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Justice at last for the forgotten victims of sectarian murder in Dundalk

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Revised: 26 October 2008 09:49:06 

In Memory of

Jack Rooney and Hugh Watters

Photograph:The late Mr. Jack Rooney, a council worker, aged 60, who was murdered by the loyalist bombing of Dundalk, 19 December 1975.Murdered and Forgotten.Photograph: The late Mr. Hugh Watters, a self-employed tailor, aged 60, who was murdered by the loyalist bombing of Dundalk, 19 December 1975.

 

Thirty-two years is too long to wait for justice.

The scene after the bombing of Kay's Tavern, 19 December 1975, leaving two dead and many injured. The Loyalist killers were never brought to justice.

"We just waited and we just hoped for justice. But it didn't come. It felt as if they weren't trying. It felt that after the bombing and the funerals, we just didn't exist."

- Maura McKeever, daughter of murder victim Jack Rooney.

Links to latest reports can be found at the bottom of this page.

Pictured above is the cruel aftermath of a Loyalist no-warning car bomb explosion that occurred outside Kay's Tavern public house, Crowe Street, Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland, at 6.22 pm on Friday, 19 December 1975. 

Click on the photograph to view more photographs of the destruction at Kay's Tavern.

Two local men, Jack Rooney (60) and Hughie Watters (51), pictured above, were killed and many others were injured by this murderous attack on the people of Dundalk. To this day, the Loyalist perpetrators have never been brought to justice. 

The evil killers are known to have been Loyalists from the town of Portadown, County Armagh, north of Irish border. They were acting in collusion with elements of the British Army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) in the North of Ireland. Such long-held suspicions were confirmed in November 2006 when an Irish parliamentary (oireachtas) committee reported widespread collusion by British forces behind this and other atrocities in the 1970s! 

The bombing has rightly been condemned as an act of international terrorism! To this day the British government remains utterly silent! Such silence implies shameful indifference to the death and suffering caused by Britain's agents in Ireland!

The families of the innocent dead and injured of the Dundalk bombing demand justice. They demand inquiries to uncover the full truth behind the bombing at Kay's Tavern and the Gardai's role in protecting the evil killers ever since. They have been waiting for justice now for more than 32 years - they must be denied no longer!

Hugh Watters died in the bomb explosion at Kay's Tavern just a few hours before another deadly attack on Donnelly's Bar, at nearby Silverbridge, County Armagh, in which the same Loyalist gang murdered young Michael Donnelly (14), Patrick Donnelly (24), and Trevor Bracknell (32). 

Jack Rooney, critically injured in the Kays Tavern blast, was taken to the nearby Louth County Hospital, where he passed away three days later.  He was buried on Christmas Eve, 1975.

A former member of the RUC, John Oliver Weir, has revealed much of the truth about these and several other Loyalist crimes in the border area, detailing the extent of RUC and British Army Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) involvement at every level in the planning and commission of these atrocities. 

A typical British response to the Nationalist clamour of complaint against these long discredited forces has been the adoption of new names for the RUC and UDR, without the root and branch reform and investigation of wrong-doing that has been demanded. The same people are now in uniforms of the Police Service for Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Royal Irish Regiment (RIR) respectively, and to all intents and purposes the RUC and the UDR remain.

John Weir's statement names many of those now known to have been involved in these crimes, yet no legal action has been taken by the RUC (PSNI) or the Gardai. Nobody has ever been arrested for these crimes, and nobody has been brought to justice!

A special memorial Plaque dedicated to the memory of Jack Rooney and Hugh Watters was unveiled at Dundalk's Town Hall, just yards from the scene of the devastation, on the night of 19th. December 2000, the 25th anniversary of their cruel murder. 

Another memorial close-by was unveiled on the 32nd anniversary in 2007. See report from The Dundalk Democrat, dated 19 December 2007.

Thirty-two years later (and counting) the Rooney and Watters families are still waiting for justice.  

The Dundalk bombing of 19 December 1975 was the subject of a private inquiry under Mr Justice Henry Barron who was also appointed by the Irish government to head inquiries into the Dublin, Monaghan and Dundalk bombings, as well as the murder of Seamus Ludlow. 

The families of Jack Rooney and Hugh Watters waited patiently for Mr Justice Barron's Report, hoping that at last they would get answers to the many questions that remain.

The Barron Inquiry, after much delay, finally produced its fourth report on the Dundalk bombing on 5 July 2006. The report also includes information on other loyalist atrocities: the gun and bomb attack on Silverbridge, the bombing of Castleblayney, the bombing of Dublin Airport and the Miami Showband massacre.

Typically, this final Barron Report, like those produced before it, has not found evidence for collusion, though the subsequent Oireachtas Report was not nearly so hesitant! 

Use this link to read victims' relatives and others' Comments on the Barron Report

Download the Barron Report (pdf file) on the Dundalk bombing.

Early Reports  in Magill, a leading Dublin news magazine, appeared to indicate that the Rooney and Watters families would not be disappointed. The Barron Inquiry into the Dundalk and Dublin/Monaghan bombings was expected to recommend a full public inquiry into the atrocities, Magill suggested. However, this Magill report proved too optimistic. 

No such public inquiry had been ordered for the Dublin and Monaghan atrocities, the bombings of 1972/1973 or the murder of Seamus Ludlow. No such inquiry was ordered for the Dundalk bombing!

The publication in December 2003 of the private  Barron Inquiry Report into the 17 May 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, the first of four Barron reports, did not instill great confidence that the continuing Barron Inquiries would answer all the questions raised by the Dundalk bombing or the Seamus Ludlow murder. 

See also: Statement, of 10 December 2003, by An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern TD, on the publication of the Barron Report into the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings 1974

Mr Justice Barron failed to find conclusive evidence for high-level collusion between loyalist death squads and British forces in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of May 1974, but his investigation was severely weakened by the lack of the British government cooperation in handing over relevant files and, equally shocking, the disappearance of vital files from the Irish Department of Justice and Garda Headquarters! He found no evidence of collusion because he was not allowed to find it!

For local press comment on an early pessimistic view of the private Barron process, see 20 December 2003, The Dundalk Democrat, Editorial: No cause for optimism following Barron Report

Nevertheless, Mr Justice Barron  saw enough to be scathing of the fruitless Garda investigation and of the then Fine Gael/Labour Party coalition government's lack of concern for the original inquiry into this atrocity. 

The third Barron Report on the murder of Seamus Ludlow was finally published in November 2005 - more than a year after it had been completed and passed to the government. Again, there are reports of files missing and many questions arising from this foul murder in County Louth remain unanswered. 

The relatives of Jack Rooney and Hugh Watters  anxiously waited for Justice Barron's fourth report on the Dundalk bombing and other atrrocities with little confidence that he would have uncovered the real truth behind the failure to bring their UVF/RUC/British Army killers to justice. 

Sadly, the Dundalk families were not to be surprised when the  Barron report was finally published. (See The Irish News, 6 July 2006. See also the outstanding coverage in The Argus, 12 July 2006. Links to these pages can be found here >>>.

Oireachtas open hearings into this fourth Barron Report began on 26 September 2006. See the public statement released 25 September, by Justice for the Forgotten and the Pat Finucane Centre.

You can read the transcript of the second day of Oireachtas hearings. 

In a further development, on 3 November 2006, the Derry-based Pat Finucane Centre, issued an important statement:

INVITATION TO THE LAUNCH OF THE REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL PANEL ON ALLEGED COLLUSION IN SECTARIAN KILLINGS IN NORTHERN IRELAND . . . 

See also the accompanying press reports of this important international independent report into collusion between the RUC and the British Army/UDR with loyalist killers operating on both sides of the Irish border during the 1970s.

