Cover-up denial

Cardinal Sean Brady and Bishop of Derry, Seamus Hegarty, released a joint statement in relevance to the Police Ombudsman's statement.

They said they accept the Ombudsman's findings and conclusions, but insisted that the Catholic church did not get involved in a cover-up.

They said: "The Catholic Church did not engage in a cover-up of this matter. As the Ombudsman finds in his Statement today the Church was approached by the Secretary of State at the instigation of senior members of the RUC. Furthermore, the Church subsequently reported back to the Secretary of State the outcome of its questioning of Fr Chesney into his alleged activities.

"The actions of Cardinal Conway or any other Church authority did not prevent the possibility of future arrest and questioning of Fr Chesney. As the Ombudsman's Statement points out, Fr Chesney until the time of his death in 1980, "is known to have regularly travelled across the border but was never arrested, questioned nor further investigated by the RUC in connection with the Claudy bombings or other terrorist activity.

The Cardinal and Bishop said all known information that the Catholic church had, has been made available to the police. They expressed their upset at the fact that a priest should be suspected of such violent involvement".

They said: "Throughout the Troubles, the Catholic church, along with other churches in Northern Ireland, was constant in its condemnation of the evil of violence. It is therefore shocking that a priest should be suspected of involvement in such violence. This case should have been properly investigated and resolved during Father Chesney's lifetime.

Should have been arrested

"If there was sufficient evidence to link him to criminal activity, he should have been arrested and questioned at the earliest opportunity, like anyone else."

The church leaders expressed remorse to those who were affected by the attacks in 1972: "Clearly a number of people were involved in the planning and carrying out of this terrible atrocity, some of whom may still be alive. Those bereaved and injured deserve to know the truth. It is only with honesty and bravery that we as a community can address these painful issues and do our best to ensure that the dreadful lessons of the past are learned and never repeated."

Finally they urged anyone who might know something about the attacks to come forward: "We appeal to anyone who has information in relation to this horrific crime to provide it to the Police Service of Northern Ireland."