Reports obtained from:
(1) BBC News, (2) Ulster Television (UTV), (3) Irish News, (4) Guardian Unlimited
(5) Irish Examiner, (6) Belfast Telegraph, (7) Andersonstown News, (8) Sunday Business Post
(1.2Mb PDF file)
In 2004 the Pat Finucane Centre of Derry asked Professor Douglass Cassel, then of Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago, Illinois, USA, to convene an independent international panel of inquiry into alleged collusion by members of United Kingdom security forces in sectarian murders and other serious crimes in Northern Ireland in the mid-1970’s – and particularly the activities of the so-called “Glenanne group.”
Two of the four Panel members, Professor Douglass Cassel who teaches international human rights, international humanitarian and international criminal law at Notre Dame Law School in the United States of America and Susie Kemp, an international lawyer based in The Hague and is a former Investigator with the International Criminal Court, presented their report in Belfast and Dublin last week.
The 108 page report has been produced independently of the PFC and drafts were provided for commentary in advance to the British Government, the Office of the Police Ombudsman and the PFC. The Panel examined 25 cases on both sides of the border where collusion between loyalist paramilitaries and state agents was alleged. A number of the 25 cases involved multiple deaths and 76 people died in the incidents examined. The Panel investigation included a number of attacks in the Republic of Ireland including the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, the Dundalk and Castleblaney bombings and the murder of John Francis Green.
Monday, 6 November, 2006
Tuesday, 7 November, 2006
Thursday, 9 November, 2006
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Sunday, 12 November, 2006
Security 'links' to murder plots
By BBC News
Members of the RUC and UDR colluded with loyalist paramilitaries in 74 murders in the 1970s, according to an international panel of legal experts. The four-strong team examined 76 killings between 1972 and 1977 and said there was evidence of collusion in all but two of the cases.
It said some senior officers knew of the crimes but "failed to act to prevent or punish" those responsible.
The panel urged the British government to set up an independent investigation.
They also urged the authorities in the Irish Republic to investigate the claims made about their police.
In response to the report, Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde said the PSNI's Historical Enquiries Team was set up to examine all of the 3,268 killings during the Troubles.
"This particular panel did not meet with or consult directly with the Historical Enquiries Team," Sir Hugh said.
"I would invite them to come and see for themselves how the investigations and work with the families are progressing.''
The report said: "Credible evidence indicates that superiors of violent, extremist officers and agents, at least within the RUC, were aware of their sectarian crimes, yet failed to act to prevent, investigate or punish them.
By 1975, senior officials were also informed that some RUC police officers were 'very close' to extremist paramilitaries Law experts' report
"On the contrary, they allegedly made statements that appeared to condone participation in these crimes."
The panel was convened two years ago at the request of the Londonderry-based Pat Finucane Centre.
It examined 25 incidents on both sides of the Irish border, including:
The murder of 33 people in UVF bomb attacks in Dublin and Monaghan on 17 May 1974
The shooting of three members of the Miami Showband - Fran O'Toole, 29, Anthony Geraghty, 23, and Brian McCoy, 33, after a UVF gang posing as an Ulster Defence Regiment patrol flagged their bus down on 31 July 1975.
The killing of Patrick Connolly, 23, on 4 October 1972 in a grenade attack on his Portadown home by the Ulster Volunteer Force
The double murder by the UVF of Catholic Patrick Molloy, 46, and Protestant Jack Wylie, 49, in a bomb attack at Augenlig in County Armagh
The shooting dead of six men in separate UVF gun attacks on two families in County Armagh on 4 January 1976 The panel added: "As early as 1973, senior officials of the United Kingdom were put on notice of the danger - and indeed some of the facts - of sectarian violence by UDR soldiers using stolen UDR weapons and ammunition, and supported by UDR training and information.
"At least by 1975, senior officials were also informed that some RUC police officers were 'very close' to extremist paramilitaries."
The report also said there had been "allegations by at least one former RUC man that the Gardai, the police force of the Republic of Ireland, was not co-operative in bringing fugitives who fled across the border to justice".
The British government told the panel it would be inappropriate to comment as the murders are the subject of inquiries by a number of agencies.
These included the European Court of Human Rights, the PSNI Historical Enquiries Team, and the Police Ombudsman.
'Final chance'
Copies of the 108-page report have been given to the British government and the Police Ombudsman's Office.
The independent panel who produced the report were: Professor Douglass Cassel of Notre Dame Law School in the US; Susie Kemp, an international lawyer based in The Hague; Piers Pigou - an investigator for the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Stephen Sawyer of Northwestern University School of Law.