The panel uncovered strong evidence of British state collusion, with the active involvement of RUC and UDR personnel, in no less than 74 killings in this period: including the Dublin and Monaghan, Castleblayney, and Dundalk bombings, and equally murderous gun attack at Silverbridge, the Reavey and O'Dowd family killings and the Miami Showband massacre!

Not surprisingly, the published report was greeted by the usual state silence from the British authorities in the Six Counties! No British government minister could be found to comment, no calls made for a public inquiry into state collusion, and no state apology or statement of regret was offered!

The international inquiry panels' report into British state collusion in the 1970s can be downloaded in pdf format from the Pat Finucane Centre's website.

The Oireachtas Justice sub-committee's Report on the Dundalk bombing and other events investigated in the fourth Barron Report was published on 29 November 2006. 

Like the Barron report it investigated the bombing of Kay's Tavern, along with murderous bombings at Dublin Airport and Castleblayney south of the border; and killings at Silverbridge, County Armagh, the Miami Showband massacre, and the killings of members of the Reavey and O'Dowd families in the Six Counties. 

Unlike the Barron Report, this Oireachtas Report sensationally accused the British forces of widespread collusion with loyalist killers to butcher people on both sides of the Irish border. 

However, the oireachtas committee's report fell short of calling for a public inquiry into these grave matters!

The British Government was in effect being accused of international terrorism, and being responsible for murderous attacks in a friendly neighbouring state. The sensational claims of the Oireachtas justice committee's report, like that of the recent international inquiry, were greeted with indifference and silence from the British side, even as they appeared to be pointing the finger of suspicion at the Russian government for a foul murder in London!

Now, with 2008 drawing to a close, and more than 32 years after this vile attack, the British government has yet to respond to the conclusions of the Oireachtas Report! Nothing but silence!

The Oireachtas Justice sub-committee report on the Dundalk bombing can be downloaded as a .pdf file from the Oireachtas website.

Excerpts from the Oireachtas report on the Kay's Tavern bombing begin here>>>. There are three pages at present.

See also early media reports from the http://www.breakingnews.ie/: Britain 'Colluded Over Murders In Republic' and British security forces 'colluded in international terrorism'

See also the following report from ireland.com: Barron finds British collusion in attacks

Other reports and updates can be accessed through this site's Latest Reports page.

This web site is the Dundalk victims' relatives cry for support for truth and justice. They ask you to support them in their campaign for justice.

 

[Back to Top.]  [ Photographs of the aftermath of the attack ]

I Excerpts from the Oireachtas Report I

 

See also (Most recent at bottom): 

Magill Magazine, September 2002: The Truth Trickles Out   Mystery has always surrounded the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings. An independent inquiry has been set up to look at the events surrounding the attacks, and the bombing of Dundalk the following year. Donall O Maolfabhail reports on its likely findings.

The Sunday Times, January 12, 2003: Army 'link' to Dublin bombings 

MATERIAL for bombs that killed 33 people in Dublin and Monaghan may have come from the British Army, according to an official inquiry into the atrocities.

The inquiry has been given evidence that army members supplied loyalist terrorists with explosives that had been confiscated by the army from the IRA and that these were used in the three bombs which exploded in Dublin during rush-hour traffic. . .

Use this link to read the full story that may link the Dundalk and other bombs to the British Army. >>> 

The Irish Examiner online, 27 February 2003: Group calls for new Dublin-Monaghan bombings inquiry

There has been another call for a public inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan car bombings in 1974, and the explosion in Dundalk in December 1975.

The Justice for the Forgotten group says it is furious with the British government over its failure to properly co-operate with the Barron Inquiry, which is investigating the bombings.

Use this link to read the full story. >>>

BBC News online report, 28 February 2003: Troubles victims fund set up

A £2m fund for relatives of victims of the Troubles has been set up by the Irish Government.

The money will be allocated to people in the Irish Republic.

