The Commission of Investigation into the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings is expected to ask the Government for its seventh extension of time before it concludes a final report, it emerged last night.
The commission was established in April 2005 and its sole member, leading criminal law barrister Patrick MacEntee SC, has already sought six extensions in an effort to get more material from security sources about the bombings.
He has requested a number of extensions to establish if documents and information in the possession of security services could be obtained.
In October, the Government agreed to the sixth extension to December 11th. However, last night a Government spokeswoman confirmed that a seventh extension request is now expected.
She said the request will be brought by the Taoiseach to the Cabinet for consideration. It is expected that the extension will be requested and granted at the Cabinet meeting next Tuesday or Tuesday week.
The commission made an apparent breakthrough this year when Mr MacEntee and his team travelled outside the jurisdiction to interview certain individuals.
Thirty-three people died and 300 were injured when four car bombs exploded in Dublin and Monaghan on May 17th, 1974. No organisation claimed responsibility but loyalist paramilitaries were widely blamed.
The commission of investigation was the first established under new legislation to fast-track inquiries into matters of public concern as an alternative to time-consuming and expensive judicial tribunals.
Last night a spokeswoman for the Justice for the Forgotten Group, Margaret Urwen, expressed her disappointment. "We have been very patient and I am very disappointed to hear another extension is to be sought."
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said last week, after the publication of the Dáil Justice Committee report into the Barron report on eight atrocities in the Border area in 1974 and 1975, that he expected to have the Dublin and Monaghan report by December 11th. The Dáil committee found "endemic collusion" between the British authorities and loyalists in the murders.
The terms of reference of the commission into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings were to report on why the Garda investigation was wound down in 1974; why gardaí did not follow up on information that a white van with an English registration was parked on Portland Row and was later seen parked in the deep-sea area of the B&I ferry port in Dublin; and the subsequent contact with a British army officer on a ferry boat leaving Dublin.
When Mr MacEntee does bring his final report to the Taoiseach, he will be required by law to consider certain issues prior to publication. This is likely to involve requesting legal advice from the Attorney General.