President Michael D Higgins has said “feigned amnesia” around the Dublin-Monaghan bombings is “not an option”.
Speaking at a memorial event on Talbot Street today to mark 50 years since the tragedy, the President said Ireland has “a collective responsibility to find a way to deal ethically with the legacy of the Trouble”.
“A strategy of feigned amnesia or hoping time will deliver one is simply not an option, nor is any strategy of continuing the protection of previous evasions or failures to act,” he said.
“It is not morally acceptable, nor is it politically feasible, to request that those affected by such tragedy should forget about the past.”
Mr Higgins described the circumstances of the bombings on May 17th, 1974, three in Dublin city and one in Monaghan.
Some 34 people were killed, including one unborn baby, while roughly 300 were injured.
The Dublin and Monaghan Bombings memorial. Photo: Brian O'Leary/Photocall IrelandNo one was convicted for the bombings, but the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) admitted responsibility in 1993.
Mr Higgins also pointed out the “manifest failures” from both the Irish and British Governments in the past to fail to assist in investigations.
He called on the UK Government to open and allow access to all documents relating to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.
The Dáil unanimously supported this request on the UK Government in a vote last Tuesday.
Legacy of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings
Mr Higgins said the recent enactment of the UK Legacy Act 2023 “has the effect of closing existing avenues for victims and survivors to seek truth and justice”.
“The enactment of that unilaterally sourced legislation has resulted in families who have spent decades fighting for an effective investigation into their cases of not only facing further uncertainty and delays but of the deprivation of legal rights,” he said.
The President also noted the 2003 Barron report found that the Irish Government did not assist Gardaí by revealing the UK Government suspected loyalist paramilitaries were involved.
He also thanked Margaret Urwin from Justice for the Forgotten for “all her work over the years representing the families and survivors”.
“Let us take the opportunity that today’s commemoration constitutes to reaffirm not only our commitment to peace, and our revulsion of war and conflict, but our support for the relatives and all members of the public whose reasonable demand is, however embarrassing or painful it may be, for the full truth to emerge,” he said.
Earlier today, former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said a State apology would “certainly help” grieving family members and survivors of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings, but the main goal is accessing more information.
