New evidence concerning the involvement of the RUC and British military intelligence in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings strengthens the demand for a tribunal of inquiry, according to the solicitor for the victims.
Mr Greg O'Neill, solicitor for Justice for the Forgotten, the committee of victims and relatives of those killed, told a press conference yesterday that this material identified members of the security forces in Northern Ireland who were involved.
They included the British military intelligence officer who supplied the explosives, the UDR captain who participated in the attack in Dublin and the RUC officer whose house was used for the assembly of the bombs.
"It further identifies a group, operating within the RUC and in close liaison with the British military, who are responsible for many murders in Northern Ireland in addition to the 33 murders in Dublin and Monaghan," he said.
"It alleges that the clandestine and criminal operations of this group were authorised at a very high level within the RUC . . . states that the RUC never even questioned the persons suspected of involvement in these bombings, even though their identities were known to the RUC and British military intelligence within days of the atrocities.
"A dossier of RUC and Garda documents, forensic reports and statements from British and Irish military personnel has been assembled. Their examination gives rise to a number of very serious questions touching the management of the police inquiries in the aftermath of the bombings."
Among the questions raised, he said, were: "Why did three days elapse before the earliest examination by a forensic scientist was carried out? Why was the greater bulk of the forensic material from the bomb scenes not passed to Dr James Donovan of the State Forensic Laboratory, but sent to the Northern Ireland Forensic Science Laboratory?
"Why was its report never furnished to the head of the State Laboratory, until the committee handed it to him yesterday? Is the Minister aware that the delays in examining the material seriously prejudiced the opportunity for identifying the explosive substances and possibly therefore their source?"
Reiterating the relatives' demand for an inquiry, he said: "It is hard to comprehend that an event of such significance in the history of the State has not been the subject matter of a tribunal of inquiry."
He added that ultimately the committee might have to take this material to a forum outside the State if they did not receive a positive response within it. There were already proceedings pending in the European Court of Human Rights.
Mr Don Mullan, who chaired the press conference, said that the campaign was gathering momentum internationally and nationally. He was optimistic that there would be an inquiry. The relatives of the Bloody Sunday victims had been told there would be no public inquiry, yet shortly after the 25th anniversary of the shootings an inquiry had been announced.