The long-awaited report by Mr Justice Barron into the bombings of Dublin and Monaghan in 1974 will be published this evening. No one was ever prosecuted for the attacks in which 33 people died, including a pregnant mother.
The report is said to make definitive assertions about the possible involvement of British agents in the bombing plot by the UVF and about the performance of the gardaí who investigated the crime.
The Justice for the Forgotten group, which represents the families of those killed and injured in the attack, will meet in private today with the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern. The meeting during lunchtime is expected to be social in nature.
The group's solicitor, Mr Greg O'Neill, said the group would call on the Government to initiate a public inquiry if the report left any uncertainties about what happened in the attacks.
Comprising more than 300 pages, the Barron report will be given to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice after a Government motion is passed in the Dáil today.
The committee, chaired by Mr Sean Ardagh TD (FF), is expected to meet in private this afternoon with Mr Justice Barron.
It will seek guidance from the judge about the interpretation of the report.
Although the report was originally expected more than a year ago, it is widely believed Mr Justice Barron was frustrated by a lack of co-operation from the British authorities.
The Government spokeswoman would not comment last night when asked whether the Government had decided to call for a public inquiry into the bombing.
She said the Government would make a statement once the report was published.
The Dublin bombs in Parnell Street, Talbot Street and South Leinster Street on May 17th, 1974, killed 26 people, one of them a pregnant mother. The Monaghan bomb killed seven. Some 240 people were injured in the attacks.
