Call for clarity on McDowell IRA amnesty claim

The Government has denied there was an amnesty for IRA killers operating in the Republic for more than a decade.

But families and survivors of the worst single atrocity of the Troubles, the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, which killed 34 people and which was later claimed by the UVF, are demanding a public statement about claims by former justice minister Michael McDowell that a blind eye was turned to Provo fugitives. A government official has told Margaret Urwin, of Justice for the Forgotten, which is campaigning for the truth about the 1974 bombings, that various attempts were made to deal with the on-the-runs issue during the peace process.

Ms Urwin said the revelation raised concerns about whether all available evidence was handed over to the Barron Inquiry, a government-ordered investigation into the atrocity.