Families of the victims of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings have welcomed a commitment by the Chief Constable of the PSNI not to oppose their bid to force the British government to give them access to secret files about the attacks.
Fifty years ago today, 34 people including an unborn baby died after three no-warning car bombs were detonated in Dublin city centre during rush hour, followed by a fourth bomb in Monaghan town just before 7pm that evening.
Nobody has ever been charged or convicted over the atrocity, which was the single biggest loss of life during the Troubles.
Loyalist paramilitary group the UVF claimed responsibility for the attacks and there have been persistent allegations over the years of collusion between the loyalist gang, and British security and intelligence services.
President Michael D Higgins is leading events to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the bombings.
The campaign group Justice for the Forgotten is seeking to take civil action against the UK alleging collusion and a failure to properly investigate the attacks.
The British Minister of Defence and the previous PSNI chief constable, Simon Byrne, fought a six-year legal battle to have their case thrown out.
In April, a judge at the High Court in Belfast dismissed that application.
He previously spent four years leading an inquiry into allegations of collusion in 127 murders, including those in Dublin and Monaghan, involving members of UVF, RUC officers and soldiers from the locally recruited British army regiment the UDR.
"Any legal case with regards to civil liability should be given an opportunity to be heard," he said.
"I'm not critical of my predecessor. I obviously have a particular understanding of these events, almost a unique understanding along with the people involved in the investigation.
"What I can say is that I won't be opposing any progress of any civil case to be properly heard in the court, to ensure that those victims have that opportunity for that civil redress, which I think they've got every right to," Mr Boutcher added.
That commitment has been welcomed by Belfast-based solicitor Kevin Winters, who is representing the families in their legal action.
In a statement, he said he was confident that the attempt to block the civil case would not have occurred under Mr Boutcher's watch.
"This is welcome news and it couldn't be more timely given the recent High Court ruling dismissing attempts to have the case thrown out," Mr Winters said.
"It marks a policy departure from previous Chief Constable's and signposts a new era in legacy litigation.
"We now want the case listed for long overdue hearing," he added.
The solicitor also called on Tánaiste Micheál Martin to support the families' litigation by releasing Irish Government files on the bombings.
"The Irish Government has criticised the British Government for its approach to legacy issues and has called on it to release secret and confidential files," he said.
"It's time for the Irish Government to do the same, as Micheál Martin has said it would. Why wouldn't it support this legal action?"
Tánaiste hopeful of 'new light' being shed on bombings
Earlier, the Tánaiste said he "absolutely" would agree to open any files that the Government may have that would help find out the extent of collusion in relation to the Dublin-Monaghan bombings.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Martin said it was "a very poignant day" and he praised survivors and relatives for their "extraordinary" efforts to focus attention on the atrocity many decades on.
Read more: 'There were bodies lying everywhere' after deadly blasts
Mr Martin said previous inquiries had "made it very clear" that they did not get full cooperation from the British state and that four motions have been passed in the Dáil asking for an independent person to have full access to all documentation.
He said he hoped Operation Denton "will shed some new light" on what happened.
Operation Denton is examining allegations relating to the activities of the so-called Glenanne Gang, which was based in Co Armagh and Mid-Ulster during the Troubles.
"I have a general view that any files we have... should be released to all inquiries in respect of atrocities in Northern Ireland," Mr Martin said.
"We recently did so in terms of Kingsmill... and we were praised by the judge. We should do it, because we can't be calling on the British government to release documents if we're not prepared to release documents," he added.
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Mr Martin said that in his engagement with Northern Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris regarding the Legacy Act, they had asked that Operations Denton and Kenova - into the alleged activities of British Army agent in the IRA Freddie Scappaticci - would not be suppressed and that they were given "a very clear undertaking" that they would not be.
He said he was "eagerly awaiting" a report from Operation Denton and that it "might give us the platform and the basis to get to where we want to get" with full, transparent access to all documentation.
"I don't want to be raising hopes but I took confidence from my meeting with [Operation Denton chief] Sir Ian Livingstone and from the workers of [PSNI Chief Constable] Jon Boutcher and I believe they're victim-centred, both, and that's important.
"If you come from a victim-centred disposition, then that does give a different context to how reports are written, how they're drafted, and how tenacious the investigators are to get to the bottom of this," Mr Martin said.
