Survivors of the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings today backed moves towards an independent truth commission into the Ireland's recent bloody conflict.
A coalition of victims' organisations on both sides of the Border are pushing for a process that they say will help heal the emotional impact of the Troubles.
Margaret Urwin of the Justice for the Forgotten group which campaigns for victims of the Republic's worst ever atrocity, said a full commission was necessary.
"The past has to be dealt with in a positive way because if it's not dealt with it's going to raise its head again in the future," she said.
The organisation has joined with the Pat Finucane Centre, Relatives for Justice, the Ardoyne Commemoration Project, An Fhirinne and Firinne to demand a non-judicial process of mostly private hearings.
The coalition, representing more than 1,000 victims, envisages a body of commissioners drawn from Ireland, Britain and the international community that would chair the hearings which would then be reported on.
They have ruled out any commission based on the confrontational South African-style model because of legal implications and popular feeling among survivors and victims' families.
Paul O'Connor, of the human rights group, the Pat Finucane Centre, admitted that the mainly nationalist make-up of the coalition so far is standing in the way of progress.
"The challenge for us is to convince loyalism this is not a witch hunt, but an honest facing up to the past, an honest facing up to the fact that all of us carry the responsibility for what happened."
PA