February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Andrew Bushe
DUBLIN — As part of a new probe into the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings that killed 33 people, Garda detectives have taken a detailed statement from a former RUC man who claims collusion by the force, the now disbanded Ulster Defense Regiment and British intelligence in the atrocity.
The no-warning bombs resulted in the greatest mass murder in the history of the state. Nobody has been ever charged.
The new investigation follows the handing over of a detailed dossier on the bombings to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern by Justice for the Forgotten, the relatives and survivors group.
Last month, Justice Minister John O’Donoghue rejected a demand for a full inquiry, but lawyer Greg Ryan, who represents the group, now believes it is just a matter of time before an inquiry is conceded.
A Garda spokesman said that "an individual from outside the jurisdiction who had relayed information to us about serious crimes, which occurred a number of years ago within the state," had been interviewed.
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"Gardai from the Special Detective Unit in Dublin are investigating all aspects of this information," the spokesman said.
The dossier from the relatives group claims there was hands-on involvement by the security forces in Northern Ireland in both attacks.
It claims a British intelligence officer supplied the explosives and a UDR captain participated in the Dublin attack. The dossier also named an RUC officer whose home was allegedly used to make the bombs.
"It alleges that the clandestine and criminal operations of this group were authorized at a very high level in the RUC," Ryan said.
The Garda investigation is now expected to travel to Northern Ireland to interview potential witnesses there.