Dublin/ Monaghan Information Appeal March 2001

Dublin/Monaghan Information Appeal

Relatives, campaigners and lawyers from Justice for the Forgotten, the group set up to seek the truth behind the Dublin/ Monaghan bombings of May 1974, launched an International Appeal for information at a briefing in the House of Commons on Thursday March 15 2001. The appeal specifically calls on members of the British security forces/services and government officials to come forward with any information of relevance to the ongoing inquiry. See below for details.

Justice for the Forgotten

DUBLIN & MONAGHAN BOMBINGS 17th MAY 1974

Did the British Army adopt a counter insurgency policy in Northern Ireland, which led to the deaths of 33 people in Dublin, Ireland’s capital city and in Monaghan, an Irish provincial town, on the 17th of May 1974?
Documents furnished by lawyers for Justice for the Forgotten, the campaigning group for the Victims of the Dublin & Monaghan Bombings, to the Irish Government’s Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Bombings raise serious concerns as to use of loyalist paramilitary groups as agent provocateurs.
Secret British Army security documents from 1971 indicate that the British Army was concerned at the military resources required to secure the Border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The number of battalions required could only be sustained for a few months and at a risk to NATO commitments. A long-term engagement would require radical policy decisions such as the withdrawal of British troops from Hong Kong.
On the 4th of October 1971 the British Prime Minister was briefed with a secret British Army document entitled "Military Appreciation of the Security Situation in Northern Ireland".
This secret ‘Military Appreciation’ reported that the character of the emergency in Ulster had changed radically in 1971 with a mounting scale of IRA terrorism and that Military Intelligence was fundamental to successful operations against terrorists. While the problem was essentially a politico-military one the isolation of the terrorist from the population was seen as the sine qua non of success.
The British Army was concerned that the greater the forces the IRA compelled the Army to provide on basic security the fewer that were available for active operations against the IRA. It also believed the RUC was problematic and made a minimal contribution to the security situation and that it would be a few years before it could play a more effective role.
The ‘Military Appreciation’ summarised the position as follows:
"The IRA… has the initiative and has the resources, partly in the North but primarily in the South of Ireland, to maintain it."
This 1971 ‘Military Appreciation’ then set out a range of military options including:
The use of SAS on surveillance operations
The formation of Q squads in special areas, to ‘mystify, mislead and destroy’ the terrorists.
The Army favoured an approach that would remove certain restraints from its operations but would not require a significant escalation of the Army’s commitment to Northern Ireland.
Personal correspondence passing between Ministry of Defence officials in 1975 indicated that the policy to "mystify, mislead and destroy" had been applied on a broader front. The correspondence expressed a concern that the Dublin & Monaghan bombings had been connected with a group known as the Protestant Action Force/Protestant Task Force controlled by a Special Duties Team from British Army HQ in Lisburn, Northern Ireland.
It has been known for some time that a special British Army unit operated in Armagh in 1974 under the title of 4 Field Survey Troop.
Detailed statements made by a former member of the RUC indicate that the Protestant Action Force/Protestant Task Force was in fact a group comprised of senior UVF members in Mid-Ulster together with serving members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and members of the Ulster Defence Regiment - a British Army Regiment. The same senior UVF members are named in the aforementioned correspondence.
New forensic reports submitted by the lawyers for Justice for the Forgotten to the Independent Commission of Inquiry contain empirical evidence based on a scientific assessment of bomb disposal records of bombings in 1974 that the explosives and explosive devices used in the Dublin bombs were not in Loyalist arsenals.
These forensic reports corroborate statements, obtained by the legal team,that explosives were made available to the Protestant Action Force/Protestant Task Force by a British Army Officer on an operation-by-operation basis.
The documents which have now come to light, together with correspondence, statements and forensic reports, obtained by the relatives’ legal team, gives rise to a real concern that the Dublin & Monaghan Bombings of the 17th of May 1974 were inspired by the British Army.

INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION APPEAL

THE RELATIVES’ APPEAL

The victims of the Dublin & Monaghan Bombings come to Westminster today, the 15th of March 2001, to launch an International Information Appeal.

There are many people with knowledge of what occurred in Northern Ireland in 1974 and the policies that were being applied in the period 1973 to 1976. This information may have a significant bearing on the investigations into the Dublin & Monaghan Bombings of the 17th of May 1974, which resulted in the murder of 33 people.

The relatives appeal to any person who served with the British Army, Royal Ulster Constabulary or the security services MI5 and MI6, who may have any relevant information, to contact the Justice for the Forgotten - Legal Team or the Independent Commission of Inquiry.

The relatives also appeal to Civil Servants who served in Northern Ireland or who had an involvement with Northern Ireland by reason of posts they held in the Ministry of Defence, the Home Office, the Northern Ireland Office, the Cabinet Office, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Foreign Office to contact the Justice for the Forgotten Legal Team or the Independent Commission of Inquiry.

