Security files on bombings 'vanished', says Ahern

Explanations from the Taoiseach that certain security files relating to the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings had just “vanished” were criticised today.

Asked to explain why the sensitive intelligence files were missing from the Department of Justice, Bertie Ahern said he did not know how or where it had happened.

“The fact of the matter is that a significant amount of detailed files did totally go missing and have not been retrieved. I cannot explain that,” he told the Dáil.

“A large number of files have vanished and it certainly would have been better if they were there.”

Green Party leader Trevor Sargent demanded a better explanation, telling Mr Ahern it was “the kind of answer you’d expect from Paul Daniels.”

It is believed the files and their duplicates, which have also disappeared, held valuable information from the time of the bombings.

Justice Henry Barron, who conducted a detailed inquiry into the atrocities, had no other way of accessing the information.

Pat Rabbitte, leader of the Labour Party, told the Dáil it was “extraordinary” that the Government could just put its hands up and say the files were missing without conducting a specific inquiry.

Mr Ahern said he would not take any action until the joint parliamentary committee currently considering Justice Barron’s report produces its own findings next month.

But he added that he did not believe further information would ever be obtained from intelligence sources.

“I don’t see us getting any more records no matter what we do,” he said.

“Justice Barron has done all he can. The missing files are not in the system and they certainly would have been useful to it.

”There is no other way of getting those documents.”

Mr Ahern said he was confident British Prime Minister Tony Blair was not knowingly withholding any information and that the British government would participate in any inquiry if called to do so.

Justice Barron’s report, which was delivered in December, was critical of the government at the time of the bombings and of the original Garda investigation but found no evidence of collusion at a senior level.

The Dublin bombs on May 17, 1974 killed 27 people in three streets, including a pregnant woman and her unborn baby.

The Monaghan bomb on the same day killed seven people in what was the worst single day of violence in the 30 years of the Northern Ireland Troubles.