'Failure to arrest Chesney is beyond understanding'

Welcoming the report he said: "On a day like this, the victims and families of the Claudy bombing should be in the forefront of our thoughts. They were victims of a vile crime."

The Bishop, who admitted he had been sceptical of RUC and Special Branch intelligence and interrogation techniques at the time, said he also welcomed the Ombudsman's finding that there was 'no evidence of any criminal intent on the part of any Church official' saying: "As I have stated many times before, I have always had serious doubts about the long-standing allegations surrounding Father James Chesney relating to the Claudy bombing. He died 30 years ago and I am prepared now to leave him to the Lord, the God of justice.

"I am glad that the Ombudsman has dismissed as fake the notorious anonymous letter from 'Father Liam' to Mrs Hamilton in 2002 – a letter that generated so much media attention and headlines in 2002," he said.

"I have to admit being sceptical of much of the RUC and Special Branch intelligence in the early 1970s and the interrogation techniques and other devious methods by which some such intelligence was acquired," he said, adding: "Father Chesney vehemently denied involvement in any kind of IRA activity to me on two occasions, in 1974, not long after I was appointed Bishop of Derry, and again in 1977.

Denied

He also denied such involvement earlier to my predecessor, Bishop Neil Farren. The failure of the RUC to arrest and question Father Chesney in 1972 or later is beyond understanding. This failure is graphically described in today's report. I believe that this constituted a huge betrayal of the Claudy victims. He should certainly have been arrested and questioned."

The Bishop said he was "not aware of Cardinal Conway's involvement in this case until it was first made known by Mr Sam Kinkaid, then Assistant Chief Constable PSNI on December 20, 2002.

He added: "This Report now clarifies that the Cardinal's involvement was initiated by the Secretary of State, at the behest of the police. Further details of this and a subsequent conversation have emerged since 2002. The movement of a suspected IRA activist to Donegal in 1972 or 1973 does not make sense to me. If he had been an IRA activist, such a move would have only served to make matters worse at that time and subsequently. In fact, I never received a single complaint or suspicion about Father Chesney's conduct in the years between 1974 and his death in 1980.

"Cardinal Conway did not at any time discuss Father Chesney with me, nor did any police officer or any member of the Northern Ireland Office. During my 20 years as Bishop of Derry, I regularly met such people. I cannot recall any journalist asking about this matter until many years after Father Chesney died. On my own initiative, I had a lengthy meeting with the former Ombudsman, Mrs Nuala O'Loan, in November 2006. I told her everything I knew about the case," he said, adding: ".The Claudy victims have been among the most forgotten of the entire Troubles. Once again I express my sincere sympathy and sadness to the victims of the Claudy atrocity and their families. On this day, our thoughts should be primarily with them."