A leading campaigner injured in the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings has rejected attempts by the former justice minister Patrick Cooney to defend the Irish government's reaction to the atrocity.
The Fine Gael/Labour coalition, which was then led by Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave, right, came under fire in the recently-published Barron Report into the attacks which killed 33 people, including a pregnant woman.
The report's author Mr Justice Henry Barron said that the 1974 government had "failed to show the concern expected of it" for those injured or bereaved in Monaghan and Dublin.
He also accused the 1973-1977 coalition of showing little interest in information it received that the British authorities had intelligence identifying the individuals responsible for the four explosions.
Mr Cooney, who refused to comment on the report's findings when it was published earlier this month, issued a statement at the weekend rejecting its criticism of Mr Cosgrave, former foreign affairs minister Garret Fitzgerald and himself.
"These charges have attracted much adverse publicity with little analysis, but an examination of them, and how they are arrived at, show them to be without substance," he said.
Mr Cooney said that in a letter to the judge this year he had pointed out that the government had been "unequivocally opposed" to subversive crime.
"There was no ambivalence in regard to terrorism of whatever hue," the former government minister said.
"Unfortunately there were occasions when there was not enough evidence forthcoming, in spite of the most diligent investigation, to procure convictions and the Dublin/Monaghan bombings is a tragic example of this."
Mr Cooney said that the Taoiseach had issued a statement of sympathy on behalf of the government and the nation and had "strongly condemned" the outrage, as well as visiting the injured in hospital.
He added that the 300-page report "should be regarded with circumspection for much of its reasoning is opaque and it relies excessively on hypotheses – as it is forced to because its subject happened so long ago".
Mr Fitzgerald also claimed at the weekend that Mr Justice Barron had reached "incorrect conclusions" in his report.
The Oireachtas committee on justice is to hold public hearings on the report in January.
However, Bernie McNally, chairwoman of the Justice for the Forgotten group, last night rejected the former minister's criticisms of the report.
Ms McNally, who suffered serious facial injuries in the Dublin bombings, renewed her group's call for a full public inquiry into the attacks.
"There were a lot of issues raised by the report that require a public inquiry to get to the full truth," she said.
"The government of the time wants to clear its name and those affected by the bombings also want the full facts so we can put it to bed at last.
"There needs to be some form of open forum and people must be held accountable for their actions or lack of actions at the time," the campaigner added.
