UK Secretary of State Hilary Benn has undertaken to raise with the Irish government allegations that a County Meath explosives factory was a major source of gelignite for IRA bombs during the Troubles. The commitment came after a direct request in the House of Commons from Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Alex Burghart.

Burghart told MPs that reports indicate a large proportion of gelignite used in IRA devices before 1985 was stolen from a single factory in County Meath. He said British intelligence had repeatedly raised concerns with Dublin at the time, but no action was taken. The factory was allegedly in receipt of Irish state subsidies.

He described the claims as a missing piece in understanding how the IRA obtained weapons that killed hundreds, and called on Benn to write to the Taoiseach to request an urgent public inquiry into the site at Enfield.

Benn replied that he would raise the matter with the Irish authorities. He added that the UK Government’s Northern Ireland Troubles Bill is intended to facilitate cooperation with the Irish on legacy issues, and that while the past cannot be undone, families deserve information about the loss of life linked to those explosives.

In the Stormont Assembly on 5 May, UUP leader Jon Burrows questioned why no investigation had been held into who supplied the IRA with gelignite for an estimated 10,000 bombs in Northern Ireland during the 1970s and 1980s, prior to the organisation obtaining Semtex from Libya. He said tonnes of commercial explosives reached the IRA from a factory in the Republic and that the issue was raised multiple times in the Oireachtas with little or no result.

The Irish Government has not responded to requests for comment on the allegations. This publication sought responses from the Taoiseach’s office, the Department of Justice and the Department of Foreign Affairs over a four-week period, but received none. The successor company to the Irish Industrial Explosives firm also did not comment.