The relatives appeal especially to Politicians who served in relevant ministerial offices or who served on the Cabinet –Northern Ireland Committee, to assist the relatives’ legal team and the Independent Commission of Inquiry.

THE GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT

As relatives we are particularly conscious of the acknowledgement made by the parties to the Good Friday Agreement that:

"It is essential to acknowledge and address the suffering of the victims of violence as a necessary element of reconciliation."

Our appeal today is to institutions and individuals to give meaning to these words. As victims, our suffering will continue until the truth of what occurred on the 17th of May 1974 is established.

We would like to bring to the attention of those people who may have information, to the commitment given by Tony Blair on the 20th of June 2000 by letter from his Private Secretary to Justice for the Forgotten.

" These were horrific and terrible crimes and the Prime Minister welcomes any development which may help shed light on these events and go at least some way to easing the pain of those injured or bereaved.

… I can reassure you that the British Government will treat any requests for assistance and information received from the Inquiry sympathetically and in a positive spirit."

We note the support given yesterday by former Northern Ireland Secretaries of State to the appeal by the victims of the Omagh bombing for funds to advance a civil claim against alleged perpetrators. We would like to use this opportunity to appeal to each one of them to endorse our International Information Appeal today

PEOPLE WHO MAY BE ABLE TO ASSIST

By way of illustrating the persons to whom this appeal may be relevant, the following persons who were engaged in or with Northern Ireland in 1972 to 1976 may be of special assistance in helping us to establish the truth. These persons may confirm or rebut information we have received.

Persons who served in the period 1973 to 1976 with:

Army HQ Lisburn / Special Duties Team at Army HQ Lisburn / Intelligence, Army HQ Lisburn / 4 Field Survey Troop, Castledillon, Co. Armagh / 3 Brigade HQ, Lurgan / Army Information Office, Army HQ Lisburn / Psychological Operations, Army HQ Lisburn / Army/ RUC Intelligence Liaison, RUC HQ, Knock, Belfast

Persons who held the following posts in 3 Brigade Area (Armagh/Down/Fermanagh/Tyrone)

Brigade Command & Staff / GSO 2 Intelligence Officers/ Military Liaison Officers / Field Intelligence NCOs / Liaison Intelligence NCOs / Ammunition Technicians and Ammunition Technical Officers Weapons Intelligence Officers

Officers and soldiers who served with any of the following regiments in 3 Brigade Area:

Royal Ordnance Corps / Royal Engineers / Royal Regiment of Fusiliers / The Green Howards / Royal Anglian Regiment / Royal Hampshire Regiment / Royal Green Jackets / 3 Field Squadron / 11 Field Squadron / 33 Independent Field Squadron / 2 UDR and 11 UDR.

Members of the RUC who served in J, H and K Divisions, particularly in Special Branch.

Members of the RUC who served with Armagh Special Patrol Group.

Politicians, Civil Servants and Army Personnel who served on or with the

Cabinet – Northern Ireland Sub-Committee / Ministry of Defence – Northern Ireland Policy Committee / Joint Intelligence Committee

Civil Servants who served in Northern Ireland or who had an involvement with Northern Ireland by reason of posts they held:

Ministry of Defence / The Home Office / The Northern Ireland Office / The Cabinet Office / The Prime Minister’s Office / The Foreign Office

We believe that numerous important documentary sources exist which may throw considerable light on the events of the time, principally those editions of the following documents that would have been current in May 1974

i. Army Operational Directives
   ii. Military Appreciation of Security Situation
  iii. Military Appreciation of the Ulster Workers’ Council Strike
  iv. Internal Security Instructions
   v. Directives on Internal Security Operations – Military
vi. Standing Operational Procedures for Internal Security Duties In Northern Ireland. (SOPs)
vii. Army HQ Northern Ireland Weekly Intelligence Summary & Army HQ Northern Ireland Weekly Operational Summary covering the period of the Ulster Workers’ Council Strike, principally April, May and June 1974.
viii. Records of D OPS Meetings
  ix. Records of Information Policy Working Party
   x. The Military Policy Committee
  xi. Briefing Papers to Battalions prior to commencement of Tour of Duties
xii. End of Tour Reports prepared by Battalions
xiii. Briefing Papers for officers undergoing training for deployment in operational command, intelligence and bomb disposal duties.

Contact - Justice for the Forgotten:

Margaret Urwin, Administrator, Justice for the Forgotten
Greg O’Neill, Solicitor, Justice for the Forgotten - Legal Team
Cormac Ó Dúlacháin, Counsel, Justice for the Forgotten – Legal Team
Justice for the Forgotten
213 Merrion Road,
Dublin 4,
Ireland
ph: 353 1 2838782 fax 353 1 2838794
e-mail:1974bombings@esatlink.com

Contact - Commission of Inquiry:

Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Dublin & Monaghan Bombings
Room 355, Government Buildings,
Upper Merrion Street,
Dublin 2,
Ireland
ph: 353 1 6194453 fax 353 1 6194175
e-mail: dublinmonaghancommission@indigo.ie

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