Republican News · Thursday 24 January 2002

Barron to probe Blayney bombing and John Francis Green killing

Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin has received a letter from the Taoiseach confirming that the 1976 bombing of Castleblayney in which Patrick Mone was murdered and the assassination in 1975 of John Francis Green will be addressed in the Report of the inquiry of Judge Barron.

While the main focus of the Barron Inquiry, when first established, was the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of May 1974, relatives of victims in other incidents in the Border Counties lobbied for inclusion. As in the Dublin/Monaghan bombings, collusion between British forces and loyalists is suspected in the Castleblayney bombing and British forces crossed the Border to kill John Francis Green in County Monaghan. Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin has repeatedly raised the need to include the Green and Mone cases. He said:

"By letter to the Taoiseach and on the floor of the Dáil I have repeatedly urged that the Castleblayney bombing of 1976 and the murder of John Francis Green should be covered by the Barron inquiry. The news that they will now be reflected in the Report is positive and places these cases firmly on the agenda. At last a light is being shone on the acts of collusion in that period between the British forces and loyalists and the impact it had on County Monaghan and the Border Counties."