Ireland's OWN: History

 
The 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings:
The truth sold out for vested interests and dirty tricks
—by Jack Harper

Some cases are destined to become mysteries. These cases can be divided up in two categories: the real mysteries and those, which have been created mostly by the establishment and its henchmen. The truth about real mysteries will never be known because of lack of witnesses and evidence. With the created mysteries it is a different case. The truth is covered up because it would be too damaging to the authorities involved to admit what has been going on. So instead of a proper investigation a series of blunders and delays is created which leads to a lot of speculation and countless theories. But in the meantime the facts are so well hidden that they rarely get into the public domain.

One of those created mysteries is the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974. The bombings are still the worst atrocity to hit the Irish Free State since the start of The Troubles and it is also the nation's worst unsolved murder case. Before we go into the details of this created mystery we must first look at the facts. On May 17 1974 3 bombs exploded in the city centre of Dublin within 90 seconds of each other. Another bomb rocked Monaghan Town. No warnings had been given and as a result the bombs caused a terrible massacre. Thirty-three people were killed, mostly women, and more than 250 were injured. Many were maimed for life. May 17 1974 became Dublin's Black Friday.

Speculation

The Dublin bombs went off in Parnell Street, Talbot Street and South Leinster Street. No-one claimed responsibility for the explosions, but almost immediately rumours started circulating that loyalist paramilitaries were responsible. Although this sounded plausible under the circumstances very soon speculation appeared in some circles that British Military Intelligence could have had a hand in the operation. People with first hand knowledge of the situation at the time, doubted whether loyalist paramilitaries alone would have the expertise and the material to carry out such a complicated and well-timed operation. Even then it was known that there were close links between the security forces in the North and the loyalist paramilitaries. Strong indications have emerged since that British Military Intelligence wanted to force the collapse of the Sunningdale agreement on powersharing, which was in its early stages. There was also a wider plot to undermine the Labour government of Harold Wilson.

The Investigation

As one would expect after such an atrocity a major investigation was launched by the Irish police An Garda Siochana. This investigation very quickly led to the mid-Ulster brigade of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). A number of suspects were uncovered including William Hanna, leader of the UVF in Portadown, William Fulton, Wesley Sommerville, Harris Boyle and Robin 'The Jackal' Jackson, who have all since died. The Irish police also received eyewitness reports, which said that David Alexander Mulholland and Samuel Whitten were the drivers of two of the four bomb cars. Fulton was in charge of the explosives and William Marchant was in charge of the hijackers in Belfast who provided the bomb cars. Very quickly the number of names in the Garda files had risen to 20.

The information was given to the RUC in Belfast but at that point something went wrong. The RUC, although co-operative in the beginning, was apparently not keen to move against the suspects. They were not arrested nor questioned. This information was uncovered by the team of the First Tuesday programme made by Yorkshire TV in 1993. Until then no organisation had claimed responsibility. After the programme was broadcast the UVF suddenly did claim responsibility for the bombings. Did they feel that the evidence against them was too clear to keep up the silence of nearly 20 years? Or was their admission an attempt to stop the speculation? The First Tuesday programme did not set out to prove that the UVF was responsible, it tried to put together evidence, which would implicate British Military Intelligence. The UVF said it had worked alone, without outside help. In this day and age, when evidence of collusion between forces of the crown and the loyalist paramilitaries is clearer then ever before, an unconvincing admission.

The Garda

It is not really surprising that the RUC more or less refused to question the suspects named by the Garda. From a partisan police force harbouring many in its ranks that can at least be classified as loyalist sympathisers this must be expected. But why did the Garda take this lying down? Why was there no storm of outrage against this blockade? It seems that the matter went even further. After an attack like the Dublin and Monaghan bombings forensic evidence plays a huge part in catching the killers. The Irish State Laboratory would be the institution where such an investigation would be carried out. But instead of delivering all the evidence found at the scene of the explosions to this laboratory and its leading scientist Dr James Donovan, most of the items from three of the bomb sites were taken to Belfast by the Garda. Dr Donovan only received some items from the Parnell Street bomb.

Dr R A Hall at the Department of Industrial and Forensic Science examined the evidence taken to Belfast. His report was never given to Dr Donovan and there were no contacts between the scientists. It is still not clear why evidence was taken to Belfast. Until this day the Garda has failed to give an explanation for their actions. The report made in Dublin concluded that gelignite or dynamite had been used in Parnell Street. Dr Hall came to a similar conclusion about the other bomb cars. But he was critical of the fact that he received the evidence 11 days after the explosions occurred. According to his report this made it difficult to identify some components of the explosives.

