A few months ago, Ulster Human Rights Watch appealed to the Government to conduct a Public Inquiry into the PIRA La Mon atrocity which claimed twelve lives and injured thirty others in 1978.
So many questions remain unanswered about the investigation that followed this cowardly attack. We are aware of the existence of official documents that identify some of the PIRA terrorists involved in the incendiary attack.
There was a review of the investigation conducted by the PSNI’s Historical Enquiries Team (HET), and we know that documents held by the Public Records Office (PRONI) bear redacted names and nicknames which more than justify a Public Inquiry.
Our request to Secretary of State, Brandon Lewis, is made on behalf of fifteen victims of La Mon who live in Canada, England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
When we made the detailed Submission to Mr Lewis, we stated publicly: “This is one case that won’t go away and we believe there is sufficient new material now available to warrant such an inquiry.”
UHRW says it wants to find out the identities of all IRA terrorists involved in ordering, planning and executing the bombing and provide a full account of their involvement.
Crucially, it wants to know why IRA suspects identified by the only person convicted of the bombing were not arrested and questioned by RUC CID and why the PSNI Historical Enquiries Team (HET), in its Summary Report, took the decision to conceal the names of suspects including the identity of the man who planted the bomb when they were known to the police.
We asked the Taoiseach to back our call for a Public Inquiry. That was in November last year. So far, there has been radio silence from the Taoiseach’s office in Dublin.