🔗 Share this article Officials Rule Out Public Probe into Birmingham Pub Attacks Government officials have rejected the idea of establishing a open probe into the Provisional IRA's 1974 Birmingham city bar attacks. This Devastating Event On 21 November 1974, twenty-one civilians were lost their lives and two hundred twenty wounded when bombs were set off at the Mulberry Bush pub and Tavern in the Town venues in Birmingham, in an incident widely believed to have been orchestrated by the Irish Republican Army. Judicial Aftermath Not a single person has been convicted over the incidents. Back in 1991, 6 men had their sentences reversed after enduring over 16 years in prison in what remains one of the worst miscarriages of the legal system in British history. Relatives Fight for Truth Families have for decades campaigned for a national probe into the explosions to uncover what the state knew at the moment of the tragedy and why nobody has been brought to justice. Government Decision The minister for security, Dan Jarvis, stated on Thursday that while he had deep sympathy for the loved ones, the cabinet had decided “after careful consideration” it would not establish an probe. Jarvis stated the government considers the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, created to investigate deaths connected to the Northern Ireland conflict, could examine the Birmingham incidents. Advocates React Activist Julie Hambleton, whose teenage sister Maxine was killed in the explosions, said the announcement showed “the government are indifferent”. The 62-year-old has for years fought for a open probe and explained she and other bereaved relatives had “no plan” of participating in the new body. “We see no genuine independence in the panel,” she stated, explaining it was “tantamount to them marking their own performance”. Demands for Document Release For decades, bereaved loved ones have been requesting the disclosure of files from security services on the incident – particularly on what the authorities was aware of before and following the attack, and what evidence there is that could bring about arrests. “The whole UK government system is opposed to our families from ever knowing the reality,” she declared. “Only a statutory judge-directed public probe will give us entry to the files they claim they do not possess.” Legal Capabilities A official public investigation has particular judicial authorities, encompassing the authority to compel participants to attend and provide evidence related to the investigation. Previous Hearing An hearing in 2019 – campaigned for bereaved families – concluded the victims were unlawfully killed by the Provisional IRA but failed to identify the identities of those responsible. Hambleton commented: “Intelligence agencies informed the coroner at the time that they have absolutely no documents or information on what continues to be the UK's most prolonged unsolved mass murder of the 20th century, but now they want to pressure us to participate of this investigative body to disclose information that they state has never been available”. Political Criticism Liam Byrne, the MP for Hodge Hill and Solihull North, labeled the administration's decision as “deeply, deeply disappointing”. In a message on social media, Byrne stated: “Following so much period, such immense pain, and countless let-downs” the loved ones deserve a mechanism that is “impartial, court-supervised, with comprehensive powers and courageous in the search for the facts.” Continuing Sorrow Speaking of the family’s persistent sorrow, Hambleton, who leads the advocacy organization, remarked: “Not a single family of any atrocity of any kind will ever have closure. It doesn’t exist. The suffering and the grief remain.”