A Troubling Report

It was the worst atrocity of the Irish Troubles: three bombs exploding within 90 seconds during rush hour in Dublin in May 1974, killing 27 and maiming hundreds. Ninety minutes later, another bomb went off outside a pub in Monaghan, killing seven. No one was ever charged with the crimes. Last week a four-year judicial inquiry concluded that it was probable, though not proven, that the loyalist paramilitaries who planted the bombs had help from low-level members of the British security forces.

Justice Henry Barron, the report's author, tried to probe whether senior British intelligence figures were involved in the attack. He didn't reach a conclusion, but the British government hampered his investigation by reneging on its promise to cooperate fully with the inquiry. After an 18-month delay, it handed over no original documents, only 16 pages of letters referring to other documents.

That stonewalling has outraged the victims and their families. "You can't have a country like Britain waltzing around as the moral policeman of the world and ignoring concerns in its own backyard," says Greg O'Neill, a lawyer for the victims. He and other victims are weighing whether to sue the British government, both for compensation and in hopes of getting closer to the truth.