More recent files devoid of O’Duffy-era detail

There is an extraordinary contrast in the state papers just released between the paucity of investigative material in relation the various gubus (grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre, unprecedented events) of 1982 and the wealth of interesting material that the Department of Justice has released dealing with events in the 1930s and 1940s.

The latter provide a real insight into what is likely missing from the 1982 file, and this should prompt serious questioning about the manner in which material is being withheld.

The justice files, for instance, have considerable details of the investigation of a riot in Tralee on Oct 6, 1933. Eoin O’Duffy, the new leader of the United Ireland Party (Fine Gael), which was established four weeks earlier, was literally hammered and his car torched when he came to attend his party’s local convention.