UK
Cabinet 'knew army infiltrated by loyalist terrorists'
The
British security forces were accused last night of widespread collusion
with loyalist terrorists to "butcher" people both sides of the
Border in the 1970s.
The
Government immediately stepped up the pressure on the British government
to increase the level of co-operation provided so far in investigating
the atrocities.
An
Oireachtas committee report published last night deals in all with nine
atrocities on both sides of the border between 1974 and 1976 in which 18
people were killed and it calls the acts "international
terrorism".
These
included the bombing of Kay's Tavern in Dundalk in 1975, where two
people died, at Dublin Airport, where one man was killed, and at the
Three Star Inn in Castleblayney, where another man died in a car bomb
blast.
One
of the attacks on the Northern side of the Border involved the slaying
of three members of the Miami Showband - shot dead on the main road near
Newry on July 31, 1975.
The
Justice Committee which examined the cases said it was
"horrified" that people employed by the British administration
to preserve peace and to protect people were "engaged in the
creation of violence and the butchering of innocent victims".
It
said the British Cabinet at the time was "aware of the level at
which the security forces had been infiltrated by terrorists".
"We
believe that its inadequate response to this knowledge permitted the
problem to grow."
But
the committee does not spare the State here or gardai, saying: "The
authorities in this jurisdiction at all levels could have been far more
vigorous in their attempts to identify and bring to justice the
perpetrators."
While
taking the difficulties encountered when "confronted by the non
co-operation of the British authorities" and the threat posed to
the State by certain organisations, "nevertheless more should have
been done".
It
says there is "an abundance of information" to suggest that
there was "reasonable, if not significant, knowledge on this side
of the Border that British security personnel were working with, and as,
loyalist paramilitaries.
The
report has provoked renewed calls for a public inquiry by the Justice
for the Forgotten group into a series of bombings.
But
the committee stopped short of making such a recommendation, saying that
it was not within its remit.
The
evidence emerged last night as the committee published its examination
of the fourth and final report of Mr Justice Henry Barron's Independent
Commission into the bombings on both sides of the Border.
Taoiseach
Bertie Ahern said the findings of collusion were "deeply
troubling" and "a matter of most serious concern." They
painted "a very disturbing picture".
Mr
Ahern spoke of his thoughts being with the victims on all sides "in
a dark and tragic period".
The
committee is also awaiting the report of Mr Justice Patrick McEntee into
the Dublin and Monaghan bombings due to be released on December 10.
Margaret
Urwin of the Justice for the Forgotten group said the report was very
significant adding that it indicted Britain and its security forces.
"We
believe that the same gang was involved in all these atrocities,"
Ms Urwin said.
Gene
McKenna