Last year, the Irish government said it was giving Tony Blair a final chance to aid an inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.
Irish premier Bertie Ahern said he may take a case to the European Court of Human Rights if Mr Blair did not hand over British government files on the bombings.
No-one was convicted of the bombings.
Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6118540.stm
Copyright © 2006 BBC MMVI
US academic shocked by report's findings
By Ulster Television (UTV)
A US academic has described his shock at the extent of apparent security force collusion in loyalist paramilitary murders in Northern Ireland.
Ulster Television
University of Notre Dame human rights law Professor Douglass Cassel was commenting after an international investigation he headed uncovered considerable evidence of British Army and police collusion in 74 sectarian murders during the 1970s.
The probe of 25 loyalist atrocities, carried out by a panel of human rights experts from around the world, found senior Royal Ulster Constabulary officers were aware and approved of collusion while officials in London had enough information to intervene.
The panel`s report also called on the British Government to appoint an independent inquiry to examine how high up the chain of command collusion went.
Professor Cassel told the Press Association at the Belfast presentation of the report: "Personally I was shocked.
"The British Government has a reputation around the world as one of the leading democracies and one of the longest histories of the rule of law.
"To find this extent of collusion in murders in the 25 incidents we investigated was shocking."
The panel was asked by the Londonderry-based human rights organisation the Pat Finucane Centre to investigate allegations of collusion in 25 loyalist attacks from October 1972 to February 1977 - most of which are linked to a loyalist gang known as the Glenanne group.
Among the incidents they investigated were the May 1974 Dublin Monaghan bombings which claimed 33 lives, the Miami Showband massacre in July 1975 during which three musicians and two members of the Ulster Volunteer Force gang died and the shooting of Catholic policeman Sergeant Joe Campbell in February 1977.
In only one case, the group was unable to reach a verdict on collusion because of conflicting accounts - the murder of 51-year-old driver James Marks and 78-year-old passenger Joseph Toland in a gun attack in Gilford, Co Armagh, on a minibus returning from bingo.
The panel also met members of three organisations representing republican victims of violence - Families Acting for Innocent Relatives, SAVER/NAVER, both in Markethill, Co Armagh, and the WAVE Trauma Centre in Belfast which caters for the victims of loyalist violence too.
Among the stories they heard were the murder of a woman in an acid and petrol bomb attack on a bus in Armagh in 1972, the shooting of a man pulled from a digger in Mullaghbawn and shot dead as he cleaned drains on his farm, the killing of three UDR men when a lorry carrying a 1,000lb bomb rolled into their barracks at Glenanne in 1991 and a South Armagh farmer`s account of the intimidation of Protestants who were driven from their land.
They also heard allegations by at least one former RUC man that the Irish Republic`s police, the Gardai, was not co-operative in bringing to justice IRA fugitives who fled across the border.
While the panel`s remit was to probe collusion in loyalist killings, Professor Cassel confirmed today: "There are some allegations we received of alleged failure of the Garda or the Irish authorities to properly co-operate with law enforcement in cases of violence against loyalists here in Northern Ireland.
"We will certainly be raising that with the Irish Government."
The report called for:
Public apologies from senior officials to the families of victims of collusion.
Copyright © 2006 Ulster Television
Irish government meets human rights experts after 'collusion' report
By Ulster Television (UTV)
Irish government officials are due to meet with an international panel of experts who claim to have uncovered evidence of British Army and police collusion in dozens of sectarian murders. By:Press Association
The human rights experts are in Dublin to launch their findings on the circumstances surrounding the deaths of 76 people in 25 loyalist atrocities during the 1970s.
The 115-page collusion report, which was unveiled in Belfast yesterday, says evidence has been found of security force involvement in 74 of the 76 sectarian murders investigated.
The panel claimed senior Royal Ulster Constabulary officers were aware and approved of the collusion while officials in London had enough information to intervene.
The Irish Republic`s Foreign Affairs minister Dermot Ahern is studying the evidence and his officials will meet with the report`s authors in the Irish capital, according to a department spokesman.
University of Notre Dame human rights law Professor Douglass Cassel, who headed the panel, said he was shocked at the extent of the collusion involved in the murders.
The probe included the May 1974 Dublin Monaghan bombings, and the Miami Showband massacre in July 1975.
The experts have called on the British government to appoint an independent inquiry to examine how high up the chain of command collusion went and have also urged the authorities in the Irish Republic to investigate the claims made about gardai.
