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Authorities have rejected the idea of launching a open inquiry into the IRA's 1974-era Birmingham city bar attacks.

This Horrific Attack

Back on 21 November 1974, twenty-one individuals were lost their lives and 220 injured when explosive devices were exploded at the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town pub establishments in Birmingham, in an assault widely believed to have been carried out by the Irish Republican Army.

Legal Fallout

Not a single person has been convicted for the incidents. In 1991, 6 men had their guilty verdicts overturned after enduring over 16 years in prison in what is considered one of the most severe failures of the legal system in UK history.

Relatives Fight for Answers

Families have long fought for a public investigation into the attacks to find out what the government was aware of at the time of the incident and why nobody has been held accountable.

Official Statement

The minister for security, Dan Jarvis, announced on Thursday that while he had deep empathy for the loved ones, the government had decided “after careful deliberation” it would not establish an investigation.

Jarvis stated the government considers the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, set up to look into fatalities associated with the Northern Ireland conflict, could examine the Birmingham bombings.

Advocates React

Advocate Julie Hambleton, whose teenage sister Maxine was murdered in the attacks, said the statement indicated “the administration are indifferent”.

The sixty-two-year-old has for years pushed for a national investigation and explained she and other grieving families had “no desire” of participating in the new body.

“We see no true autonomy in the panel,” she said, adding it was “equivalent to them grading their own performance”.

Calls for Evidence Disclosure

For decades, bereaved relatives have been calling for the publication of files from intelligence agencies on the incident – specifically on what the state was aware of prior to and following the bombing, and what proof there is that could lead to legal action.

“The entire British establishment is against our relatives from ever knowing the reality,” she declared. “Only a legally mandated judicial public investigation will provide us access to the documents they claim they lack.”

Legal Capabilities

A legally mandated open inquiry has particular legal powers, such as the power to require participants to appear and disclose information associated with the investigation.

Prior Inquest

An investigation in 2019 – secured by bereaved relatives – concluded the those killed were illegally slain by the Provisional IRA but failed to identify the identities of those culpable.

Hambleton said: “Intelligence agencies told the presiding official that they have zero records or evidence on what is still the UK's most prolonged open atrocity of the 20th century, but currently they want to pressure us to engage of this new commission to share evidence that they assert has not been present”.

Political Reaction

Liam Byrne, the MP for the local constituency, characterized the administration's ruling as “extremely disappointing”.

Through a message on social media, Byrne said: “Following such a long period, so much pain, and countless failures” the families are entitled to a process that is “independent, court-supervised, with full powers and courageous in the pursuit for the reality.”

Continuing Pain

Reflecting on the family’s ongoing sorrow, Hambleton, who chairs the Justice 4 the 21, stated: “Not a single family of any tragedy of any type will ever have peace. It is impossible. The suffering and the grief continue.”