Bombings families write to Queen

Bereaved families and survivors of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings have written an open letter to the British Queen to mark her arrival in Ireland on the 37th anniversary of the atrocities.

A total of 34 men, women and children – including an unborn baby – were killed in the no-warning explosions on May 17, 1974.

It was the greatest loss of life in a single day of the Troubles.

Justice For The Forgotten has appealed to the monarch to urge British Prime Minister David Cameron to open secret files which were withheld during an inquiry.

“Without this move, deeply troublesome questions remain unanswered,” it wrote.

The campaign group believes the blasts were carried out by loyalist paramilitaries with British state collusion.

It wrote that while the Queen’s visit is a sign of improving relations between the two islands and peoples, it wants the occasion marked by “a genuinely significant gesture of reconciliation”.

Justice For The Forgotten said the sky did not fall in after Mr Cameron’s historic apology for Bloody Sunday last June.

“Rather, it led to an unprecedented act of reconciliation by the Protestant churches in Derry,” it continued.

“So on this momentous occasion, our plea to Prime Minister Cameron is: Pursue the truth with vigour – make us all stronger – open up the files.”

Victims of the bombings will be honoured at a wreath-laying ceremony at the Dublin memorial in Talbot Street on Tuesday morning, as the Queen begins her controversial visit.

Organisers have called on members of the public to attend the annual memorial for the dead, but asked that no flags, banners or emblems are displayed.

Margaret Urwin, spokeswoman for Justice For The Forgotten, said Mr Cameron - who will be in Dublin with the Queen on Wednesday – has a moral obligation to release the files.

“The extraordinary coincidence of the British monarch arriving on the actual anniversary of the worst atrocity in the history of the Troubles gives the British Government and British Prime Minister a wonderful opportunity to make a genuine, significant gesture of reconciliation,” she said.

“We are hoping that good will come from this.”

Meanwhile cross-party politicians in the Dáil will this week debate and vote on whether the government should press Mr Cameron to release all files relating to the bombings.

The private members motion, put forward by Sinn Féin, reiterates a previous all-party motion which was passed in July 2008.

Sinn Féin TD Aengus O Snodaigh said: “It is widely believed that this attack, involving the greatest loss of life of any incident in the conflict, was carried out with the involvement of British intelligence.

“To date no action has been taken despite the motion receiving unanimous backing from all parties and it is for this reason that we are taking the opportunity to restate that call and are urging An Taoiseach Enda Kenny to press this matter directly with British Prime Minister David Cameron.”