There is no proven evidence of collusion between members of the security forces in Northern Ireland and the perpetrators of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974, the Barron report has said.
The report, published this evening, says the material assessed by the inquiry is "insufficient to suggest that senior members of the security forces in Northern Ireland were in any way involved in the bombings", although it does say there are grounds for suspecting that the bombers may have had assistance from "members of the security sources".
Judge Barron also concluded the Irish government of the day "failed to show the concern expected of it" in relation to the bombings.
"The Government of the day showed little interest in the bombings," the report claimed.
"When information was given to them suggesting that the British authorities had intelligence naming the bombers, this was not followed up. Any follow-up was limited to complaints by the Minister for Foreign Affairs that those involved had been released from internment," it said.
The report was also critical of the Garda investigation into the bombings saying it "failed to make full use of the information it obtained".
On the issue of alleged collusion between the bombers and the North's security forces, the report said: "The involvement of individual members in such an activity does not in itself mean the bombings were either officially or unofficially state-sanctioned".
"If one accepts that some people were involved, they may well have been acting on their own initiative. Ultimately, a finding that there was collusion between the perpetrators and the authorities in Northern Ireland is a matter of inference.
"On some occasions an inference is irresistible or can be drawn as a matter of probability. Here, it is the view of the inquiry that this inference is not sufficiently strong. It does not follow even as a matter of probability. Unless further information comes to hand, such involvement must remain a suspicion. It is not proven."
The chairman of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Mr Sean Ardagh, said as far as he could see from the report, there was "no definite evidence of collusion". He said the committee will hold hearings in the New Year and will invite submissions from interested parties, including the victims and the families of those who died. Mr Justice Barron has indicated his willingness to attend the hearings.
Some family members of people who died in the Dublin bombings walked out of the press conference at which the Barron report was first presented to the families and the media this evening.
Mr Des Doherty, solicitor for the family of Edward O'Neill and John O'Brien said there was nothing new in the report that the families had not previously known. "It's obscene," he said. "The report has been a complete and utter waste of time and expense and my clients are severely disappointed."
The O'Brien and O'Neill families are not with the Justice for the Forgotten group, which is expected to give its reaction to the report in Dublin shortly.