The fund is one of the Irish Government's obligations under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. 

Among those expected to benefit are relatives of the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings and the Dundalk bombing in 1975. . .

Use this link to read the full story. >>>

Dundalk Democrat, 28 June 2003: Dundalk families concerned over Barron report delay

The Taoiseach admitted this week that nearly €4000,000 has been spent on the commission into the Dublin, Monaghan and Dundalk bombings, but the report has not been completed.

This has angered the Dundalk families. Maura McKeever, whose father, Jack Rooney died along with Hugh Watters in  the bombing at Kay's Tavern on 19th December 1975, is concerned over the delay.

Use this link to read the full story. >>>

Dundalk Democrat, 8 November 2003: Dundalk bombing and Ludlow murder ignored

The families of Seamus Ludlow and the two men murdered in the Dundalk bombing have said they are disappointed that the draft Barron report failed to mention the County Louth atrocities.

The Barron Inquiry, which was commissioned by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in 1999, investigated the circumstances surrounding the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, as well as the 1975 Dundalk bombing and the murder of Mountpleasant man, Seamus Ludlow.

But the draft report only referred to the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, in which 33 people died. The Taoiseach said he hoped a report into other cases under Justice Barron’s remit would be completed by the New Year.

Margaret Watters, whose father Hugh, was one of two men killed when a car bomb exploded in Crowe Street on December 19 1975, said she was “saddened” by the way the families found out about the case’s exclusion from the report.

Use this link to read the full story. >>>

The Dundalk Democrat, 20 December 2003: Bombing families fear truth will never be known

By Anne Campbell

The families of the two men killed in the Dundalk bombing of 1975 now fear the truth behind the murders may never be known.

Maura McKeever, whose father, Jack Rooney, died with tailor, Hugh Watters, in the car bomb attack in Crowe Street, was speaking following the publication of the Barron Report into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.

Two months before Justice Barron published the report into the 1974 bombings in which 34 people died, the Dundalk bereaved families and the relatives of murdered forestry worker, Seamus Ludlow, were informed that the part of the report relating to them would not be made public before the New Year.

Use this link to read the full story. >>>

30 May 2004: A Press Release issued by the Derry-based Pat Finucane Centre, following the recent broadcast on BBC 1 Northern Ireland of a Spotlight investigation of the gang, made up of RUC, UDR and UVF killers, responsible for the Dundalk bombing and many other murderous Loyalist attacks on both sides of the Irish border during the 1970s.:

International Human Rights Delegation to Probe Collusion Allegations

An international delegation arrived in the North this weekend to probe allegations of collusion highlighted earlier this week in a BBC Spotlight Programme. The allegations concern the activities of the so-called Glenanne group who have been linked to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings and a series of murders in Armagh, Tyrone and the border counties in the 1970s. The delegation will meet privately with families who have lost relatives and meetings have been requested with the authorities North and South of the border.

Among the cases featured in the Spotlight programme which the delegation will scrutinise are the multiple murders of members of the O’Dowd and Reavey families, the bomb and gun attacks on Donnelly’s Bar, Silverbridge, the Rock Bar, Granemore, the murders of two GAA supporters at Altnamackin and the bomb attack on Kay’s Tavern, Dundalk. . .

Use this link to read the full statement. >>>

The Argus, 13 August 2004:

The families of Dundalk bomb victims stay positive about enquiry

The family of Jack Rooney, who was killed in the Dundalk bombing of 1975, said this week they were remaining positive about the outcome of the enquiry being conducted by Justice Henry Barron. 

The families of both Jack Rooney and Hugh Watters, who died as a result of the car bomb attack on Crowe Street on 19th December 1975 met with Justice Barron on his visit to Dundalk last week.

Use this link to read the full Argus report of the meeting with Justice Barron. >>>

The Dundalk Democrat, 14 August 2004:  See the following pair of Dundalk Democrat reports of the Dundalk bombing campaign's recent meeting with Justice Henry Barron in Dundalk:

Dundalk families meet judge

Families of those who died and were injured in the 1975 Dundalk bombing and relatives of the murdered Seamus Ludlow have met with Justice Henry Barron for a second time.

