Sinn Féin Leader Mary Lou McDonald TD has said that the legacy investigations and reviews published as part of the Kenova Final Report confirm, yet again, that the British state played a central role in the murder of Irish citizens, North and South.
Teachta McDonald said, “My foremost thoughts today are with the families whose loved ones were murdered, and who have carried unbearable grief for decades. The scale of loss, trauma, and injustice inflicted on families across Ireland is profound. I am sorry for every life lost during the conflict, without exception.
“Today’s final Kenova report exposes corruption, criminality, collusion, and cover-up at the highest levels of the British State. It lays bare a system in which British intelligence agencies, sections of the RUC, and the British Army repeatedly obstructed justice, concealed evidence, and protected agents involved in murder.
“The Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974 – the single worst day of violence in the conflict – claimed 34 lives. Operation Denton confirms that British state actors colluded with loyalist paramilitaries in a campaign of systematic murder on both sides of the border.
“The Denton Report shows that loyalist gangs were regularly supplied with intelligence, assistance, and freedom of operation by members of British state forces. This was not random or rogue behaviour – it was part of a recurring pattern in which loyalist violence was enabled, facilitated, and exploited as a strategic tool.
“While Denton states that no documentary evidence was found of high-level political intent to collude, it crucially acknowledges that such records were unlikely ever to have been created or preserved. The absence of such documentation cannot be used to wash away responsibility. The truth is that collusion was resourced, financed, directed, and protected by arms of the British State.
“Families know this. Irish society knows this. And the British state has spent decades seeking to ensure that the full truth cannot be uncovered.
“While today’s report references collusion throughout, the complete extent of British involvement in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings has not yet been revealed. The failure to explicitly recognise the strategic nature of collusion will disappoint many families who have fought for decades for truth and accountability.
“The continued obstruction by British agencies, the withholding of files, and the refusal to face up to their role in the murder of Irish citizens casts grave doubt on the British Government’s commitment to dealing honestly with the past. Their proposed Legacy legislation will deepen impunity, not deliver justice.
“What is needed – and what victims and families deserve – is a fully independent, Article 2 ECHR-compliant, victim-centred truth and accountability process. Nothing less will meet the needs of families or the standards of justice.
“Today must mark a turning point. The days of denial must end. The British State must finally confront the truth of its actions in Ireland.”