Although the investigation carried on for three more months nothing new was found and the team of detectives working on the case was broken up. In 1996 the RUC claimed that it did arrest and interview the UVF members named by the Garda.

But this is disputed by the First Tuesday team. It does seem very unlikely when we look at the comments of two RUC Special Branch officers, who told First Tuesday that they did received a list of names from de Garda. The two men said that they gave the information to RUC headquarters but they were never asked to take action against the people on the list.

Why all the Secrecy?

Relatives of the victims of the bombings have tried for years to get to the truth. Much of the information in this article comes from their investigations. But the wall of silence remains intact. The Garda has refused to open its files on the bombings to the public. The Irish government has refused to hold a public inquiry ignoring all demands from the relatives and the survivors.
According to the government there is nothing in the files that would make a public inquiry necessary, although it has ordered a private inquiry, which in turn has angered the families of the victims. It is even claimed that the files do not indicate who was responsible. A strange excuse for non-publication, because as we have seen earlier there is a list of suspects in the files. The Garda shelters behind the claim that the case remains open and cannot be discussed publicly. All very convenient. The powers-that-be want the whole matter to gather dust en be forgotten.

Answers?

For the answers to a number of questions we must move into the secret murky world of British Military Intelligence and their many different arms. Would there be so many unanswered questions if it had been a straightforward loyalist paramilitary operation? Would it not be normal to expect the Garda to pursue the matter to the bitter end if there had not been some reason for the force to hold back and stay silent? The answers to both questions, which are obvious, indicate involvement by a foreign force. This can only mean British Military Intelligence, which at the time was already up to its neck in dirty tricks and collusion.

Given that this was the case, it does still not explain the role of the Garda and its determination to keep silent. A possible answer comes from former captain Fred Holroyd, who worked for MI6 in Portadown and at the headquarters of the British army in Lisburn. Holroyd has made a number of revelations about 'dirty tricks' in Northern Ireland carried out by his former masters. Needless to say this has not made him very popular in these circles. Holroyd has said in public that he does not believe that the UVF were able to carry out the bombings unaided. He described the loyalist organisations at the time as "pretty primitive". In 1984 Holroyd revealed that during his work for MI6 he had secret contacts with Garda officers. This led to a Garda inquiry of which the outcome was never made public. Later it was admitted that there had been contacts between the Garda and British Army personnel, some as early as 1972. Many Garda officers were involved and Holroyd travelled to Dublin to make a 30-page statement to a Garda inquiry. He was not given a copy of his statement and all his requests made later were ignored.

All of this prompts a new question. If there were such close contacts between the Garda and British Military Intelligence why did the latter not warn the Garda if they were not themselves involved in the bombings? The UVF suspects were well known to the intelligence community in the North and it is unlikely that the UVF could have carried out such a huge operation without British Military Intelligence getting to know about it. The answer, just like all the others points in the same direction. Although there is no proof the chances are high that British Military Intelligence was involved in the bombings for political reasons, especially to engineer the collapse of Sunningdale which eventually occurred on May 28 1974. The Ulster Workers Council strike against the agreement ended the following day. Some believe that MI5 and MI6 were also behind this strike.

The revelations about contacts between the Garda and the British army may provide the answer to why the Garda have remained silent until now, and also why all calls for a public inquiry have been rejected. If a public inquiry is held there will be questions about the contacts and whether those contacts were legal. Legal advice sought by the relatives indicates that the contacts were not legal. The Garda can deal directly with a foreign police force, but not with a foreign army. This would require permission from the government. As it stands the contacts were probably outside the law.

Conclusion

The truth about the Dublin and Monaghan bombings will remain hidden in the faults of the authorities in London, Dublin and Belfast until someone somewhere decides to break ranks.

The probability of whom was behind the greatest crime in the history of the Free State is clear, but there is no proof.  In the meantime the families of the dead and the survivors remain victims in more ways than one. It is for those people that this article was written. We cannot allow all of this to be forgotten and pushed away in a dark corner of history. To the perpetrators this warning: You may think your secret is safe and your crimes will be forgotten. Think again, in the end someone will come forward with the truth, and real justice, the people's justice will finally be done.


Sources:
  • The experience of the bereaved and maimed of The Dublin and Monaghan Bombings by Don Mullan
  • Cain Northern Ireland Conflicts, Politics and Society
  • The Irish Times 

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