LISTEN: Families reach settlement with police and NIO over Claudy bombings

By Q Radio News

Relatives of three Claudy bomb victims have settled legal action against the police and the Northern Ireland Office.

The two bodies "agreed a full and final settlement without an admission of liability".

The sum of the settlement remains confidential.

Relatives of three Claudy bomb victims have settled legal action against the police and Northern Ireland Office.

The two bodies "agreed a full and final settlement without an admission of liability".https://t.co/OgauCIMR4g

— Q Radio News (@qnewsdesk) September 10, 2021

Nine people were killed when three bombs were detonated in the County Londonderry village in July 1972.

The youngest victim, Kathryn Eakin, was cleaning the windows of her family's grocery store when the first bomb exploded.

KRW LAW represents three families whose loved ones were murdered in the atrocity.

In 2013 David Temple, James Miller and Colin McClelland and Tracy Deans, all took action against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Derry, the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Northern Ireland Office (NIO).

Their suit came after a 2010 police ombudsman report which found that Father James Chesney, who was later moved to the Republic of Ireland, was a suspect in the atrocity. 

The report said the police, the state and the Catholic Church worked to cover-up covered up his suspected involvement and no action was ever taken against him. 

The proceedings against the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Derry remain unresolved and will proceed to trial.

Barry O'Donnell from the law firm said the families wanted to stress that no one should forget "it was the Provisional IRA that planted the bombs".

In a statement, the law firm said: "The Temple, Miller and McClelland families are continuing their action against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Derry and want to place on the public record their anger and disgust at the attitude of the Church to date regarding the need for these legal proceedings. 

"The families would like to finally say that they were deeply disappointed in the lack of a proper investigation into the murder of their loved ones by the RUC.  

"However, they would like to place on record a sense of appreciation for the mature attitude displayed by the PSNI and NIO during mediation which assisted their understanding of some serious failings by the state."