British government co-operation in the inquiry into the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings is to be raised by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern when he meets the new Northern Secretary, Peter Hain, next week.
This was revealed by Mr Ahern, who said he had "an unsatisfactory discussion" last spring with the British government on the issue.
"The new secretary of state will be the fourth Northern secretary who, next week, I will have had the pleasure of meeting on the issue." The Taoiseach said he would also raise the matter again with the British prime minister.
"As I have said previously in the House, this issue is passed from whatever minister one is dealing with, whether the prime minister or a minister, back into the security system which puts forward the position that it is giving all the information available, but it is not like our system."
Labour justice spokesman Joe Costello said the Oireachtas committee, which considered the Barron report on the bombings, had suggested that the British government should be taken to the European Court of Human Rights for failure to co-operate with the investigation.
Mr Ahern said he had followed the committee's recommendations to the letter of the law from the beginning of the process five years ago. "I will continue to do so because I owe it to the committee which has done a lot of work on the matter. I need to take legal advice on how to pursue the matter, but I am prepared to follow it up."
Replying to Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, the Taoiseach said the Government had raised the issue of collusion time and again with the British government and would continue to do so. "However, I must be honest with Deputy Kenny and point out that I believe we will never be satisfied on this issue, but I guarantee him that I will continue to pursue it. The British position on this, both within its security and government systems, and I am sure its legal system if we could ever get to it, is that it has maintained it has made available the information that it has on the subject."
Mr Ahern said former secretary of state Paul Murphy had written to the Oireachtas committee to that effect. He added that, while he would continue to pursue this issue, he honestly did not see it progressing any further.
Earlier, Mr Ahern said the Oireachtas committee had recommended a commission of inquiry, and last month the Government had appointed one with Patrick MacEntee SC as sole member. The commission had been asked to produce its report within six months.
He was fully aware of the views of the Justice for the Forgotten, he said, but he would urge them to reserve judgment on the commission's work until it had produced its report.
