The Ulster Unionist MP, Mr Roy Beggs, yesterday called for a public inquiry in Ireland to investigate the "stench of cover-up" relating to the 1970 Arms Trial.
Opening a short debate in Westminster Hall at the House of Commons, Mr Beggs said the release of government papers in Ireland and Britain had "intensified suspicion" about the involvement of former Fianna Fail ministers in assisting the creation of the Provisional IRA.
He then referred to a letter written by the British ambassador to Ireland, Sir John Peck, to the foreign secretary, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, after the Arms Trial, in which he said the diplomat observed: "Whatever the verdict, if Mr Haughey was not part of a conspiracy, he was at any rate up to the neck in a scheme to import arms illegally."
Official papers released in Dublin recently "strongly indicate the authorised omission of evidence" in the Arms Trial by former minister of justice, Mr Des O'Malley, Mr Beggs said. The release of documents relating to the Arms Trial and "conflicting evidence" given at the trial "create not so much a whiff but a stench of cover-up. That is cover-up, not stitch-up," he added.
Mr Beggs said the Arms Trial had "failed to provide the required transparency" and he urged the British government to call on Dublin to establish an independent inquiry into the involvement of former ministers in the formation and supply of arms to the PIRA.
"There is an obvious need for transparency and an obvious requirement for accountability. In the interests of progress and the improvement of Anglo-Irish relations, it is essential that new information relating to the Arms Crisis of 1970 be fully examined and evaluated and that any such examination be carried out by a broad, independent public inquiry in the Republic of Ireland . . . it must investigate the actions of Fianna Fail government ministers who, if they did not act as mothers to the Provisional IRA acted as a midwife at the birth of the organisation."
The UUP deputy leader, Mr John Taylor, joined the calls for a public inquiry. He said Dublin had requested that the British government should establish inquiries into past events and London should adopt a similar approach.
"The Dublin government requested the Bloody Sunday Inquiry - they got it. The Dublin government asked the government here to apologise for the Potato Famine - they got the apology from the minister.
"We're saying please make representations to the Dublin government to have a public inquiry into this dreadful affair."
Resisting the demands, the Foreign Office Minister, Mr Brian Wilson, said he would not allow the premise to be established that the Bloody Sunday inquiry was set up "at the behest" of Dublin.
He said the publication of State papers reflected the "maturity of relations" between Dublin and London and it was a matter for Dublin to decide how to proceed on alleged matters that had taken place within the jurisdiction.