Press release
Tánaiste meets with Justice 4the21 and families of victims of the 1974 Birmingham Bombings
From Department of Foreign Affairs
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Foreign Affairs
Published on
Last updated on
The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney, T.D., met today in Dublin with the families of those killed inthe 1974 Birmingham Bombings.
Following the meeting the Tánaiste said:
"I greatly welcomed the opportunity to meet today with Justice 4the21 and the families of some of those who were killed in the 1974 Birmingham Pub Bombings. The lives of 21 people were brutally taken in these appalling attacks for which there was no justification.
"I conveyed to the families the Irish Government’s enduring abhorrence of these attacks, which is shared by the Irish people. I expressed our solidarity with the families in their continuing search for those responsible to be brought to justice and account for their crimes.
"Justice 4the21 were accompanied by a representative of the Birmingham Irish Association. We discussed their cooperation, specifically their work on the tree memorial in Birmingham. The Birmingham tree memorial remembers the 21 innocent people whose lives were cruelly taken. It stands as a symbol of the understanding and friendship that connects the Irish community with their neighbours in Birmingham, which endures beyond the division and pain that the 1974 attacks sought to sow, but did not succeed.
"The Government greatly welcomes and supports these gestures of reconciliation, which is a fundamental part of the Peace Process founded on the Good Friday Agreement, and a goal for which we must all continue to work across these neighbouring islands.
"I want to thank the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation for facilitating this significant visit to Ireland and I look forward to further engagement by the Government with Justice 4the21 and the Birmingham Irish Association."
ENDS