Copyright © 2006 Ulster Television
Questions haunt probe into loyalist collusion
By Susan McKay, Irish News
Adistinguished and independent panel of international lawyers yesterday (Monday) reported on its two-year inquiry into 25 incidents involving the murders of 76 people. These were sectarian murders carried out by loyalist paramilitaries from mid-Ulster between 1972 and 1977.
The panel found strong evidence of collusion between members of the British security forces, mainly the RUC and the UDR, in 24 out of the 25 incidents, and therefore 74 out of the 76 murders. The evidence came from credible statements and forensics.
Policemen and soldiers helped paramilitary gangs to murder men, women and children, most of them Catholics. In some cases, policemen and soldiers were part of the loyalist paramilitary gangs. In some cases, they donned masks to murder, then RUC uniforms to investigate.
They stole, lent, used and hid weapons provided to them for the protection of the people, to murder civilians. They destroyed and covered up evidence. The report includes a chart which shows the way that the same guns were used over and over again.
There were car bombs, grenade attacks, and shootings. Pubs were sprayed with gunfire. Several families were massacred. The Dublin and Monaghan bombings left 34 dead, the largest number killed on any single day during the Troubles. Other cases under investigation did not lead to deaths. Many other people were injured.
Investigations failed even in the face of overwhelming evidence. In one case, a widow identified the killer, the notorious Robin Jackson, only to see charges against him dropped by order of the DPP. Jackson was a special branch agent. Evidence of collusion was provided by several former members of the security forces, but was not acted on. Ballistics evidence linking killings was ignored.
"Credible evidence indicates that superiors of violent extremist officers and agents were aware of their sectarian crimes yet failed to act to prevent, investigate or punish them as early as 1973, senior officials of the United Kingdom were put on notice of sectarian violence by UDR soldiers. At least by 1975, senior officials were also informed that some RUC officers were very close to extremist paramilitaries." Confessions in 1978 by former RUC officers John Weir and Billy McCaughey "should have blown the lid off RUC and UDR involvement in murdering Catholics".
Those who take the view that these things happened back in the bad old days and that all has changed now, and changed utterly, will find no comfort in this report. Weir's allegations, made public in 1999, were not properly investigated even then.
The inquiry panel met the Chief Constable of the PSNI, Sir Hugh Orde, in 2004. "We thought we received assurances of his co-operation," its chairman, Professor Douglass Cassel, said yesterday. "Since then we have received not a single piece of paper."
He said Orde had subsequently informed them that he was referring all relevant material on these matters to the body which preceded the Historical Enquiries Team. He already knew about that body before he met the panel, Cassel said. Why did he appear to change his mind?
This is not the first time that the activities of the so-called "Glenanne Gang" of loyalist paramilitaries, soldiers and policemen, have been exposed. Mr Justice Henry Barron looked at some of its murderous activities. The Pat Finucane Centre, which invited the Cassel team to carry out this latest investigation, has carried out excellent and painstaking work on behalf of some of the bereaved families. Last year it uncovered documents revealing high-level knowledge of collusion in the UDR in the early 1970's.
However, all attempts to get the full truth about these murders – and many others – have been thwarted by the refusal of the British government to make available crucial intelligence records. This report is yet another appeal to it to do the right thing before it is forced to under international law.
Pat Finucane's widow, Geraldine, was at the launch. She found the report "very encouraging".
It was scary to think, she said, that people in authority in London knew about these things back in 1973. "I am sure their skills were well-honed by 1989 when they murdered my husband," she said.
She is right. This fine report isn't just about the 76 awful murders it has studied. It is about hundreds of others that followed.
A question haunts the report, as it haunted the work of Mr Justice Barron, Lord Stevens and Judge Peter Cory. How high up the chain did knowledge of and complicity in these atrocities go?
It is a question which won't go away.
Copyright © 2006 Irish News
RUC and army 'backed killers'
By Owen Bowcott, Ireland correspondent, Guardian
As many as 74 murders by a loyalist paramilitary gang in Ireland during the mid-1970s may have involved collusion with serving police and soldiers, an international lawyers' report alleged yesterday. The independent inquiry focused on allegations that some of the worst atrocities of the Troubles - including the 1974 bombings in Dublin and Monaghan, which killed 33 people - were carried out by an Ulster Volunteer Force faction operating under security force protection from a farm near Glennane, County Armagh.
