The aftermath of the 1972 Claudy bombing: a report on the cover-up has been handed to the government. Photograph: PA Wire/PA
Should we be offended that a British government and police force colluded with the Irish Catholic hierarchy to protect an IRA priest mixed up in the 1972 Claudy bombing?
Nine people – five Catholics and four Protestants, among them two children – were killed in the blast, which happened without warning. Thirty more were injured.
You have to take a very deep breath before answering: "No, but we should learn lessons from what the authorities did."
The story of Father James Chesney's role as the IRA's local "director of operations" (don't you love the title?) in South Derry is in today's papers because an official report has just been delivered to the British government.
But the outline has been known for years. Chesney was a tall, dark and handsome rascal who drove around in an open-topped Austin Healey, the life and soul of many a party. His ardent republicanism was not revealed to people such as Ivan Cooper, the distinguished local nationalist MP at the time.
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