‘Anatomy of a Massacre’

AN in-depth feature-length documentary which delves into the 50th anniversary of the Dublin/Monaghan bombings will be screened at the Craic Theatre, Coalisland on Friday (November 22).

Taking place at 8pm, ‘May 17-74 Anatomy of a Massacre’ will further feature a special Q&A with survivors and the film makers.

It was created by the filmmakers of ‘406 Days – The Debenhams Picket Line’, which won three awards at last years Dublin International Film Festival and was in cinemas nationwide.

In this human interest documentary, produced by Fergus Dowd and Joe Lee, the families and survivors talk about that tragic day and how they have fought for 50 years to try and find the truth.

“May McKenna from Tyrone died in the atrocity alongside 33 others,” said Fergus.

“But sadly this atrocity seems to be buried from our history.

“The atrocity is not covered in the History Syllabus of the Leaving Certificate even though students are studying the Troubles,” he added.

Most recently, the group Justice For The Forgotten have taken the Garda Commissioner and Minister of Justice McEntee to court as the Irish state refuses to release files on the Dublin Monaghan Bombings to Operation Newham in Belfast.

“For five decades they have faced the wrath of two states in trying to seek the truth for their loved ones.”

SYNOPSIS

On May 17, 1974 three no warning car bombs detonated in Dublin City Centre within three minutes of each other killing 27 people including an unborn baby, a French citizen and an Italian citizen and injuring 258 people.

Later that evening a no-warning car bomb in Monaghan Town killed seven more innocent people; in total 34 people died that summers day.

The Dublin Monaghan Bombings resulted in the greatest loss of life in any single day of the Troubles.

Within ten weeks the investigations into the bombings had been closed down by the state, nobody was ever charged, and the inquests into those killed on the streets of Dublin were never completed for more than three decades.

Not one guard knocked on any of the survivors or bereaved families doors no one was interviewed and all the evidence sent North from the bombings was lost by the authorities in Northern Ireland.

In 1993 nearly two decades after the atrocities the Ulster Volunteer Force claimed sole responsibility, however given the sophistication of the attack the families and survivors have always believed there was British Military involvement.

Justice for the Forgotten was formed in 1996 by the bereaved families and survivors with the aim of campaigning for truth and justice for the victims of the bombings.

The documentary has enjoyed sold-out screenings in the Lighthouse Cinema and IFI Dublin, the Garage Theatre Monaghan, Nerve Centre Derry and Palas Galway, Wexford Arts Centre, Hawkswell Theatre Sligo, Tipperary and QFT Belfast.

‘May 17-74 Anatomy of a Massacre’ will take place at Craic Theatre, Coalisland, at 8pm. Book your tickets online now by visiting: www. craicartscentre.co.uk