Margaret Urwin addressing a commemoration for the victims of the Monaghan and Dublin bombs.

Victims of 1970s bombings meet President

Sean McMahon

Up to sixty family members of the victims of a number of high profile bombings during the 1970s were guests of President Michel D. Higgins at Aras An Uachtarain on last Thursday, May 22.

Co-ordinator for the Justice for the Forgotten, Margaret Urwin told The Anglo-Celt that they were all invited to the Aras to commemorate the anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. Bereaved relatives from the bombing in Belturbet of December 28, 1972 were also invited to the event.

Margaret Urwin said the president wanted to acknowledge the families and the fact that it was the 40th anniversary.
“The families were absolutely delighted to be there - there were nearly 60 there in total and this included many survivors of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings,” said Margaret Urwin.

President Michael D. Higgins in his statement at the event told them “like the families of so many other victims and survivors of the Northern Ireland conflict, you have been trying to find answers about what happened.

'The report compiled by the late Judge Henry Barron provided some of the answers, as indeed did the subsequent hearings of the Oireachtas Joint Committee. However, there are still many unanswered questions and I know that this is a heavy burden on you all”.
The President added that it was “essential to acknowledge and address the suffering of the victims of violence as a necessary element of reconciliation”. He said that imperative remains as valid in 2014 as it was in 1998.

He said as a then member of Dáil Éireann, “ I recall clearly the All-Party motions of 2008 and 2011 calling on the British Government - “to allow access by an independent, international, judicial figure to all original documents held by the British Government relating to the atrocities that occurred in this jurisdiction and which were inquired into by Judge Barron for the purpose of assessing said documents with the aim of assisting in the solution of those crimes.”

Moderation 

“The fact that these motions were supported by all shades of political opinion in the Oireachtas is reflective of the moderation and reasonableness of the request being made. I share your hope, and that of the Irish Government, that the British Government can find a way to respond positively to this measured and constructive proposal”, said President Higgins.

“Whether it is on this island or in other post-conflict situations across the globe, addressing the legacy of the past is not an easy task. There is no simple formula of words or actions that can put things right. Legitimate demands in individual cases to address the past can sometimes put pressure on fragile political dispensations. And when there are competing narratives about the causes and justness of the conflict, even the question of who is a victim can be contentious and divisive,' said the President.
“But none of this takes from our collective responsibility to find a way to deal ethically with the legacy of the Troubles. A strategy of amnesia is simply not an option. Asking people to forget about the past and to “move on” is neither acceptable in a moral sense nor workable in political terms”, said President Higgins.