🔗 Share this article Government Rule Out Open Inquiry into Birmingham Pub Explosions Authorities have ruled out launching a open investigation into the Provisional IRA's 1974 Birmingham city bar bombings. The Horrific Attack On 21 November 1974, twenty-one individuals were killed and 220 hurt when explosive devices were set off at the Mulberry Bush pub and Tavern in the Town venues in Birmingham, in an attack largely thought to have been carried out by the Provisional IRA. Judicial Fallout No one has been convicted over the attacks. Back in 1991, 6 individuals had their sentences quashed after spending more than 16 years in jail in what stands as one of the gravest miscarriages of the legal system in British history. Families Campaign for Justice Relatives have for decades pushed for a open probe into the explosions to find out what the state knew at the time of the event and why no one has been held accountable. Government Decision The security minister, Dan Jarvis, said on Thursday that while he had deep compassion for the relatives, the government had determined “after careful review” it would not authorize an probe. Jarvis said the authorities thinks the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, established to examine fatalities related to the Troubles, could examine the Birmingham incidents. Activists React Activist Julie Hambleton, whose 18-year-old sister Maxine was murdered in the bombings, said the statement demonstrated “the authorities show no concern”. The 62-year-old has long campaigned for a national probe and explained she and other bereaved families had “no intention” of taking part in the investigative panel. “We see no true independence in the body,” she remarked, noting it was “tantamount to them grading their own work”. Requests for Document Release For decades, bereaved loved ones have been demanding the publication of papers from intelligence agencies on the attack – particularly on what the state was aware of before and after the incident, and what evidence there is that could bring about legal action. “The entire UK government system is opposed to our families from ever learning the facts,” she stated. “Exclusively a statutory judge-directed open probe will provide us access to the files they state they do not possess.” Official Authority A statutory public probe has particular official authorities, including the authority to require witnesses to attend and provide details associated with the probe. Prior Inquest An investigation in 2019 – fought for grieving families – determined the those killed were unlawfully killed by the Provisional IRA but did not establish the names of those responsible. Hambleton commented: “Intelligence agencies informed the coroner at the time that they have zero files or documentation on what is still the UK's most prolonged open mass murder of the last century, but at present they aim to push us to engage of this new commission to provide details that they claim has not been present”. Official Response Liam Byrne, the Member of Parliament for the Birmingham area, described the government’s announcement as “deeply, deeply disappointing”. Through a statement on Twitter, Byrne said: “Following so much period, so much grief, and so many failures” the relatives are entitled to a process that is “independent, court-supervised, with comprehensive authorities and unafraid in the quest for the facts.” Continuing Grief Reflecting on the families' ongoing pain, Hambleton, who heads the Justice 4 the 21, stated: “No relative of any atrocity of any sort will ever have peace. It is unattainable. The grief and the grief persist.”