Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

File photo showing the main street in Claudy, Co Derry, in the aftermath of the 1972 bombing. Belfast Telegraph/PA Wire/Press Association Images
Claudy Bombing

Ombudsman report due on priest's role in 1972 bombing

Nine people were killed in Co Derry bomb attack.

NORTHERN IRELAND’S POLICE Ombudsman is to publish a report today concerning the alleged involvement of a priest in the 1972 Claudy bombing.

Three bombs killed nine people in Claudy, 10 miles from Derry city. Although the IRA never claimed responsibility, they are believed to have been behind the attack.

Joseph McCluskey, 39, Kathryn Eakin, 8, David Miller, 60, James McLelland, 65, William Temple, 16, Elizabeth McElhinney, 59, Rose McLaughlin, 51, Patrick Connolly, 15, and Arthur Hone, 38, were all killed in the blasts.

No one has ever been charged in relation to the bomb attack, which took place just six months after Bloody Sunday.

Ombudsman Al Hutchinson is expected to release substantial new evidence that a priest, Fr James Chesney, was transferred from the area shortly after the murders, and never questioned by police.

His report will include information on the roles played by the RUC, the Catholic Church, and the then-Secretary of State, William Whitelaw.

For years rumours suggested the involvement of Fr James Chesney. He died from cancer in 1980.

This BBC news report shows coverage of the original investigation into the Claudy bombing: