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Grandson of McGurks bar bombing victims accuses authorities of withholding evidence

THE grandson of two of the victims of the 1971 McGurk’s Bar bombing in Belfast has accused authorities of withholding evidence regarding the police cover-up of the atrocity.

Ciaran MacAirt, author and founder of the campaign Paper Trail, has filed a formal complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office, he said on Tuesday.

He said it was “disgusting that after half a century and two failed reports” key information regarding alleged collusion between the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the British army was being withheld.

Mr MacAirt said he made a simple request to the police watchdog, asking for proof it had investigated “the secret agreement between the police and Brig Frank Kitson to blame our loved ones.”

“The Office of the Police Ombudsman says it has the information, but we are not getting it,” he said.

His grandparents were among the 15 people killed in the McGurk’s bar bombing, which was initially blamed on the Irish Republican Army in a deliberate smear by a notorious British army propaganda unit headed by Gen Kitson.

The attack was in fact carried out by loyalist paramilitaries. But the victims were effectively blamed for their own deaths, falsely accused of being IRA members and supporters as part of a cover-up.

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