Letters to the Editor: State has failed victims of Dublin and Monaghan bombings
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The current focus on the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of Friday, May 17, 1974, is, in my opinion, too little, too late. I was a schoolgirl in Monaghan when the bombs went off. For many years I believed the IRA were responsible for this atrocity — understandable given the IRA’s track record.
It was only in the 1980s that I realised that these atrocities were not the hand of the IRA but in fact perpetrated by loyalist paramilitaries with the hidden assistance of state agents of a foreign power. I wondered why I had wrongly jumped to my initial conclusions but a brief look back at what was said at the time, especially by the government of the day, provided a reasonable explanation.
In a statement to the Dáil following the atrocities, taoiseach Liam Cosgrave focused exclusively on IRA violence stating that “those who practice it must anticipate an answer in kind” and should “share of the responsibility”.
The Cosgrave government’s obsession with making everything fit the narrative, that there was only one wrongdoer, the IRA, meant those responsible were never brought to justice and so many of the grieving families of the victims have gone to the grave never getting the truth.
No national day of mourning was held for the victims and even as late as 1993 no government member attended the memorial service, In fact in 1993, former taoiseach Albert Reynolds, when pushed in the Dáil by the late Tony Gregory for an official commemoration, stated “it would be invidious to single out individual events for special official commemoration”.
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The Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition led by taoiseach, Liam Cosgrave was severely criticised in the report by Mr Justice Henry Barron for failing “to show the concern expected of it” in response to the bombings.
Shamefully, Mr Cosgrave even refused to assist the Dáil subcommittee on the Barron Report saying that he has “retired from public life”. Up to his death he refused to give interviews or answer questions on what he himself had described as “without exception, the worst single outrage in these islands … since the Second World War”.
In 1991, two old-age pensioners lobbied Dublin City Council to get a small memorial stone erected at Parnell Square in memory of the victims. I was inspired by their initiative and in 1992 I organised a small wreath-laying ceremony presided over by Tony Gregory at this memorial. I wrote to all members of the Dáil and Seanad inviting them to attend. From a total of 226 invites, I received exactly 11 replies.
The relatives I met at that event were so dignified in the face of such betrayal. For example, Edward O’Neill who lost his father and was himself so badly injured that he was not expected to survive; the Doyle family who lost their young daughter, her husband and their two little children; the family of Collette Doherty who was nine months pregnant; and the late Frank Massey, who lost his 21-year old daughter. Frank said to me: “All I want before I die is to know the truth.”
His words haunt me to this day because he died without truth or justice.
The victims and their families were abandoned and betrayed not only by the Cosgrave government but by all governments that followed.
This failure by the State is a crime in itself and that those who failed us were never adequately challenged. Fifty years is too late for so many.
As we approach the 50th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, one is reminded of working in a gent’s clothing shop in Capel street at the time.
I was locking up the premises at close of business that fateful evening, when we heard that dreaded muffled ‘boom’. A work colleague nervously remarked “that’s a bomb”.
We rushed to my Austin Mini and headed full tilt to the sanctuary of our homes on the northside. To paraphrase the opening lines from the novel Treasure Island: ‘I remember it as if it was yesterday’. Quite.
The decision by the Paris Olympic Committee to ensure that 60% of all food on offer at the 2024 games is plant based comes as a welcome move. This is in line with UN recommendations calling on us to drastically limit our intake of meat and dairy to reduce our carbon footprint.
In Ireland, animal agriculture accounts for a staggering 38% of national greenhouse gas emissions.
Bord Bia, our semi state agency which has a budget of €57m uses a significant amount of this funding to promote unsustainable animal produce. Little wonder that a recent report by the ESRI found that 47% of people found no need to cut down on meat.
The Plant Based Treaty is a global movement which is now gaining momentum. Twenty-one cities from Edinburgh to LA have signed up to it. Belfast is the first city on board in Ireland. The Plant Based Treaty is simply a road map for a fast and just transition to a plant-based food system in response to the climate emergency.
Dublin, Cork, and Limerick, are you listening?
After all, do we really want to burp our way to extinction?
For the past 20 years, the EU has been moving to be a military power. The recent report by the Transnational Institute details how this has happened, namely out of public view, driven by the EU’s own interests, and with very little oversight.
The only democratically elected institution in the EU, the European Parliament has very limited decision making power in relation to foreign policy. The so-called European Peace Facility, which funds EU military missions, is beyond any democratic scrutiny.
In a world which more than ever needs peace, Ireland must stand up to the military-industrial complex, keep the triple lock, and take seriously its constitutional obligation to be a peacemaker.
I have been attending an online Catholic Bible study lately and find it fascinating just how many parallels there are between the Old and New Testaments and the Church today. One thing recently alluded to was when the Israelites constructed the Tabernacle to house the Ark of the Covenant. And God’s presence was always there with His people, day and night.
Of course we take it for granted nowadays; every chapel, church, and cathedral has its own tabernacle housing the Blessed Sacrament and so the living God is always with us too.
What happened next was that His presence was not static. He moved. And when He moved the people moved with Him. In the Old Testament case they moved into the promised land, into enemy territory to conquer it, to take possession of it by overthrowing its rulers. One spectacular scene is the destruction of the walls of Jericho. Rather unconventional warfare, the Israelites marching around the city and then blowing trumpets. With the presence of God in the Ark at the lead, God won the victory; all they had to do was follow.
I have heard tell, that there used to be frequent and widespread Eucharistic processions in England and other European countries. I wonder what would happen if we let Him lead us out again; into the parishes, towns, and cities? Into our modern day wilderness: spaces emptied of faith and hope. Would He conquer there too, given the opportunity? I have seen testimonies of Eucharistic processions; of conversions taking place, or change of heart and return to the church by some where the walls around their hearts have been torn down by the Lord as He passed by in the streets or cast them a glance as the monstrance was elevated above them.
Rather than the fortress mentality which leaves churches locked and bolted most of the time with Jesus imprisoned inside; perhaps we could view the hostile surroundings more like Caleb and Joshua did, not without difficulty, but conquerable with Jesus in the lead ... just a thought.