Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern has confirmed that a chief suspect in the Claudy bombing of 1972 was not known to the Garda prior to the attack, in which nine people died and 30 others were injured.Mr Ahern had been asked by Labour’s Ruairí Quinn if Fr James Chesney had ever come into contact with the authorities in the Republic either prior to the bombing, subsequent to his transfer from Co Derry to Co Donegal or during the intervening period.
According to the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman, who published his findings on the Claudy bombing last August, the RUC had colluded with the Catholic Church and the British government over the suspected involvement of Fr Chesney in the bombing.
Fr Chesney was transferred to a parish in Donegal after the bombing and was never interviewed by police.
He died of cancer in 1980.
SIC: IT/IE