Police urged to research confessed Lord Mountbatten ‘murderer’
Police last night faced mounting pressure to investigate a former IRA commander who confessed to The Mail on Sunday that he was behind the assassination of King Charles‘s great uncle.
Michael Hayes callously boasted to this newspaper that he designed the bomb that killed Lord Mountbatten and masterminded the 1979 atrocity in Sligo, Ireland. But, despite his comments this month, the Irish police have refused to say whether they intend to investigate him.
Last night, Theresa Villiers, who was Northern Ireland Secretary between 2012 and 2016, said the police should investigate Hayes’s confession ‘as soon as possible’.
She added: ‘This terrorist attack was truly horrific and admissions made in relation to it need to be properly investigated.’
Michael Hayes callously boasted to this newspaper that he designed the bomb that killed Lord Mountbatten and masterminded the 1979 atrocity in Sligo, Ireland
Lord Mountbatten, King Charles’s great uncle, was murdered aged 79 when the IRA blew up his fishing boat while he was on holiday at his summer home in Mullaghmore, Sligo
Another former Northern Ireland Minister told the MoS: ‘It would be utterly hypocritical for the authorities in the Republic to turn a blind eye to this when the Irish government is taking the UK to court over our decision to offer a conditional amnesty to people suspected of crimes during the Troubles.
‘This was an extraordinary admission from this ex-IRA commander and it must be investigated as a matter of urgency.’
Lord Mountbatten was murdered aged 79 when the IRA blew up his fishing boat during a holiday at his summer home in Mullaghmore, Sligo.
Only one IRA member was convicted – Thomas McMahon was jailed for life for murder but freed under the Good Friday Agreement.
Speaking to the MoS at his home in Dublin, Hayes bragged: ‘I blew up Earl Mountbatten’, adding: ‘Yes, I blew him up. McMahon put it on his boat . . . I planned everything, I am commander in chief.’
Senior Tory MP Sir Robert Buckland said: ‘It would be intolerable if this extraordinary confession was not investigated.’
A Garda spokesman said: ‘Any information coming to our attention in relation to any criminal act in this jurisdiction is subject to assessment to determine what, if any, action may be appropriate.’
