State Papers

British officials reluctant to share Dublin-Monaghan information over resource concerns

‘High degree of resistance’ to searches as late as 2005 amid scepticism over finding new material

The scene on South Leinster Street, Dublin, on May 17th, 1974, when the UVF carried out co-ordinated bomb attacks in the city and in Monaghan. Photograph: Pat Langan
The scene on South Leinster Street, Dublin, on May 17th, 1974, when the UVF carried out co-ordinated bomb attacks in the city and in Monaghan. Photograph: Pat Langan
Shane Hickey in London
Tue Dec 30 2025 - 06:00 • 2 MIN READ

British civil servants did not want to supply an Irish investigation into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings with specific information as it would take up too much of their resources to search for the material.

Patrick MacEntee SC, who headed a commission of investigation into the 1974 bombings, wrote to the British to ask for details about sightings of particular vehicles and people during the 1970s.

In a letter from the Northern Ireland Office in 2005, associate political director Robert Hannigan said there would be a “high degree of resistance” to doing any searches beyond information that had already been supplied to the Irish side.

“It is unlikely that anyone holds relevant information, but we could not be absolutely certain without carrying out extensive file-searches. The Security Service and the MOD [Ministry of Defence] feel strongly that searches would carry too high a cost in terms of resources,” Mr Hannigan wrote in a letter to Tony Blair’s adviser Jonathan Powell at 10 Downing Street.

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“In addition, even if material was uncovered, there might be national security concerns about releasing it.”

[ Dublin-Monaghan bombings: ‘When I looked out into the street, I knew all normality was gone. It was like hell on Earth’ ]

The MacEntee commission was set up by the Irish government to look at aspects of the Garda inquiry into the bombings, in which 33 people died. The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) later admitted responsibility.

The commission reported in 2007 that there was no evidence to establish any connection between alleged collusion and the winding down of the Garda investigations in 1974.

[ ‘No evidence’ of British collusion with loyalists over Dublin and Monaghan bombings ]

Previously, the Barron inquiry into the bombings had been supplied with material by the British government. However, Mr Hannigan stated in the letter to Mr Powell that it had refused to supply more information to that inquiry, leading to criticism from the Irish government.