Taoiseach to appear before Barron committee

The Taoiseach will appear before the Oireachtas sub-committee on the Barron report into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings tomorrow…

The Taoiseach will appear before the Oireachtas sub-committee on the Barron report into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings tomorrow to discuss his representations to the British government on its co-operation with the inquiry.

Mr Ahern will also outline the responses he has received to his representations and will state whether, in his view, it would be possible to secure agreement from the British authorities to allow an independent body have sight of relevant files on the bombings.

The chairman of the inquiry into the 1974 attacks, Mr Justice Barron, has been critical of the level of co-operation he has received from the British authorities and some files have not been made available for security reasons.

Thousands of files that were in the possession of the Irish authorities and that may be relevant to the Barron inquiry have also been missing without trace.

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Mr Ahern is expected to make a short statement to the committee at 6 p.m., following which he will take questions from members of the sub-committee until 6.30 p.m.

The sub-committee of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice will report to the Government next month on whether it believes a public inquiry should be held into the events surrounding the bombings and possible collusion between loyalist paramilitaries and elements within the British security forces.