Row over info sharing on Troubles' deaths

THE organisation set up to recover information on Troubles-related killings on both sides of the Border has criticised Irish authorities claiming that they are not sharing information, which could uncover the truth in a number of cases.

The Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) told The Anglo-Celt it is currently seeking information from Irish authorities on 10 deaths.

The commission would not be drawn on whether any of the cases concern the Belturbet, Clones and Monaghan bombings.

“We do not routinely provide details about ongoing investigations,” a statement from ICRIR to the Celt said.

According to the Irish Times, the commission has also been refused information about a dozen cases in which gardaí arrested IRA members who fled south across the Border minutes after killings, or bombings within hundreds of yards of the Border.

ICRIR told the Irish Times newspaper that, in some cases, IRA members were subsequently released by Gardaí, while others were prosecuted for possession of firearms, but none were ever ultimately convicted of any of the offences under investigation by the ICRIR.

Atrocities

Nobody has been convicted for the bombs in Belturbet, Clones and Pettigo, Co Donegal on December 28, 1972. The explosions in the three border towns occurred without warning and within 50 minutes of each other.

Two teenagers, Patrick Stanley (16) and Geraldine O’Reilly (15), died in the Belturbet blast and father-of-eight, Patrick McCabe from Clones died on January 4, 1973, when he fell from a roof damaged in the Clones explosion that he was repairing.

Neither has anyone been convicted for the Monaghan and Dublin bombings on May 17, 1974, when 34 people including an unborn baby were killed. Seven of the dead were killed in the Monaghan explosion. In 1993, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) claimed sole responsibility for both attacks.

The Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) is currently investigating 123 cases relating to deaths during the Troubles. A list of some of the cases they are investigating appears on their website.

Belturbet, Clones and Monaghan do not appear on the list. ICRIR says only those families who do not object to their request for a review of their case to be made public are published online.

In January, Chief Commissioner of ICRIR, Sir Declan Morgan, and Commissioner for Investigations, Peter Sheridan, held a “constructive” meeting with Garda Commissioner, Justin Kelly, in Dublin.

“We continue to liaise with the Irish authorities about cases and since July 2025, eight letters concerning 10 deaths have been issued,” ICRIR told the Celt. However, “those requests remain outstanding,” their statement reads.

“At present, the Commission is not recognised as a police force in the Republic of Ireland. Resolution of that matter is an issue for both governments,” the statement also said.

Information

The ICRIR was originally established under the UK Conservative Government’s contentious 2023 Legacy Act without consultation with the Irish government.

Dublin argues it cannot cooperate with the commission in its current, unreformed state as it offered conditional immunity to perpetrators, shut down historical inquests, and banned civil actions.

Victims’ groups and every political party in the North are opposed to it for the same reasons.

The Irish Government challenged the legislation at the European Court of Human Rights and, because of legal and ethical concerns, the UK Government is in the process of formally repealing and reforming the Act.

Irish authorities indicated they would withhold information sharing until that legal process and negotiations were resolved.

On the agenda

In 2022, a Senior Investigating Officer was appointed to lead the investigation into the Belturbet Bomb and an Incident Room was established at Ballyconnell Garda Station.

As recently as last month, Cavan-Monaghan TD Brendan Smith, raised the issue of Belturbet with the Minister for Justice; Home Affairs and Migration, Jim O’Callaghan, who said An Garda Síochána have “identified a number of lines of inquiry” since 2022.

“I am informed by the Garda Authorities that this investigation is ongoing and that liaison with the authorities in Northern Ireland continues in this respect,” the minister told the local TD. “I am assured by the Garda authorities that their work continues with the aim of bringing the perpetrators to justice.”

Deputy Brendan Smith is the Irish Chair of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, which was set up in 1990.

He says the change of Prime Minister in London, which has led to the sacking of Hillary Benn as the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, is a “setback” to all legacy issues because the minister, whose family came from Rosslea on the Fermanagh-Monaghan border, “had a handle” on cross-border and legacy affairs.

“I met him on many occasions and had many private and official conversations with him about legacy issues and he was extremely determined to find solutions,” Deputy Smith said.

An Garda Síochána were asked for an update on the Ballyconnell incident room’s investigation into the Belturbet Bombing. The Celt also asked gardaí if they had been asked to share information with Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery on the explosions at Belturbet, Clones and Monaghan and if they had done so.