianna Fáil leader calls on British Government to release files on Dublin and Monaghan bombings

FIANNA Fáil leader Micheál Martin has called on the British Government to open its files on the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.

Mr Martin believes the newly-elected Conservative government has the perfect chance to take action, ahead of the 41st anniversary of the attacks.

On May 17, 1974, 34 people – including an unborn baby - were killed in separate attacks in Dublin city and Monaghan town. A further 300 were injured as four separate car bombs went off at rush hour.

The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) claimed responsibility for the attacks almost 20 years later, in 1993.

Mr Martin said that the release of the documents the British Government have on the bombings would help the victims and their relatives “find the justice that has eluded them for decades”.

Previous investigations into the attacks were carried out by the British Government during the Stevens Inquiry, as well as an Irish report in 2003, though nobody has ever been charged over the attacks.

The Irish government's Barron Report stated that the bombings were carried out by two loyalist groups including many UVF paramilitaries.

It also found that the British Government’s reluctance to share its findings from the Stevens Inquiry was a hindrance to the investigation.

This week Mr Martin claimed that opening the files to an independent judicial figure would be “the fairest way to deal with this legacy issue".