Justice Barron is compiling reports into the 1975 bombing and the May 1976 murder of Mr Ludlow.

Maura McKeever, whose father Jack Rooney was one of the two bomb victims, was joined by Margaret Watters, daughter of Hugh Watters, for the meeting which lasted for over an hour.

The meeting was described by the families as "polite but frank".

Maura McKeever said: "Justice Barron was very polite but he said he couldn't answer some of our questions because he didn't want parts of his report getting into the public domain before it is published.

"He said he expected the report into our fathers' deaths to be ready at the end of this year. I really hope that happens." . . .

Use this link to read the full Dundalk Democrat report of the meeting with Justice Barron. >>>

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Bomb victims families meet Judge Barron

Families of those who died or were injured in the 1975 Dundalk Bombing met with Justice Henry Barron this week to discuss his ongoing investigations into the tragedy.

The bombing at Kay's Tavern on Crowe Street on December 19 of that year, claimed the lives of Jack Rooney and Hugh Watters.

Mr Watters died instantly and Mr Rooney died a few days later from his injuries.

This week Maura McKeever a daughter of Jack Rooney said she was "cautiously pleased" with the meeting with Judge Barron.

The meeting which lasted over an hour and included Maura, along with Margaret English, a daughter of Hugh Watters, and Peter O'Connor, who was injured in the blast. . . .

Use this link to read the full Dundalk Democrat report of the meeting with Justice Barron. >>>

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The Irish News,  17 August 2004:

'Christmas' bombing secrets may be told

Campaigners hope that a report due to be published by Justice Henry Barron early next year will pave the way for a public inquiry into the 1975 Dundalk bombing, Southern Correspondent Valerie Robinson reports.

 Use this link to read the full Irish News  repor >>>

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The Irish News, 6 October 2004, reports the Rooney and Watters families' latest meeting in Dundalk with Mr Justice Henry  Barron, revealing that his private inquiry into the Dundalk bombing will not conclude until early 2005. Sadly, as it turned out, even this estimate was wildly optimistic and the Report would be delayed into 2006: 

Bombing report 'in new year'

A judge has told two families that a report on the murders of their relatives in the 1975 Dundalk bombing will be published in the new year.

Justice Henry Barron, the lone member of a private inquiry into the bombing, met relatives of Hugh Watters and Jack Rooney in Dundalk yesterday (Monday).

The full text of this Irish News report can be found here: >>>

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Daily Ireland, 4 February 2005, reports on evidence of cointinuing British government duplicity towards the victims of the Dublin/Monaghan and Dundalk bombings and other loyalist atrocities in the border counties. This emerged on the last day of public hearings of the joint oireachtas committee on the second Barron Inquiry report into the Dublin bombings of 1972/73 and other murderous attacks in Counties Donegal and Cavan in which several innocent people lost their lives:

Outrage at Blair

A lawyer for the families of the Dublin and Monaghan bomb victims has slammed Tony Blair for his treatment of Justice Hemnry Barron's inquiry into the atrocities.

Cormac O Dualacháin SC, at yesterday's Dublin hearing of the Oireachtas joint committee dealing with the Barron report into the bombings in the early 1970s, outlined his outrage at the way two letters from Tony Blair show ambiguity in his treatment of the victims' families.

The first letter originated when Martin Douglas, whose brother Tomas was killed in a bomb in Dublin on January 20, 1973, lobbied Preston MP Nigel Evans to contact Mr Blair about an inquiry. In the last few days it has come to light that Mr Blair's reply to Mr Douglas' call for an inquiry gave a different message to a letter he sent to Bertie Ahern on the same date. . . .

