New documents relating to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings have been found, the Taoiseach said today.
Mr Ahern said Northern Ireland Secretary Mr Paul Murphy told him about the papers during a recent meeting.
He said the documents were sought by Mr Justice Henry Barron, chairman of an inquiry into the attacks which happened on the same night in May 1974, killing 33 people.
Replying to a question from Fine Gael leader Mr Enda Kenny in the Dáil, Mr Ahern said he did not know what the documents contained.
The papers were found after an enormous trawl and passed on to the Barron inquiry, Mr Ahern told the Dail.
A spokeswoman for victims group Justice for the Forgotten said she could not comment on the find until details of the documents' contents were available.
The bombings saw the single biggest loss of life in the history of the Troubles when two loyalist car bombs exploded in central Dublin, killing 26 people, and another exploded in the border town of Monaghan, killing seven.
The Barron inquiry was established by the Government last year after decades of speculation that British security services colluded with the attackers, or at least had foreknowledge of the bombs.
Speaking in the Dáil earlier this month Mr said he had been surprised at the tone of a letter sent by Britain's Defence Ministry to former service personnel about the bombings.
He was responding to opposition questions about a ministerial note, which is claimed to tell ex-service members not to co-operate with the inquiry. Mr Ahern said he expected the result of the inquiry early next year.
PA