NO RESPONSE FROM UK ON 70’S BOMBINGS
As the anniversary of the bombing outside Kay’s Tavern passed last week, Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney appealed to the British government for an urgent response.
Two people were killed on December 19th 1975 when a car bomb exploded outside the former Kay’s Tavern on Crowe Street.
Local men Hugh Waters and Jack Rooney died as a result of the blast, and a number of other people were seriously injured.
The families of both men have campaigned tirelessly over the last few decades for answers about the bombing, along with the families of the victims of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings.
The murder of north Louth man Seamus Ludlow has also been included in the historical cases linked to the Troubles.
Speaking in the Dail loast week, Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said that dealing with long-outstanding issues relating to the legacy of the conflict in Northern Ireland ‘are of the utmost importance to the Government.’
He called on the British Government to allow access by an independent, international judicial figure to all original documents relating to the Dub- lin and Monaghan bombings, as well as the Dublin bombings of 1972 and 1973, the bombing of Kay’s Tavern in Dundalk and the murder of Seamus Ludlow.’
He added: ‘I have spoken directly with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire, about this matter and am actively engaged with the British Government on an ongoing basis on this issue.’
Minister Coveney added that there was a ‘consensus political view in Ireland that an independent, international judicial review of all the relevant documents is required to establish the full facts of the Dublin Monaghan atrocities.’
‘I have also advised the Secretary of State that the absence of a response from the British Government is of deep concern to the Government, and I have emphasised the urgent need for a response from the British Government.
The Minister said that the government will ‘continue to engage with the British Government on the request in relation to the Dublin-Monaghan bombings, and pursue all possible avenues that could achieve progress on this issue.’