Two bombs, believed to have been planted in Dublin the same day as the devices that killed 34 people in Dublin and Monaghan, were discovered some two months after the May 1974 atrocities, the inquest on the victims of the bombings has heard.
A retired Army bomb disposal expert told the inquest that gardaí had received calls in relation to two further bombs in Dublin, after the explosions in Parnell Street, Talbot Street and South Leinster Street.
The bombs, which had not detonated on the day because the timing devices had stopped, were discovered in a public toilet in Amiens Street and Busáras Station in Store Street, Comdt Patrick Triers said.
They came to light when the clocks restarted, making them "live" again. Both were discovered within 500 metres of the explosions which caused destruction and loss of life on Parnell Street and Talbot Street. "Information that two other bombs had been planted in Dublin was passed on to me by gardaí that day, but nothing was found.
"Some months later these two bombs were discovered, one in the gentlemen's toilets on Amiens Street and another one in Busáras. They were dismantled safely," Comdt Triers said.
Comdt Triers, who was an Army captain in 1974, said the bombs started ticking, making them "live" again, after they were moved.
Although there was no proof that they were planted by the same organisation as the Dublin and Monaghan bombs, Comdt Triers said it was believed that they were because of their similarity, particularly in the use of timers rather than a lit fuse.
He said he was in no doubt that the UVF had perpetrated the Dublin and Monaghan bombings with the assistance of security forces in Northern Ireland. The technology used in the bombs, such as timers, and the materials used were not available to the UVF at the time, he said. The operation required "military expertise" and an ability to get the three car bombs through the Border unnoticed.
"Lighting a fuse was the height of technology of the loyalist paramilitaries in the North, they weren't up to much at that time." The atrocities had all the hallmarks of a "military attack", he said. "It was a major operation, a very serious operation and the UVF were not up to that in my expert opinion."
Counsel for the Garda Commissioner, Mr Shane Murphy, put it to Comdt Triers that he did not have the intelligence expertise to support this opinion, but was interrupted in his examination by an outburst from the public gallery.
Mr Fred Holroyd, a former British intelligence officer, shouted that the inquest was "a farce" and that MI6 had tried to recruit Comdt Triers because of his expertise. Mr Holroyd's name had been submitted to the inquest as a potential witness, but was found inadmissible by the Dublin City Coroner, Dr Brian Farrell. Dr Farrell, said the inquest should be conducted in a dignified manner and asked that the incident not be repeated.
Meanwhile, a witness has told the inquest that he alerted the gardaí to a suspicious vehicle before the Dublin bombings, which it emerged was driven by a British army officer. Mr Roger Keane said he saw a Northern Ireland or British registered white van outside his place of work at Aldborough House, Portland Row, on the morning of May 17th, 1974.
He phoned the gardaí at 1 p.m. and later again at 5 p.m. They arrived at 5.10 p.m. but the van had just left.
Mr Keane said he called them again after the bombings and travelled with them to Dublin Docks where the van was located. The man identified himself to gardaí as a captain in the British Territorial Army, Mr Keane said. Mr Keane made a statement to gardaí but was not contacted subsequently.
