Families seek fresh inquest into Belturbet bombing

The Attorney General is being asked to direct that new inquests be held into the deaths of two teenagers killed in the Belturbet bombing almost 50 years ago.

Geraldine O’Reilly (15) from Staghall in Cavan and Patrick Stanley (16) from Clara, Co Offaly, died when a loyalist bomb went off on Belturbet's Main Street on the evening of December 28, 1972.

It was one in three co-ordinated attacks on Border towns in a single night.

KRW Law, who made the application on behalf of the victims' families, believe fresh inquests would “enable the families of Geraldine O’Reilly and Patrick Stanley an opportunity - for the first and last time - for their right to truth to be given expression through a process authorised by the State in a process of catharsis".

The applications, KRW say, are the first of a number of pending cases in which the Belfast law firm say the State has failed to comply with Article 2 European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in its obligation to conduct an independent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding unresolved murder investigations.

Margaret Urwin, from the campaign group 'Justice for the Forgotten', said that the O’Reilly and Stanley families have long held the belief that no “meaningful” inquest was held into the deaths of their loved ones at the time.

Instead, she claims, the inquests served merely as a “formality”.

Instead, she claims, the inquests served merely as a “formality” and “provided little information beyond the fact Geraldine and Patrick were killed by a bomb explosion".

Acknowledgment of the application to the Attorney General Paul Gallagher SC has been received, Ms Urwin said.

“It's only recently that the Attorney General has ordered an inquiry into the Stardust fire. They have been campaigning for years for that. Belturbet is just the first of a series of applications our solicitor Kevin Winters of KRW Law will be submitting,” said Ms Urwin.

KRW has also applied for a new inquest into the death of Martin Doherty, a man believed shot by the Ulster Volunteer Force outside Widow Scallans' pub in Dublin more than 20 years ago.

Ms Urwin describes the request to hold a new inquest into the deaths that occurred as a result of the Belturbet bombing as an “important step”.

She fears, if a new inquest is put off any longer, vital eyewitnesses in Belturbet will no longer be around.

“There is a lot more now, especially if we follow the example of what has happened in the North, with the Ballymurphy inquests. All of the new information that came out there in relation to their loved ones. It's not the case with Belturbet, but for years they'd been cast as guilty parties. That was incredibly important for that to be rectified."

She adds: “At the very least the Government should hold a fresh Inquest into these teenagers’ deaths. It would demonstrate the State places some value on its citizens. An inquest now would be timely, with the 50th anniversary to take place next year.”

Ms Urwin concludes by saying that leaving the criminal investigation into the bombings “open” is meaningless without action being taken by the authorities.

The issue of potential collusion at the time between loyalist terrorists and the authorities also looms large. Important intelligence documents held by the British State set to remain sealed until 2057.

“Some new lines of inquiry have been followed by gardaí. That is all being looked at, and hopefully, that'll go somewhere, but certainly, we'd hope those new inquests would be granted as well.”