🔗 Share this article

Government officials have rejected the idea of establishing a public inquiry into the IRA's 1974 Birmingham city bar explosions.

The Horrific Attack

Back on 21 November 1974, 21 individuals were murdered and two hundred twenty hurt when explosive devices were exploded at the Mulberry Bush pub and Tavern in the Town venues in Birmingham, in an incident commonly accepted to have been carried out by the Provisional IRA.

Judicial Aftermath

Not a single person has been convicted over the incidents. Back in 1991, 6 men had their sentences overturned after enduring more than 16 years in prison in what remains one of the most severe errors of justice in British history.

Victims' Families Push for Answers

Relatives have for decades campaigned for a public probe into the attacks to find out what the government knew at the moment of the event and why no one has been held accountable.

Official Response

The minister for security, Dan Jarvis, announced on Thursday that while he had profound empathy for the families, the cabinet had determined “after careful deliberation” it would not authorize an investigation.

Jarvis stated the administration considers the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, set up to investigate fatalities connected to the Troubles, could investigate the Birmingham incidents.

Campaigners Express Disappointment

Campaigner Julie Hambleton, whose 18-year-old sister Maxine was lost her life in the explosions, stated the announcement showed “the administration don't care”.

The sixty-two-year-old has for years fought for a open inquiry and said she and other bereaved relatives had “no intention” of taking part in the investigative panel.

“We see no true independence in the body,” she remarked, explaining it was “like them assessing their own homework”.

Demands for Document Disclosure

Over the years, bereaved families have been requesting the disclosure of documents from intelligence agencies on the event – specifically on what the government knew before and after the attack, and what proof there is that could result in legal action.

“The whole state apparatus is resisting our families from ever discovering the truth,” she declared. “Exclusively a statutory judge-led open probe will grant us entry to the documents they state they don’t have.”

Legal Powers

A legally mandated national investigation has distinct official capabilities, including the power to require individuals to appear and disclose information associated with the investigation.

Previous Inquest

An inquest in 2019 – fought for grieving relatives – determined the those killed were unlawfully killed by the Provisional IRA but failed to identify the identities of those responsible.

Hambleton commented: “Intelligence agencies told the coroner at the time that they have absolutely no records or evidence on what remains the UK's most prolonged unresolved atrocity of the 20th century, but currently they want to force us down the route of this Legacy Commission to share information that they assert has never been available”.

Official Criticism

Liam Byrne, the Member of Parliament for the Birmingham area, characterized the government’s announcement as “profoundly unsatisfactory”.

Through a message on X, Byrne wrote: “After so much time, such immense suffering, and so many failures” the families deserve a process that is “impartial, judicially directed, with full powers and unafraid in the search for the reality.”

Enduring Pain

Speaking of the family’s enduring pain, Hambleton, who chairs the Justice 4 the 21, remarked: “Not a single family of any atrocity of any type will ever have resolution. It is impossible. The suffering and the anguish remain.”