MacEntee Report to be challenged

Monday, 21st April 2008. Following receipt of legal advice, Justice for the Forgotten has reached a decision to take a High Court challenge against An Taoiseach, Ireland and the Attorney General in relation to aspects of the Commission of Investigation into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, which was conducted by Mr. Patrick MacEntee, S.C.

The two main points on which the challenge is being taken are:

* That the Commission of Investigation failed to report on Term 2(ii) of its Terms of Reference ('The man in the Four Courts Hotel') and Justice for the Forgotten has not been informed as to the reason why the Commission failed to report, despite three letters to the Taoiseach’s Department over the past year.

* That Justice for the Forgotten has not been allowed access to the evidence gathered and the archive assembled by the Commission, again despite three unanswered requests to the Taoiseach’s Department, and it is a matter of great concern to us that this evidence may now be locked away for at least the next 30 years.

We have been advised that these failures constitute an injustice to the deceased, the injured and their families under the European Convention of Human Rights.

For further information please contact:

Margaret Urwin, Justice for the Forgotten:

01 8554300 / 087 2237338

Notes for Editors:

Following a recommendation from the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women’s Rights, the Irish Government established the Commission of Investigation: Dublin and Monaghan Bombings 1974 in May 2005 under Patrick McEntee.

The main task of the McEntee Enquiry was to investigate why the Garda investigation into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings wound down in 1974 and why a number of leads were not followed up, including "information relating to a man who stayed in the Four Courts Hotel between 15 and 17 May 1974, and his contacts with the UVF."

The McEntee report was published at 5pm on April 4 2007, and, among other findings, the Report stated that it had been hampered by inadequate information provided by the British authorities and by the loss of an unknown amount of information that had been in the possession of the Gardaí.