New files have been found by the British government dealing with the 1974 Dublin/Monaghan bombings, the Taoiseach has been told by the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Mr Paul Murphy.
Replying to Fine Gael leader Mr Enda Kenny in the Dáil yesterday, Mr Ahern said Mr Murphy had assured him the British "have done an enormous trawl of their records".
The inquiry, ordered by the Government into the bombings, headed by Mr Justice Henry Barron, has been repeatedly frustrated by a lack of co-operation from the British authorities. Originally, it had intended to report by October.
Recently, it emerged that the British Ministry of Defence ordered staff employed by it in 1974 not to co-operate with the inquiry. "Additional papers have come to light. I do not know what they contain but I think they are some of the ones sought by Mr Justice Barron. They continue to do their utmost to comply with the wishes of Mr Justice Barron," Mr Ahern said.
The four car bombs, which exploded in Dublin and Monaghan within hours of each other in May 1974, took the lives of 33 people and wounded 200. It was the worst single atrocity of the Troubles.
The attacks are believed to have been carried out by Loyalist paramilitaries, although it has long been alleged they were assisted by elements within British intelligence.
Meanwhile, Mr Ahern said round table talks between all of the Northern Ireland parties, which begin in Belfast today, would not amount to a renegotiation of the Belfast Agreement.
Pushing for the re-establishment of the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly quickly, Mr Ahern acknowledged that progress would be difficult to make in the run-up to Christmas.
The Irish and British governments have agreed, he told the Fine Gael leader, that the Assembly elections would definitely take place next year, which means the time for negotiations effectively concludes in February.
Asked about the recent criticism of the Republic by the Ulster Unionist leader, Mr David Trimble, Mr Ahern said: "It is a fairly single transferable speech that he tends to make at least twice a year, particularly when he is away from this island. This version has not changed much from the last version that I and others strongly expressed to him our views in that regard. I do not think he believes a word of it.
"Unfortunately my power over him to prevent him saying these things from time to time is zero. When he is questioned on this he says it is not his view, or if it is, he does not defend any of these points. I wish he did not say these things. Whatever about the validity of some of his arguments in the dim and distant past, none of his points stands up to any scrutiny nowadays, and they are not helpful.
"I feel that when some of the people of a nationalist outlook in the United States express their views to him it acts as a wind-up. I do not get too upset about these matters," he said.
