RELATIVES of people killed in the McGurk’s Bar bombing have asked Attorney General John Larkin to order a new inquest into the atrocity.
Fifteen people were killed when the UVF detonated a bomb in the North Queen Street bar in north Belfast in December 1971.
At the time security forces blamed the IRA but this was later shown not to be true.
In recent years relatives and campaigners have unearthed a large amount of new evidence not heard at the original inquest in 1972.
Campaigner Ciaran MacAirt, whose grandmother Kitty Irvine was killed in the bomb attack, said it confirmed that British army bomb squad knew the bomb had been placed at the entrance to the bar and was not inside, as was claimed at the time.
“All we ever wanted was an opportunity to present our case in an open court,” he said.
“A fresh inquest allows us that chance to finally hear the truth told after 45 years of campaigning.”
Campaigner Robert McClenaghan, whose grandfather Philip Garry (73) was the oldest McGurk's victim, said relatives want an opportunity to “present the evidence”.
Sinn Féin councillor JJ Magee, who along with West Belfast MLA Pat Sheehan accompanied relatives to Mr Larkin’s office, said “this new information is crucial”.
