Is Britain being truly neighbourly?

While I welcomed the State visit of President Michael D Higgins to Britain, I’m not sure it has sealed the end of an era, as has been suggested.

There are issues outstanding, and their resolution cannot, and should not, be abandoned for fear of causing upset. Our new relationship with our closest neighbour must be based on mutual respect, and a willingness to confront issues from the past, from both perspectives.

I refer to the running sore that is the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. The findings of the ‘Barron Report’ into these bombings implicate Northern Ireland state security forces in the murders of 33 Irish citizens.

Repeated calls, by the Irish government, for Britain to release files identified in the Barron Report and which might assist in bringing the killers to justice, have been consistently rejected.

These are not the actions of a friendly neighbouring state. If the Irish government had files that could be of assistance in identifying the people responsible for the Birmingham and Guildford pub bombings, in Britain in 1974 — 26 people were killed — and if, following a request from Britain, our neighbours, for us to release these files, we refused, the British would be rightly outraged.

Ireland would be regarded with suspicion and treated accordingly. There would be no State visit by President Higgins to Britain. Surely, the pursuance of justice for the victims of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings is no less worthy than the pursuance of justice by the British government for those killed and bereaved at Lockerbie.

Ireland should not accept lesser standards of justice for her murdered citizens than the UK does for hers. If the new relationship between our two states is to prosper into the future, it must be strong enough to confront and reconcile the past.

Tom Cooper

Templeogue

Dublin 6w