The full text of this Daily Ireland report can be found here: >>>

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Daily Ireland, 4 February 2005:

Dundalk angry at PM

Relatives of the 1975 Dundalk bomb victims are outraged at Tony Blair for ruling out an inquiry into alleged British security force collusion with loyalists at the time of the pub blast.

In a letter to Bertie Ahern, Mr Blair ruled out an inquiry into the 1970s bombings in Dundalk, Dublin and Monaghan.

Maura McKeever, whose father Jack Rooney was killed in the dundalk blast, said, "I am really disappointed that Tony Blair has not made a better effort to accommodate us." . . .

 The full text of this Daily Ireland report can be found here: >>>

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With 2005 drawing to a close, the 30th anniversary of this appalling tragedy is now approaching and with it, also, the expected publication of the long-awaited private Barron Inquiry report into the Dundalk bombing.

Here, the local Dundalk Democrat reveals that the Barron Report will be published during January 2006:

The Dundalk Democrat, 14 December 2005:

30 years since Dundalk hit by bombers

The 30th anniversary of the Dundalk bombing will be commemorated on Monday with a ceremony at the Town Hall, Dundalk, commencing at 6.30pm.

The anniversary takes place against the backdrop of the forthcoming publication of the Barron report into the atrocity, which is due to be published next month.

The office of An Taoiseach, which has responsibility for the Barron Inquiry, confirmed to The Dundalk Democrat yesterday that the report will be published in January.

A spokesman for the Taoiseach's office said: "It is due to be published in January, and we will know nearer the time what the exact date will be".

Relatives of tailor Hughie Watters and former fireman turned council lorry driver, Jack Rooney, will gather on Monday to remember the men who were killed when a no warning Loyalist bomb exploded outside Kay's Tavern. . .

The full text of this Dundalk Democrat report can be found here: >>>

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The Argus (Dundalk), 16 December 2005:

Memory Lane by Kevin Mulligan

December 19th, 1975 . . the day we won't forget

On the 19th December, 1975, exactly 30 years ago on Monday next a Loyalist no-warning car bomb exploded outside Kay's Tavern public house, Crowe Street, at 6.22pm. . .

The full text of this Argus report can be found here: >>>

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29 December 2005: See today's weekly issue of The Dundalk Democrat for Eugene Garvey's letter headed "Question on Dundalk bombing".

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4 January 2006: The following message from Derry's Pat Finucane Centre, and an article from today's Belfast Telegraph, on this the 30th anniversary of the shocking Reavy and O'Dowd family massacres, reveal strong links between serving members of the RUC and loyalist guns used in vicious sectarian murders along the border during the 1970s. Please use the link below to read the Belfast Telegraph article:

To PFC subscribers

Today, January 4, marks the 30th anniversary of two co-ordinated gun attacks on the Reavey family of Whitecross, Co Armagh, and the O'Dowd family of Ballyduggan, Co Down. In all three members of each family died in the attacks which were carried out by loyalist paramilitaries and members of the security forces. On the following day republicans murdered 10 Protestant workmen at nearby Kingsmills. Less than two weeks earlier, on December 19th, the same Glenanne based loyalist gang carried out a gun and bomb attack on Donnellys Bar in Silverbridge and left a car bomb outside Kays Tavern in Dundalk. Five people in all died including Trevor Brecknell whose son Alan now works for the PFC. Permutations of the same gang were responsible for over 120 deaths in the Murder Triangle and beyond in the 1970s. For some time the PFC has carried out research into the activities of this gang in a project called the Recovery of Living Memory Archive or ROLMA. Some of this research is included in the article below which was published today in the Belfast Telegraph.

PFC  

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22 February 2006: See this week's issue of The Argus (Dundalk) for reports of further delay in publication into the Barron REport into the Dundalk bombing and the murders of Jack Rooney and Hugh Watters:

Publication of Barron Report delayed to try and give names

The publication of the Barron Report into the 1975 Dundalk bombing has been delayed to see if the names of the perpetrators can be included, according to sources. . . 

