A MAN named two years ago as one of the key suspects in the Birmingham pub bombings, has been arrested in Belfast in connection with the 1974 attack that killed 21 people.
Michael Patrick Reilly (65) was named in October 2018 by the ITV Exposure programme, 'The Hunt for the Birmingham Bombers'.
During the programme Mr Reilly was filmed being confronted in the car park of a west Belfast supermarket.
He was arrested from his south Belfast home yesterday and taken to Musgrave serious crime suite for questioning.
Officers from Counter Terrorism Policing West Midlands, are working with the PSNI on the case.
A PSNI spokesperson said the man's home was being searched and he will be interviewed under caution.
When named in 2018 Mr Reilly issued a statement through his solicitor Padraig Ó Muirigh, denying the allegations saying it was "trial by media".
"My client is also very concerned that the identification of him in this manner has potential implications for the safety of both him and his family", he said at the time.
The blasts at the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town pubs in the heart of Birmingham on November 21, 1974, caused carnage, injuring over 200 people.
Six men were wrongfully convicted of the bombings and sentenced to life in prison in 1975, before being their convictions were quashed in 1991 after a long battle by campaigners.
Hugh Callaghan, Patrick Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power and John Walker served almost 17 years behind bars in one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history.
Following their release the relatives of the victims of the pub bombings demanded that the investigation be reopen and the real perpetrators brought to justice.
They also campaigned for an inquest that found the 21 victims were murdered by the IRA - who never officially claimed responsibility - saying a warning call left an "inadequate time to ensure lives were not lost".
The inquest also found the failure to prosecute the real bombers was an "enduring injustice and failure of the criminal justice system".
A second suspect, self confessed IRA bomb maker Michel Hayes, has claimed he was involved in the atrocity, but refused to say what role he played.
Hayes, who lives in the Republic, has given numerous interviews admitting he was active in an IRA unit operating in Birmingham at the time.
Former British soldier James Francis Gavin, has also been named, it was previously been reported he had taken delivery of the bombs. Gavin died in 2002.
Julie Hambleton's sister Maxine was just 18-years-old when she was killed in the Birmingham bombings.
She helped found the Justice for the 21 campaign, that lobbied for the reopening of the police investigation.
Speaking to The Irish News last night she said the arrest had come as a shock to the families.
"I just broke down when I heard, I was inconsolable," she said.
"However, it is just an arrest. He could be released in days, and while a significant development, what we continue to fight for is a public inquiry, that's the really important thing."
