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Ministers rule out inquiry into 1974 IRA pub bombings
The Guardian
|October 31, 2025
Ministers have ruled out establishing a public inquiry into the IRA's 1974 Birmingham pub bombings.
On 21 November 1974, 21 people were killed and 220 injured when bombs were detonated at the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town pubs in Birmingham, in an attack widely believed to have been orchestrated by the Provisional IRA.
No one has been convicted over the attacks. In 1991, six men had their convictions overturned after serving more than 16 years in prison in one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history.
Families have long campaigned for a public inquiry into the bombings to find out what the government knew at the time of the incident and why no one has been brought to justice.
The security minister, Dan Jarvis, said yesterday that, while he had deep sympathy for the families, the government had decided it would not commit to an inquiry.
This story is from the October 31, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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