The article includes an interview with Maura McKeever, daughter of bombing victim Jack Rooney.

Use the link above to read the complete article from The Argus.

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See the oireachtas transcript of Taoiseach's Questions for 28 March 2006, for update on progress of the Barron Inquiry into the Dundalk bombing and other related matters. The following quote from Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. It is a brief extract from this transcript:

Mr. Justice Barron has completed all his reports. His reports on the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974, the Dublin bombings of 1972 and 1973, and the murder of Seamus Ludlow have each been referred to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women’s Rights for consideration. I received last month Mr. Justice Barron’s final report on the Dundalk bombing of 1975. This report also contains references, in the form of appendices, to other incidents that were brought to the attention of the inquiry, including bombs in Castleblayney, Dublin Airport, Silverbridge and the Miami Showband murders. The Government has not yet had an opportunity to consider the report in detail. It is currently being considered by the relevant Departments prior to consideration by the Government. As with other reports, it is envisaged that it will be referred in due course to the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women’s Rights.

Here is another link to the complete oireachtas transcript.>>>

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See this further oireachtas transcript extract of Taoiseach's questions of 4 July 2006

The following quote is from an answer given by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern on this occasion in reference to the Barron Report on the Dundalk bombing:

As with all these reports, what delayed issues, apart from restructuring and layout, was that the report covered quite a number of attacks. Mr. Justice Barron put an omnibus end to his report, which included not only Dundalk but also referred to other attacks by loyalist paramilitaries, for example, the Castleblayney bombs, the Dublin Airport bomb and other bombings in the State. It also included a number of attacks in Northern Ireland, on the Miami showband, the Rock Bar, Keady, Donnelly’s Bar, Silver Birch, the Reavey and O’Dowd families in south Armagh and the murders of Seán Farmer and Colm McCartney. He also referred to the explosion and murder at Baronrath bridge in County Kildare. It is a fine report and includes many aspects that were not in the previous report. He has made structural changes.

The cause of much of the delay was that there were a number of names mentioned. Mr. Justice Barron has redacted a number of them, but not all. Subject to correction, there are approximately 15 names of people involved and these will be published in the final report. At least the report says they were involved.

Here is another link to the complete oireachtas transcript.>>>

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5 July 2006: The Irish News, Southern Correspondent Valerie Robinson reveals that the long wait for the Rooney and Watters families is now over! The Barron Report into the Dundalk bombing is to be published in Dublin later today. 

In a report that echoes the shambolic publication of the previous Barron Report into the murder of Seamus Ludlow, the Irish News reveals the Dundalk families' anger at  being given just 24 hours notice of the publication of the report. It is also reported that relatives group Justice for the Forgotten were accusing the Irish government of a "total mess-up" after they were given the wrong publication date for the report.

Margaret Urwin of Justice for the Forgotten alleges receiving confused phone messages from the Department of the Tsaoiseach and the Oireachtas Committee.

Download the Barron Report (pdf file) on the Dundalk bombing

See the Irish News: "Relatives 'furious' over Barron report blunder

See also The Irish News breaking news, 5 July 2006: Pub bombers 'treated better than victims' families'

See also: Oireachtas press release of 5 July 2006.

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11 October 2006: See this detailed report of the recent Oireachtas justice sub-committee hearings on the Dundalk bombing of 19 December 1975 and the recently published fourth Barron Report, from the local weekly Argus newspaper containing interviews with Margaret English and Maura McKeever, daughters of the two men murdered by loyalist bombers in Dundalk in December 1975:

Oireachtas sub-committee hearing into Barron Report

Relatives tell of their sense of betrayal at collusion


Relatives of the two men killed in the loyalist bombing of Kay’s Tavern, Crowe St on Friday 19th December 1975 told members of the Oireachtas Justice Sub-Committee into the Barron Report of their sense of betrayal when they learned of allegations of collusion and have called for a public inquiry into the Garda investigation. . .

