The Sinn Féin Mayor of Limavady Borough Council in Co Derry said yesterday that members of the Provisional IRA should co-operate with any inquiry which was set up to investigate the Claudy bombings.
Nine people were killed when three bombs, believed to have been planted by the Provisional IRA, exploded without warning in the Co Derry village of Claudy on July 31st, 1972.
At Wednesday night's council meeting in Limavady, the mayor, Ms Anne Brolly, seconded a motion calling for an independent judicial inquiry to investigate the atrocity.
"I don't think I am a lone voice within the republican movement in terms of my support for this inquiry," said Ms Brolly.
"We are all fair-minded people who just want to get to the truth of what happened on that day. I have absolutely no problem with the truth, however unpalatable it may be for some people. We simply have to get to the truth.
"I think if republicans were involved in it they should certainly co-operate with any inquiry because it is only through such an inquiry that the truth will be got at. We have got to do what is right and there is no way I cannot support such an inquiry.
"The awful events of that day, the horror of that day, are indelibly imprinted on my mind. I knew a lot of those people who suffered that day and if an inquiry was to bring closure to the grief of the families then it should go ahead," said Ms Brolly.
Meanwhile, Independent Unionist councillor, Mr Boyd Douglas, who proposed the motion calling for the inquiry, said yesterday that he welcomed the mayor's support.
"The car bombing was carried out by the Provisional IRA. I think that's now beyond doubt. Nine people died and scores were injured in a village of 400. To put that in context, it's the equivalent of 1,400 being murdered or injured in Londonderry or 2,100 being killed or injured in Belfast. That's the scale of it."
Mr Billy Eakin, whose nine year old daughter, Kathryn, was the youngest of the Claudy victims, said he welcomed Ms Brolly's support for an inquiry.
"I would like to get some sort of answer as to why it happened and such an inquiry might bring a closure to my personal search. I am pleased that Councillor Brolly is backing this call and her support can only be helpful," he said.