A WREATH-LAYING ceremony will take place in Dublin today to honour the victims of the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings.

Thirty-four people, including an unborn baby, were killed and more than 300 people were injured when a series of car bombings hit the capital and the town on 17 May, 1974. It marked the greatest loss of life in a single day during the Troubles.

Three explosions occurred in Dublin during rush hour and another occurred in the town of Monaghan 90 minutes later. No warnings were given ahead of the attacks. The ages of the dead ranged from five months to 80 years, and most of the victims were young women.

Responsibility for killings was claimed by the UVF in 1993 but no-one has ever been charged in relation to the atrocity.

Justice for the Forgotten, an organisation formed in 1996 to seek justice for the victims, has organised a public wreath-laying ceremony on Dublin’s Talbot Street at 11.30am today. An anniversary Mass will take place in St Francis Xavier Church, Upper Gardiner Street, at 1pm.

Justice for the Forgotten has appealed to the people of Dublin to show their solidarity with the bereaved families and injured survivors by attending these commemorative ceremonies.

Talbot Street showing the destruction of the second car bomb. (Image: Wikicommons)

Read: Britain ‘does not intend’ to hand over Dublin-Monaghan files

Read: Sinn Féin tables motion urging UK to release Dublin-Monaghan files

Read: Victims ask UK to release Dublin-Monaghan bombing files

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