The authors of the study, sponsored by the Derry-based Pat Finucane Centre, said they had found credible evidence of training, weapons and information being provided by Royal Ulster Constabulary officers and Ulster Defence Regiment soldiers. Such claims surfaced repeatedly during the Troubles and their aftermath but this report suggests that collusion in Armagh was systematic and involved senior officers.
It relied on ballistics evidence as well as the testimony of a former RUC officer who has admitted involvement with the gang. Among cases investigated were the Miami Showband massacre in July 1975 and the shooting of Catholic policeman Sergeant Joe Campbell in February 1977.
Douglass Cassell, of Notre Dame Law School in the US, who chaired the panel, said it had been denied access to some Northern Ireland police documents and called for a wider inquiry.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006
Families lobby MPs on 'collusion'
By BBC News
The families of six men murdered by the Ulster Volunteer Force have been lobbying MPs to investigate claims of security force collusion. The men were shot dead in O'Toole's bar, Loughinisland, County Down, on 18 June 1994 as they watched football.
The Loughinisland Justice Group met a cross-party delegation of MPs at Westminster.
It included Conservative NI Secretary David Liddington and Liberal Democrat NI spokesman Lembit Opik.
The other MPs they met included Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn and members of the Northern Ireland Select Committee.
The Loughinisland victims were watching Jack Charlton's Republic of Ireland team beat Italy in the USA World Cup when the loyalist gang burst into the pub and opened fire.
The victims were 34-year-old Adrian Rogan, 39-year-old Eamon Byrne, who was married with four children, his brother-in-law Patsy O'Hare, who was 35 and single, Dan McCreanor, 59, a single farmer, his uncle Barney Green, an 87-year-old retired farmer who was married, and Malcolm Jenkinson, 54, a building contractor who was married with three children.
'Wiped off'
The families were accompanied to the meetings by Sinn Fein South Down assembly member Caitriona Ruane.
She said the families had waited patiently for justice for 12 years.
"As the years have gone on, the families have began to raise serious questions about the murders and specifically the subsequent investigation into it.
"Sinn Fein will continue to support the families of those murdered at Loughinisland in their campaign for the truth about what happened on that night 12 years ago.
"The British government need to realise that issue will not go away."
Emma Rogan, who was eight when her father, Adrian, a scrap metal collector, was shot dead said: "Six innocent men who did not do anybody wrong in their lives were wiped off the face of the earth because somebody said go and do it.
"We want to know why."
Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6123442.stm
Copyright © 2006 BBC MMVI
Evidence found of British collusion in bombings
By Irish Examiner
For two years, investigators have been examining 25 separate incidents involving the murders of 76 people which occurred north and south of the Border during the Troubles.
They have concluded that members of the security forces — the former RUC and now defunct UDR — actively colluded with the loyalist UVF in dozens of sectarian murders of Catholics.
It will also be claimed that the British Government chose to ignore evidence of this from the early 1970s.
Investigators discovered that senior RUC members were reported as being “extremely close” to loyalist paramilitaries in 1975. But the warnings were ignored.
In 24 of the 25 cases probed, the panel found evidence of security forces’ collusion and recommended a public investigation be established by the British Government to examine the murders.
The panel released their findings in Belfast yesterday and the conclusions will also be discussed at a conference in Dublin today.
“As early as 1973, senior officials of the United Kingdom were put on notice of the danger — and indeed some of the facts — of sectarian violence by UDR soldiers using stolen UDR weapons and ammunition, and supported by UDR training and information,” part of the report stated.
“At least by 1975, senior officials were also informed that some RUC police officers were ‘very close’ to extremist paramilitaries.”
Thirty-three people were killed in the May 1974 Dublin-Monaghan bombings.
The British Government has refused to release files on the atrocities to the Irish Government.
Relatives of victims will give a response to the findings at a conference in Dublin this morning.
One case in which the panel determined collusion between the security forces and loyalist murder gangs was the July 1975 Miami Showband Massacre, when three of the band’s musicians were shot dead by a gang which included members of the UVF and UDR.
During its two-year investigation, initiated at the behest of the Pat Finucane Centre, investigators talked to PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde, two members of the loyalist gang who carried out some of the killings and relatives of the victims.
© Irish Examiner - Thomas Crosbie Media - Thomas Crosbie Holdings, Ireland, 2006
Collusion: PSNI team 'not capable of getting to truth' Orde defends cold case team after international criticism
By Chris Thornton, Belfast Telegraph
PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde has defended the team reviewing Troubles murders after a report questioned whether they would be able to resolve concerns about collusion.
The international panel that produced the report, which looks at loyalist collusion in 74 murders in the 1970s, indicated that the PSNI's Historical Enquiries Team (HET) review of individual cases seems unlikely to connect the dots that could establish if collusion was systematic. They also said the team does not meet UN standards because its findings will not be made public.
Sir Hugh said he has long believed a "wider process" is needed, but pointed out that the HET is "the only piece of concrete work that is ongoing in relation to these issues".
The report, launched in Belfast yesterday, looks at a series of killings in the Armagh-Tyrone border area, many of them linked by forensic evidence.
Ballistic and witness evidence suggests members of the security forces were involved in the murders.
In one case, four RUC officers - at least one on duty - were convicted of a gun attack on the Rock Bar, near Keady, Co Armagh, in 1976. Only one received a jail term.
Guns used in that incident were used in a number of other attacks, including murders.
The only man wounded in that attack, 84-year-old Mick McGrath, backed the report at yesterday's launch. A bullet from the attack is still lodged inside him. "I was lucky I recovered," he said.
Professor Douglass Cassel, the law professor from Notre Dame Law School in the US who headed up the panel, said the Government should institute an investigation that gets at the "full depth and full breadth and height of collusion", including how much senior officers and officials knew.
"There's enough evidence, easily accessible in the public domain, to reach the conclusion that we reached - that there was substantial collusion," Professor Cassel said.
"But there is a great deal that we haven't seen. There is a great deal more that should be done but we are not suggesting that it is the Historic (sic) Enquiries Team that should do the digging.
"The Historic Enquiries Team by itself, in our judgment, is not a sufficient vehicle to get to the truth."
But Sir Hugh said the team would look at every case "thoroughly, impartially and professionally and where there are grounds for further investigation and prosecution, appropriate action will be taken".
"I have said from the very beginning that the Historical Enquiries Team is only one part of the solution to the difficult and sensitive issues around Northern Ireland's recent history," he said.
"I believe that a wider debate has to happen and a wider process is needed; however, so far this team is the only piece of concrete work that is ongoing in relation to these issues and whilst I do not say it is the answer to every question, it offers real answers to many, many, families who are deciding to engage with it.
"This particular panel did not meet with or consult directly with the Historical Enquiries Team. I would invite them to come and see for themselves how the investigations and work with the families are progressing."
Alan Brecknell, whose father was killed in one of the attacks, said many families want the truth about what happened.
"It's not about revenge," he said. "It's about a meaningful way of addressing the past."
Copyright © 2006 Belefast Telegraph
Collusion: A Reality
An Fhirinne call for immediate action after stark findings
By Damian McCarney, Andersonstown News
The British government have been called to account for the findings of a damning report released this week which confirmed there was evidence of collusion in the deaths of scores of Catholics during the conflict
A report carried out by an independent panel of inquiry, headed by Professor Douglas Cassel of the renowned Notre Dame Law School in Indiana, discovered that in 24 of 25 incidents in the early 1970s, evidence strongly suggested collusion by members of the security forces.The findings implicate the RUC and UDR in 74 deaths on both sides of the border.
One passage of the report said that evidence indicates that members of "the RUC were aware of their sectarian crimes, yet failed to act to prevent, investigate or punish them.
"On the contrary, they allegedly made statements that appeared to condone participation in these crimes."
Robert McClenaghan, a spokesperson with An Fhirinne, a group who have campaigned to expose British collusion in the murder of nationalists, has called on the British government to respond positively to the latest report by setting up an independent international inquiry.
"This report is but the latest to highlight instances of collusion North and South of the border, and particularly in light of similar instances in West Belfast we need an international, independent inquiry into these serious allegations.
"The British State can no longer bury its head and refuse to comment as it did earlier this week.
"The families of the 74 murdered people demand answers now," said Mr McClenaghan
He also condemned unionists for not acting on this most serious matter and urged the community to support the ongoing campaign of bereaved families to get justice in cases involving collusion.
"The silence of the entire unionist establishment, newspapers, councillors, MPs and MLAs in response to this report has been deafening. "For the families of this collusion it is both frightening and sickening."If these were 74 cases of IRA collusion with, say the Irish government, these same politicians would be outraged, but they are sitting like sheep afraid to open their mouths because they know that collusion is a reality. If this report had happened in any other country, governments would have collapsed," he added.
"An Fhirinne supports these families in their search for truth and justice. They need support from all right-thinking people North and South in Ireland. The Irish government should convene a special summit with the British government to discuss this report and the families' concerns to ensure that it is acted upon and not left to gather dust," said Mr McClenaghan.
