Paddy Doyle has not been the same since he lost his daughter, two grandchildren and son-in-law in the bombing which ripped Dublin's
Parnell Street apart on May 17th, 1974. He had to identify their bodies. "It was like going into a slaughterhouse, bits of bodies everywhere," he told Yorkshire Television in its First Tuesday programme on the bombings in July 1993. "I identified the son-in-law and the two kids, but the daughter . . . I couldn't place her. It was an awful sight. You had to step over legs and arms."
It was the worst mass killing in the history of the "troubles", claiming the lives of 33 people in Monaghan and in Talbot Street and
South Leinster Street in Dublin as well as Parnell Street. A raft of emergency legislation was rushed through the Dail in its immediate aftermath. Almost 20 years later the UVF claimed responsibility.
There have also been persistent allegations of involvement by British intelligence forces. These were aired in an RTE Prime Time documentary broadcast in May 1995.
The Yorkshire Television First Tuesday documentary claimed that the Garda at the time listed 20 loyalist suspects, but were hampered in their investigation by the RUC. The Garda inquiry ran into the sand. The then Minister for Justice, Mrs Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, set up a Garda inquiry into the allegations made on that programme.
In May 1994, the 20th anniversary of the bombing, there came belated official acknowledgment of the loss suffered by the victims'
relatives and of the enormity of the crime. The President, Mrs
Robinson, the then Lord Mayor of Dublin, Mr Tomas MacGiolla, and a number of politicians and diplomats joined relatives in the
Pro-Cathedral for a Mass of Remembrance. A year earlier only 100
people had turned up to watch a wreath being laid at a memorial stone in Parnell Square.
The relatives have, however, fared less well in getting any closer to the truth. Mrs GeogheganQuinn was slow in revealing the results of her inquiry and many of them became very frustrated.
In response to the Prime Time programme, the new Minister for
Justice, Mrs Nora Owen, issued a statement on its allegations: "The
Garda authorities are satisfied that neither the programme-makers nor those interviewed on the programme were in a position to furnish any evidence which would further the Garda investigation."
Now, in another bid to get at the truth, Mr Doyle and five other victims' relatives are seeking answers in Europe. As an "indirect victim" he has lodged a complaint with the European Commission of
Human Rights that the United Kingdom is in breach of Article Two of the European Convention of Human Rights. In his complaint, Mr Doyle lists 15 specific failures on the part of the RUC, including that it failed to establish a murder inquiry and failed to allocate sufficient resources and personnel appropriate to the investigation as warranted by the seriousness of the offences.
Although the events complained of happened a long time ago, Mr
Doyle states that the "matters complained of" - the failure of the
RUC to investigate - have only recently come into the public domain and he could not have acted sooner.
But first he has to go to the High Court to get documents to support his case in Europe. That hearing is taking place on Friday.
According to Mr Doyle, the Garda are in possession of facts relevant to his claim, specifically information about the nature and extent of inquiries carried out by the RUC. His lawyers sent a number of letters to the Garda Commissioner seeking access to the relevant files. The Commissioner refused on the grounds of confidentiality.
Mr Doyle is seeking an order that the Commissioner makes all documents and records relating to the bombings available to his lawyers, so that they can examine them and use them in their case against the UK. He is also seeking an order that the documents be made available to the European Commission of Human Rights.