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The late Jack Rooney.(L-R) Margaret English, daughter of Hugh Watters, and Maura McKeever, daughter of Jack Rooney, after receiving copies of the Barron Report..The late Hugh Watters.

 

The Dundalk Democrat, 12 July 2006:

Families will continue their campaign for justice

By Anne Marie Eaton

Emotions ran high for the Rooney and Waters families as they got their first glance of the the report into the 1975 Dundalk Bombing before attending a press conference on the issue.

Maura McKeever and Margaret English said the little more than half an hour they had to look at the report before the conference was a disgrace to the memory of their fathers, Jack Rooney and Hugh Watters, who died in the bombing.

So much was the anguish that Margaret experienced that she, who normally remains in the background spoke out at the televised press conference and asked why her family and the Rooney family were treated in such a despicable manner for over 30 years.

Speaking afterwards Margaret said "I couldn't  help myself. I had only opened the pages of the report a half hour before. When I saw my father's name and forensics mentioned I closed it again.

"When the press conference started I said to my daughter 'I want to talk' and then I just started speaking. My main question was Why? Why were we treated so badly over the years."

Maura McKeever said the manner in which the report was released was haphazard. "We only found out on Tuesday night that the report was being (published) the following afternoon. We were to see it at 4pm and the press conference was at 5pm.

"As it happened we didn't get the report until 4.25 and the conference still went ahead at 5pm.

"Throughout the entire proceeding we weren't asked did we want so much as a cup of tea."

The family members who travelled to Dublin had to make their way there independently, however both Maura and Margaret are angry that no provision (was made) for Jack's wife to attend.

Maura said: "We made our way on the train but my mother is in her 80s and there is no way she could have gone through travelling to Dublin on a train and making her way over to Leinster House."

Maura feels a second inquest may help the families get the justice they deserve.

In the meantime, she said her family and the Watters family will continue to carry on their campaign, no  matter how heartbreaking.

"If in the years to come I have to retell my mother's account of everything that happened around myfather's death it would only be hearsay. If she puts it in writing there is a record of what she recalls from that time."

"It has taken 30 years to get this far. Little did we know all those years ago that I would be asking my mother to write down her account in case she is not about to give her own statements in the years ahead."

I Top I  I Comments on the Barron Report I

Download the Barron Report on the Dundalk bombing from the Oireachtas website.

This document is in Adobe PDF format and can be downloaded from the link below.

Interim Report on the Report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Bombing of Kay's Tavern, Dundalk.

Houses of the Oireachtas, Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights.

Download the free reader software for Adobe PDF format

See the Irish News, 5 July 2006: "Relatives 'furious' over Barron report blunder

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

See also: Oireachtas press release of 5 July 2006.

Daily Ireland, 6 July 2006: Blast victim’s relative hits out

The Irish Examiner, 6 July 2006: Loyalists had licence to kill Catholics, finds inquiry

The Irish Independent, 6 July 2006: Bombers 'treated better than victims'

The Irish News, 6 July 2006: Relatives want 1975 bombing inquiry

The Irish News, 6 July 2006: Horror lives on for bar owner

The Irish News, 6 July 2006: Report points to RUC reservist's farm as base for UVF operations

The Irish News, 6 July 2006: Hope that collusion theories may be brought to surface

The Irish Times, 6 July 2006: 1970s bombing victims complain of official neglect

LMFM Radio online news report, 6 July 2006: Hearings into report on Dundalk bombing to begin in September

TOM News, 6 July 2006: Latest Barron Report Highlights Need for Ahern-Blair Summit on Collusion

Daily Ireland, 7 July 2006: Taoiseach urged to call summit

Daily Ireland, 7 July 2006: Barron inquiry typically leaves more questions than answers Conclusion of report into collusion allegations between loyalists and the British government is 'unsatisfactory'

Daily Ireland, 7 July 2006: Families to discuss Barron report

Daily Ireland, 7 July 2006: Garda probe questions raised

The Irish News of the World, 9 July 2006: Showband massacre: shocking new report Former cop behind plot

The Newry Democrat, 11 July 2006: Collusion summit call

The Dundalk Democrat: Gardai expected bomb at Imperial

The Dundalk Democrat, 12 July 2006: Barron Report is a step closer to the truth

The Argus (Dundalk), 12 July 2006: Inquiry lists 19 suspects

The Argus (Dundalk), 12 July 2006: Members of RUC and UDR probably knew about plan to bomb Dundalk

The Argus (Dundalk), 12 July 2006:Guide to names listed by inquiry

The Argus (Dundalk), 12 July 2006: My father and family have been let down by the government

The Argus (Dundalk), 12 July 2006: Authorities reluctance to admit mistakes cost families heartache

The Argus (Dundalk), 12 July 2006:Joint Committee likely to hold series of hearings in autumn

The Argus (Dundalk), 12 July 2006: Sharp differences over fingermarks evidence

The Argus (Dundalk), 12 July 2006:Questions that still need answers

Daily Ireland, 13 July 2006: Justice Group seeks advice

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Produced in association with the Ludlow Family.

Last edited: 24 July 2006 19:50:41

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

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 © 2006 the Rooney, Watters and Ludlow families. 

All rights reserved. Revised: July 24, 2006 .