The Barron Report has put the spotlight more firmly than ever on the truly shocking circumstances surrounding the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings.
It has been clear for many years that the worst atrocity of the troubles, which killed 33 people, including a pregnant woman, was never properly investigated by police on both sides of the border.
However, the full details contained in Mr Justice Henry Barron's document provide an appalling indictment against a range of figures from rank and file officers up to senior members of government.
The judge concluded that it was 'likely' that individuals from the RUC and the Ulster Defence Regiment had either participated in or were aware of the preparations for the bombings.
Three devices left in parked cars detonated within the space of two minutes at Parnell Street, Talbot Street and South Leinster Street in Dublin on May 17 1974. Another car bomb exploded in the centre of Monaghan town 90 minutes later.
Mr Justice Barron said the UVF was capable of carrying out the bombings without assistance, although it was possible that its aims were facilitated along the way.
Among the more remarkable aspects of the report was the suggestion that, less than six months after the double massacre, the then British prime minister, Harold Wilson, informed his Irish counterpart, Liam Cosgrave, that the UVF bombers had been identified and interned in Northern Ireland.
According to the judge, there is no evidence that this information was ever passed on to the minister for justice or the Garda commissioner.
Separately, but equally incredibly, Mr Justice Barron said the official department of justice files on the Dublin and Monaghan attacks had gone missing and no information on their whereabouts was available.
As matters stand, there are considerable suspicions about the attitude towards the bombings of some people in important positions within Northern Ireland.
In the Republic, there can be no room for doubt. The response of the government of the day, and that of successive governments, was pathetically inadequate.
The fact that inquests into the deaths were adjourned a matter of weeks after the explosions and not reopened until earlier this year, almost three decades later, tells its own story. A Dail committee will spend three months studying the report before decisions are taken on what should happen next.
There is a strong case for a tightly structured judicial inquiry – possibly along the lines of the Hutton probe into the death of the English weapons expert, David Kelly – which could deliver at least some of the answers required by grieving relatives within a relatively short period of time.
Thousands of families who have lost loved ones at the hands of paramilitary groups, both republican and loyalist, may well wonder if they will ever reach a similar position.
Sadly, former members of illegal organisations, including those who occupy prominent roles in society today, are unlikely to tell the full truth about their activities.
Past and present politicians, civil servants and police officers may well be able to offer at least some additional information about the Dublin/Monaghan bombings and their aftermath.
The Barron Report was a step forward, but cannot in any sense be regarded as bringing closure to the tragedy.
