Bombing families write open letter

Bereaved families and survivors of a series of bombs have written an open letter to the Queen to mark her arrival in Ireland on the 37th anniversary of the atrocities.

A total of 34 men, women and children – including an unborn baby – were killed in the no-warning explosions in Dublin and Monaghan on May 17, 1974.

It was the greatest loss of life in a single day of the Troubles.

Justice For The Forgotten has appealed to the monarch to urge Prime Minister David Cameron to open secret files which were withheld during an inquiry.

“Without this move, deeply troublesome questions remain unanswered,” it wrote. The campaign group believes the blasts were carried out by loyalist paramilitaries with British state collusion.

It wrote that while the Queen’s visit is a sign of improving relations between the two islands and peoples, it wants the occasion marked by “a genuinely significant gesture of reconciliation”.

Justice For The Forgotten said the sky did not fall in after Mr Cameron’s historic apology for Bloody Sunday last June.

“Rather, it led to an unprecedented act of reconciliation by the Protestant churches in Derry,” it continued.

“So on this momentous occasion, our plea to Prime Minister Cameron is: Pursue the truth with vigour – make us all stronger – open up the files.”

Victims of the bombings will be honoured at a wreath-laying ceremony at the Dublin memorial in Talbot Street this morning, as the Queen begins her controversial visit.

Organisers have called on members of the public to attend the annual memorial for the dead, but asked that no flags, banners or emblems are displayed.

Margaret Urwin, official for Justice For The Forgotten, said Mr Cameron – who will be in Dublin with the Queen tomorrow – has a moral obligation to release the files.