February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Barron reports that he uncovered no evidence of high-level collusion between the British and the U.V.F. in the bombings. However he points out that non-cooperation from the British authorities in the North prevented a proper examination of the role these shadowy forces played.
He also claims that it is “likely” that collusion did take place at some level. This contention is surely beyond doubt and adds little to what is already in the public domain.
The reams of newsprint devoted to the issue have uncovered a policy of collaboration between the supposed forces of law and order in the North and the various loyalist paramilitaries.
British intelligence and the RUC had scores of agents within both the U.V.F. and the UDA in the early 1970s. The bombing of Dublin and Monaghan took place at a time when loyalists, assisted by the RUC and various British spooks, were engaging in a coup d’etat to bring down the Sunningdale power-sharing agreement.
Two former British agents have since gone on record about the relationship between loyalists and the intelligence agencies at that time. Portadown intelligence officer Fred Holroyd and former army agent Colin Wallace have both confirmed a policy of collusion. Both have had to endure the concerted attempts by the British authorities to discredit and intimidate them.
A full judicial inquiry into the bombings is needed to bring closure on these issues. Many of the relatives of those who died are now in their eighties and need proper answers soon.
The Irish government must not concede ground to those who argue that such an approach would be too expensive. This is not about planning corruption — it concerns the killing of 33 Irish citizens by loyalists aided and abetted by members of the British security forces and an Irish government that turned its back on its own people for fear that a proper investigation might damage diplomatic relations with Britain.