TD urges Ahern to raise Tuskar air disaster with Blair

The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, is being asked to raise the 1968 Tuskar air disaster with the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, in an attempt to unearth fresh evidence on a possible cause of the crash.

The request comes from the Waterford Labour TD, Mr Brian O'Shea, who says he believes the plane was brought down by a missile fired by a mobile unit of the British Royal Artillery.

A total of 61 people lost their lives when the Aer Lingus Vickers Viscount, en route to London from Cork, fell 17,000 feet into the sea on a clear Sunday morning.

Over the past 30 years there has been speculation that the disaster was caused by missile testing carried out by the British Ministry of Defence in the area at the time.

The outgoing British ambassador, Dame Veronica Sutherland, is to meet the Minister for Public Enterprise, Mrs O'Rourke, on the issue tomorrow. While the ambassador has indicated that the meeting is purely out of humanitarian concern for the relatives of those who died and that there is no chance of a new investigation, Mrs O'Rourke has said she would call a fresh inquiry if new evidence came to light.

Yesterday Mr O'Shea said that evidence could be simply obtained. He is to ask the Taoiseach to suggest to Mr Blair that British defence personnel be allowed to breach the Official Secrets Act in relation to the events of March 24th, 1968, to enable them to give evidence.

After seven years of investigation Mr O'Shea says he now believes that recordings of British army manoeuvres in the area, picked up by London radar on the day, provide the key to the disaster.

"At the time, the army recordings were dismissed, because they were just the army, not the Royal Air Force. But, in fact, there were mobile army units working from Llanbedr, Manorbier and Ty Croes, taking part in missile testing regularly.

"I have learnt that these men were out on that day and that they fired at their target plane, which was situated north of Cardigan Bay, and saw it disappear from radar. They were surprised later when those observing the target telephoned to ask why the missile had not arrived.

"These men now want to tell their stories, but are prevented from doing so by the British Official Secrets Act."

Last November, an article in the Cardiff-based Western Mail re ported contact with members of the Territorial Army who alleged that it was an open secret among members that they had brought down the aircraft by accident.

The author of that article, Phil Davies, told The Irish Times yesterday that a unit of the Territorial Army had been at Aberporth on the weekend of the crash. Mr Davies said his information was that among themselves they had acknowledged their involvement.