50 years on - Remembering the victims of the Dublin Monaghan bombings

Commemorations will take place this weekend to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.

This day 50 years ago, on May 17, 1974, with no warning and within minutes of each other, three bombs rang out across Dublin city killing 26 innocent people and leaving many more seriously injured.

Then, just before 7pm on the North Road in Monaghan, as people made their way home from work, an explosion occurred outside Greacen's pub taking another seven lives.

An official memorial in Dublin honours the 35 victims of the bombings, which include two unborn babies.

No one has ever been convicted over the bombings that have been blamed on loyalist paramilitaries.

Last week it was reported that the former senior police officer, responsible for investigating the 1974 bombings, Iain Livingstone, had received access to never-before-seen top secret material.

These include Operation Denton, an investigation into the Glennane Gang, blamed for approximately 120 sectarian murders in the 1970s and 1980s, and who are suspected of carrying out the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.

The Operation Denton report is expected early next year.