It was hardly what the former Tanaiste, Mr John Wilson, expected as he paused to take another question from the assembled media. Visibly shaking, Ms Martesa Karney raised her voice to give her verdict on the Report of the Victims Commission. She said the decision to opt for a private inquiry headed by a former Supreme Court judge "only rubbed salt in the wounds" she had suffered along with more than 400 others on May 17th, 1974.
Only earlier this week she underwent more medical treatment for the injuries received in the bomb which went off in Dublin's Talbot Street.
A total of 26 people died in bomb attacks in Dublin. Seven people were killed in the bomb explosion in Monaghan town.
Ms Karney cast her thoughts to the two public tribunals working at present in Dublin Castle. "It made it appear that people who didn't pay their taxes, and got a public inquiry, were more important than those killed and injured" in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.
Mr Frank Massey lost his daughter Anna in the bomb that exploded in Dublin's South Leinster Street. She had celebrated her 21st birthday only five days before the bomb took her life. For the last 25 years Anna's father had sought "only justice and truth". He had met the Victims Commission last year. "We asked for a public inquiry. There was no talk of a private inquiry." He repeatedly put it to Mr Wilson - "from the Minister for Justice down, what are they afraid of?" The former Tanaiste defended the recommendations in his report.
Mr Massey said he would have "no confidence" in a private inquiry.
The campaign of the victims and relatives over the past 25 years has taken its toll. Mr Massey admitted that "some of us are worn out going to meetings. We are always being told `no', even at this late stage. We're been advised now to take something we didn't even ask for".
Ms Michelle O'Brien's mother was killed in the bombings in Dublin. She fought off tears as she argued the case for a public inquiry. However, she accepted that the commission's report was "a step forward" even if it "did bring all the memories back".