Dublin/Monaghan, not Omagh, was Bloodiest Day

Public Editor

New York Times

October 7th

In an article today ("Lithuiana Resumes IRA Dissident Trial") which is from the AP, the following sentence occurs. It reads: The Real IRA was responsible for the deadliest attack of the entire four-decade conflict over Northern Ireland: the August 1998 car-bombing of Omagh that killed 29 people, mostly women and children. It is an oft-repeated falsehood about which I have complained to the AP without effect. It is a falsehood that serves a purpose and therein lies a story.

The facts of the matter, which can be readily ascertained, is that the 1974 bombing of Dublin & Monaghan Town Centers in the Irish Republic was, and is today, the largest atrocity of the conflict. Near simultaneous car bombs were detonated without warning by a single squad of loyalists killing 33, mostly women and children at the peak shopping hour. Why then wouldt he AP say otherwise? In fact, the Dublin-Monaghan bombings is still a hotly contested matter between the British and Irish governments, the subject of Irish government investigations which have been stonewalled by the British government.

A Harvard Professor J. Bowyer Bell has told much of this story in his book Indubious Battle but suffice it to say the Dublin-Monaghan bombings were planned and executed by the British Army with a special unit actually delivering the primed bombs to the loyalists to drive South. It is speculated that the British Army authorized the attack, essentially an act of war, in aid of the loyalist cause. The only question now is from where did this authorization emanate.

The purpose of continuing this lie is not too different from Goebbel's purpose in using the Jews as a scapegoat. If you repeat a lie often enough, people will come to believe it. When I asked Jim Clarity (NY Times) about this, he stated that the British saw the Dublin-Monaghan bombings as two seperate incidents and thus not worthy of the 'single' largest atrocity label. Convenient no? What the British could not countenance in the public media is any thought that they could be responsible for such a senseless act of slaughter. That is the core of my complaint. My request is that the New York Times not use this 'spin phrase' again and that it complain to the Associated Press about its use in future dispatches.

Is this a tempest in a teapot or a semantic squabble without significance? Far from it. As Jo Thomas (NY Times) revealed in her journalistic work, the British have taken control of coverage of this conflict from the outset and the American media has, for many reasons, allowed them to do so. A terrible consequence of this is the cover-up of the British government's instigator role in formenting anti-Catholic hate, discrimination, in-human and civil rights abuses, death squads and in the corruption of law and justice. The U. S. reporting of the conflict was widely criticized and Ms Thomas' work seemed to confirm the criticism. The pepetuation of this falsehood continually calls into question the credibility of the newspaper that carries it.

Sincerely,

Michael J. Cummings

Albany, N.Y.

Mr. Cummings holds the distinction of being the only person to have served on the boards of the three largest and most active Irish American organizations, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Irish American Unity Conference and Irish Northern Aid. He served for thirty years throughout the conflict.