Copyright © 2006 Andersonstown News
Team to probe alleged state collusion murders
By Jonathan McCambridge, Belfast Telegraph
The Historical Enquiries Team, established to probe more than 3,000 Troubles killings, is to set up a new team to investigate murders where there are allegations of state collusion, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal.
However, the new unit will be established outside of Northern Ireland because of difficulties in persuading former detectives to come to the province. A premises in London is being sought.
In the first 10 months of its existence, the HET unit in Lisburn has begun investigating 320 murders stretching back 30 years and will soon conclude its first batch of 40 investigations.
However, the unit has been criticised by many because it has been given just six years to investigate 3,268 murders. Just this week an international panel reporting on collusion killings said that HET failed to meet UN guidelines on public disclosure.
HET has two investigation teams - 'red' which is made up entirely of detectives from outside Northern Ireland and 'purple', which includes former RUC and PSNI members.
However, former Metropolitan police commander Dave Cox said that their investigations so far had convinced them that a third team, known as 'white', should also be set up.
He said: "We are establishing a third team to look at a very different type of investigation where there are allegations of state collusion. Rather than working from the bottom up we are taking a listed view of several incidents and looking for links.
"It is an analytically driven sort of investigation and my experience on the Stevens' Team indicates they can be pretty protracted and intense. We have decided the best way to progress this is to have a specific team to look at it."
Mr Cox added: "However, we are also experiencing difficulties in recruiting ex-officers from outside Northern Ireland who want to come over here during the week and live in digs. There is a much bigger pool if we base it across the water so we are looking at a site in London. It is a good opportunity to get good quality independent staff.
Copyright © 2006 Belfast Telegraph
RUC officer implicated in loyalist collusion
By Sunday Business Post
By Colm Heatley An RUC whistleblower says he is prepared to give sensational evidence to the Smithwick Tribunal that implicates RUC chief superintendent Harry Breen, the highest-ranking member of the RUC to be killed in the Troubles, in loyalist paramilitary activity.
An RUC whistleblower says he is prepared to give sensational evidence to the Smithwick Tribunal that implicates RUC chief superintendent Harry Breen, the highest-ranking member of the RUC to be killed in the Troubles, in loyalist paramilitary activity.
John Weir, the whistleblower, served in the RUC from 1970 to 1980 before being convicted of the 1977 killing of a Catholic shopkeeper in Ahoghill, Co Antrim. He claims that Breen had been aware of RUC members being involved with loyalist paramilitaries since the early 1970s.
Breen and his RUC colleague, Bob Buchanan, were shot dead in an IRA ambush in south Armagh on March 20, 1989, after attending a meeting at Dundalk garda station.
The Smithwick Tribunal is investigating whether the IRA received a tip-off from someone in the Garda Siochana.
Weir, who now lives in Nigeria, told The Sunday Business Post last week that Breen was present when meetings with loyalist paramilitaries took place and that collusion with loyalists was ‘‘laughed and joked about’’.
‘‘Breen had connections with loyalism when I knew him,” said Weir. ‘‘Breen knew of his cops running around with loyalists. He took no action.
‘‘He was there when submachine guns were handed over to loyalists - it was the done thing at the time. He was only one of many, many people who knew about it.”
The loyalist gang of which Weir was a member - and which, he says, Breen approved of - is believed to be responsible for the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, as well as a string of other murders north of the border, including the 1975 Miami Showband massacre.
If Weir’s claims are true, it points to further evidence of British state collusion in the worst single atrocity of the Troubles.
An independent panel of international jurors last week found ‘‘strong and credible’’ evidence of RUC and British Army collusion in 24 out of 25 murder cases it investigated, involving the deaths of 76 people.
Weir claims that Brian Fitzsimmons, who was head of the Special Branch in the early 1970s and was based in Newry, Co Down, was aware of the extent of RUC collusion but did nothing to curb it.
Fitzsimmons was killed in the 1994 Chinook helicopter crash off the Mull of Kintyre, which also claimed the lives of 24 other senior British security figures.
Weir denied media reports in recent weeks which stated that he had been questioned by Paddy McEntee SC, one of the country’s leading criminal barristers, as part of his investigation into the Garda’s handling of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.
It is understood that McEntee declined to interview Weir in Ireland earlier this year, because it was felt that Weir’s evidence was outside the remit of his investigation.
© The Sunday Business Post, 2006, Thomas Crosbie Media TCH