For the full report go here.>>>

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3 November 2006: See The Pat Finucane Centre, Derry, statement: INVITATION TO THE LAUNCH OF THE REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL PANEL ON ALLEGED COLLUSION IN SECTARIAN KILLINGS IN NORTHERN IRELAND . . . 

See also the accompanying press reports of this important international independent report into collusion between the RUC and the British Army/UDR with loyalist killers operating on both sides of the Irish border during the 1970s.

The international inquiries' report into British state collusion in the 1970s can be downloaded in pdf format from the Pat Finucane Centre's website.

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6 November 2006: See this report by journalist Colm Heatley from thepost.ie: The Sunday Business Post online: Report Unearths Loyalist And British Collusion On Bombings

The report announces the publication this week of the Oireachtas Justice committee's report on the Dundalk bombing and other loyalist atrocities in the 1970s.

The report begins:

Britain colluded with loyalist gangs responsible for three bombings in the Republic in the 1970s, including a bomb at Dublin Airport that killed one man, an Oireachtas report has found.

Britain colluded with loyalist gangs responsible for three bombings in the Republic in the 1970s, including a bomb at Dublin Airport that killed one man, an Oireachtas report has found.

The joint Oireachtas committee report into the bombings at the airport and Kay's Tavern in Dundalk, Co Louth, in 1975 and a bombing in Castleblayney in Monaghan in 1976 will be published on Wednesday. . .

To read more from The Sunday Business Post's report click on the link above.

See also: Second collusion report pressurises Government - another report by Colm Heatley

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9 July 2007: See this statement issued by the Derry-based Pat Finucane Centre: Statement from the families of those murdered at Donnelly’s Bar, Silverbridge, outside Kay’s Tavern, Dundalk and in the Reavey and O’Dowd homes.

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12 December 2007: See today's issue of the local weekly The Argus for story healined : Memorial for Crowe Street bomb victims

See item below for more about this important development.

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19 December 2007: Another year has passed and the Rooney and Watters families reach another sad milestone with the 32nd anniversary of the atrocity which has brought unending grief to the two families. 

There are still no apologies from the British government for its role in colluding with and directing the loyalist killers who brought death and destruction to Dundalk at 6.22pm on the evening of 19 December 1975.

This has been a year of further revelations about the British shame of collusion with loyalist murder gangs, but still no admissions of guilt or apology from the very government that presided over it all!

Still no final justice and closure for the Rooney and Watters families! No closure either for the Ludlow family, whose fight for justice also continues.

This tragic event will be marked today on Crowe Street, near the site of the atrocity, with the unveiling of a new memorial to the two men whose lives were cruelly cut short by the murderous loyalist bombers exactly 32 years ago.

The event has been given coverage in today's issue of the weekly Dundalk Democrat newspaper. The article includes a photograph of the new memorial which will be unveiled today!

To read the article and view the photograph of the new memorial to Jack Rooney and Hugh Watters, the victims of this British inspired international terrorist outrage in Dundalk, please use this link. >>>.

See also a report Victims of Dundalk bombing being honoured in The Irish News, 19 December 2007.

See also: The Dundalk Democrat, 26 December 2007,  Relatives gather for unveiling of Dundalk bomb memorial

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Produced in association with the Ludlow Family.

Last edited: 26 October 2008 09:49:06

 Visit the Ludlow family's websiteVisit Justice for the Forgotten  Statement by John Oliver Weir

Download the Barron Report (pdf file) on the Dundalk bombing.

Download the Barron Inquiry Report into the 17 May 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, (pdf file)

Barron Report: on the Dublin Bombings of 1972 and 1973, can also be downloaded in pdf form

Download the Barron Report into the murder of Seamus Ludlow from the Oireachtas website (pdf file)

Copyright © 2008 the Rooney, Watters and Ludlow families. All rights reserved. Revised: October 26, 2008 .