THE granting of a court file, on two alleged IRA men convicted on explosive charges, to the family of a murdered UDR corporal has been welcomed as "real progress" in his family's quest to find answers over his killing.
The file on two men tried before the Republic's Special Court in 1972 was released to the family of James Elliott this week by the president of Dublin's High Court, Mr Justice David Barniville, in an unusual move branded "historic".
It was sought by Mr Elliott's family, whose legal team say they will examine it "in detail" as part of their attempts to seek answers over the 1972 abduction and murder.
The soldier was kidnapped at a border crossing close to Newry in April of that year and held for more than 36 hours before being shotand the married amd left close to the border at Newtownhamilton.
Security forces discovered a 500lb bomb and six explosive devices within a 11-yard vicinity of the body, wired to a firing point just over the border, causing a delay in safely recovering Mr Elliott's remains.
A Gardaí investigation into the incident led to two Co Monaghan men being charged and convicted at the Special Criminal Court for conspiring to commit an explosion and for possessing explosives.
Brendan Finnegan and Patrick Lynch, who were described in court as IRA members, were both jailed, with Finnegan sentenced to nine months, and Lynch 15 months.
It is claimed the pair had also been facing charges of conspiring to commit murder and attempted murder, but the charges were dropped before their trial which occurred in the months after Mr Elliott's killing.
The UDR corporal's family have said they only discovered in 2005 that anyone had been convicted on charges they claim are linked to his murder.
Following the successful granting of court files on the conviction of the two Co Monaghan men, following the application by Mr Elliott's son, Jim Elliott, the family have said they will study it as they seek justice over his death.
The Ulster Human Rights Watch have called the granting of the application "historic".
The group's advocacy officer Jonathan Larner said: "Never before have Special Criminal Court files been released to relatives.
“We will examine in detail the files that are provided and we will then decide where we go from there. This outcome is most welcome but it’s far from the end of the campaign."
Jim Elliott said he hoped the move would "assist in our campaign to get to the bottom of what happened"
He added: "We seek justice and fifty years on, we are as determined now as we were when we set out on this direction of travel. We now await the handover of the files and will take time to study the documents."