The probability of British security force collusion with the UVF bombers who attacked Dublin and Monaghan in 1974 was "exceptionally high", the Oireachtas sub-committee on Justice and Law Reform has found.
In an examination of the issues raised by the report into the bombings by Mr Justice Barron, the committee said that a public inquiry in Britain was the only meaningful way of reaching definitive conclusions about the extent of any collusion. Stating that further inquiries should take place in the relevant jurisdiction, the committee called on the Irish Government to initiate separate public inquiries into the loss of the Garda security file on the attack and the winding down of the Garda investigation in 1974.
The committee said that those who carried out the attacks came from and planned the bombings in the North and added that information touching on collusion and any witnesses were likely to be in Britain.
"In all probability, information which identifies and which concerns the perpetrators still exists in Northern Ireland and Great Britain." It went on to say that a public inquiry should be preceded by a preliminary examination of documentation carried out in private in Britain by a judge of international stature.
Such an investigation would be similar in remit to the collusion investigations by Judge Peter Cory, who examined original MI5 records during his examination of six murders in the Northern Ireland conflict.
The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice said the Government should initiate proceedings against Britain in the European Court of Human Rights if the British government failed to initiate such investigations.
On collusion, the committee said it could not go any further than Mr Justice Barron, who said he could not rule out the possibility of involvement by RUC, UDR or British Army members but did not have evidence to prove collusion.
While Judge Barron told committee members that his review of collusion was not exhausted, the committee noted that his conclusions were limited due to the failure of the British authorities to supply him with certain information and make original documents available.
However, the committee chairman, Mr Seán Ardagh, said the fact that it had recommended a public inquiry "implies in a grave way that the probability of collusion was exceptionally high". Mr Ardagh said it was for the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, to persuade the British prime minister, Mr Tony Blair, to initiate a public inquiry. He believed such a request would be accepted because of the co-operative spirit of the peace process.
Judge Cory was appointed under a protocol agreed by the Irish and British governments at Weston Park in 2001. However, the committee said a similar preliminary investigation into the 1974 bombings should have greater powers. These include the power to compel witnesses to attend for interviews and to compel the delivery of records and inspect premises.
However, the committee said it had been informed by Judge Cory that "he had seen MI5 documentation and believed that he had seen everything that was relevant".
This was in contrast to Mr Barron, who never saw original British records, and made repeated requests for information from the British authorities before receiving any information.
The committee called on the Government to convene commissions of inquiry to examine aspects of the case that concern the response of the authorities in the Republic.
Such commissions would have similar powers to a tribunal of inquiry but, to minimise cost, they would conduct their work mostly in private. Legislation to establish such commissions is currently being processed by the Oireachtas.
The committee said one commission should examine why the Garda investigation into the attacks was wound down in 1974.
The committee asked why the Garda did not follow up three leads in the immediate aftermath of the Dublin attack. These concerned: a white van seen in Portland Row, whose driver later had contact with a British officer on a ferry leaving Dublin port; a man with contacts to the UVF who stayed at the Four Courts Hotel in mid-May 1974; and information on a British Army corporal allegedly seen in Dublin around the time of the bombings. It wants another commission to examine the loss of the Garda security file on the bombings. Mr Ardagh said there was confusion about the location of key files and what had happened to them.
