Barron report is out today

The long-awaited Barron report into terrorist bombings in Dublin and the border town of Monaghan on the same night almost 30 years ago was due to be published today.

But campaigners have warned that a full judicial inquiry, complete with the co-operation of the British government, is the only way the real truth behind events on May 17, 1974 will ever be revealed.

Relatives of the 33 victims are hoping that Justice Henry Barron’s report into what one of the single worst atrocities of the Northern Ireland troubles will recommend a full investigation.

The report is expected to be published this afternoon after being examined by the Oireachtas Justice Committee.

Justice for the Forgotten, an organisation of victims and relatives seeking justice for the bombings, said it was hoping it would prove to be a significant step in holding to account those responsible.

Spokeswoman Margaret Urwin said: “It’s never going to bring the ultimate truth, we don’t think it can give all the answers. The judge has had to rely on the goodwill of witnesses to come forward.

“If there is finding today that the British state was involved, if there is evidence of collusion, then we need British involvement in a judicial inquiry.”

But Jane Winter, from the London-based research group British Irish Rights Watch, said judging on past experiences she was not hopeful that the British government would co-operate.

She pointed to obstacles within the Saville Inquiry, where evidence had been lost or burned.

“Justice Barron himself has complained about the British government’s co-operation,” she said.

“He was kept waiting a long time for answers to questions and when he got them they were incomplete.

“The further it gets from home the less optimistic one becomes that the British will co-operate.

“But if some of the responsibility does lie with the British jurisdiction, they have a duty under Article 2 of the European Act of Human Rights to conduct a full investigation and to then share that information with the Irish government by a public inquiry or by other means.”

She said that their own submission to Justice Barron had thrown up some serious questions.

“It did suggest that the Irish had had outside help in the Dublin bombings.

“We are hoping there is sufficient evidence to warrant a public inquiry.”

The Barron report was due to have been completed more than a year ago, but its preparation was frustrated by the alleged lack of co-operation on the part of the British authorities.

The inquiry was established to examine a range of issues, including claims of collusion between members of the British security forces and the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force bombers responsible for the attacks.

The Dublin bombs on May 17, 1974, killed 26 people in three streets, including a pregnant woman. The Monaghan blast killed seven people.