The forthcoming inquest into the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings will not speculate on blame, rumours or conspiracy theories, the Dublin City Coroner said yesterday.
Dr Brian Farrell was responding to submissions made by interested parties in advance of the inquest which opens in the Distillery Building in Dublin on Tuesday, April 27th.
He said that coroner's policy, uttered in 1927, had been reaffirmed on two occasions by the Supreme Court, and this was that an inquest should determine: the identity of the deceased; the medical cause of death; allay rumour or suspicion; draw attention to circumstances of the death or deaths, which if left unremedied could result in further death; and to advance medical knowledge.
In response to submissions drawing attention to the jurisprudence of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to life and to a fair and public hearing in an independent and impartial tribunal, Dr Farrell said he would take cognisance of the Convention.
However, it was unclear to him whether the European Convention on Human Rights Act, 2003, had retrospective effect, that is, whether its provisions, in the case of an inquest, applied to the hearing or the event.
"That needs to be looked at further," he said.
"However, I am submitting today that I am entitled to take cognisance of the European Convention on Human Rights.
"I am confident that the inquest into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings will meet the requirements of Irish law and at the same time satisfy human rights provisions under Irish law."
He said that while the inquest would place as many facts as possible on the record it could not investigate theories or speculation in relation to the deaths.
His court had no extraterritorial power and so while witnesses from outside the State would be requested to attend, the court could not compel them to.
