Sinn Féin TD for Cavan-Monaghan Pauline Tully has received assurances from the Minister for Justice that new information into 1972 bombings will be forwarded to An Garda Síochána for their attention.

This comes following further revelations which point to the possible identity of one of the people involved in the bombing of Clones and also likely Belturbet and Pettigo in December 1972.

Teachta Tully said:

“I recently brought it to the attention of the Minister for Justice that new information had been unearthed in British Ministry of Defence archives by University of Nottingham academic Dr Edward Burke.

“This new information may shed some light on the identity of one of the people responsible for the bombing of Clones in December 1972 as well as Belturbet and Pettigo the same evening.

“It also reveals that the RUC failed to provide intelligence to An Garda Síochána of a car that they suspected was stolen earlier that day in Enniskillen by a loyalist paramilitary which may have prevented the attack.

“This is a shocking revelation as many people were injured in the three bomb attacks, and in Belturbet two innocent young people lost their lives.

“Other evidence previously unearthed by Dr Burke was central to the documentary ‘Belturbet: A Bomb That Time Forgot’  which aired on RTE in December 2020. 

“The documentary highlighted how the British army had colluded with a Unionist politician and loyalist paramilitaries in blowing up Aghalane bridge on the border between Cavan and Fermanagh.

“The Minister in her response said that ‘[t]he bombings were fully investigated by An Garda Síochána at the time with technical assistance from the Defence Forces and the close cooperation of the authorities in Northern Ireland’.

“However, the point that the Minister seems to miss is the fact that these ‘authorities in Northern Ireland’ who An Gardai were in ‘close cooperation’ are the same people who it is revealed both colluded with the loyalist paramilitaries who blew up Aghalane Bridge and also failed to pass on information to An Garda Síochána, which may have prevented one or more of the bomb attacks in Belturbet, Clones and Pettigo.

“I have contacted the Minister for Justice to ensure that this information is also brought to the attention of the Justice Minister at Stormont and the Police Ombudsman’s Office .”