RELATIVES of victims have demanded the arrest of a self-confessed IRA bombmaker who apologised while admitting he was part of a terror cell responsible for the Birmingham pub bombings.

Michael Christopher Hayes, 69, said he was in Birmingham on the night of the 1974 attacks and accepts "collective responsibility" for the pub bombs.

But 43 years after the atrocity, he steadfastly declined to comment on whether he was directly involved.

The Herald:

And he also claimed he defused a third bomb that had been planted in the city once he heard of the carnage the first two explosions had caused.

Twenty-one people were killed and 182 others were injured on 21 November 1974 when bombs exploded in two city centre pubs.

The botched police investigation led to the wrongful convictions of the so-called Birmingham Six - described as one of the most infamous miscarriages of justice in British legal history.

Among the six was Paddy Hill, 72,  the most vocal of the Birmingham Six, who last year, based in Ayrshire, joined forces with the Justice4the21 group of relatives formed to get to the truth of what happened.

The Herald:

The Herald:

But nobody has ever been brought to justice for one of the worst single losses of life in the Troubles.

Now the Justice4the21 group have supported calls for Mr Hayes to be arrested on conspiracy to cause explosions.

A group spokesman said: "No excuses now. You have a verbal confession from Hayes.

But the spokesman added that "senior management of West Midlands Police will do nothing like they always have! So much for our 'great' judiciary system.

"Families aren't the least bit interested in this specimen who claims to have a conscience."

Mr Hayes, who now lives in south Dublin, refused to say in an interview with the BBC who planted the bombs in the Mulberry Bush and the Tavern in the Town, but said he was speaking out to give "the point of view of a participant".

The 69-year-old said: My apologies and my heartfelt sympathy to all of you for a terrible tragic loss that you have been put through.

The Herald:

'In all these years that you have been trying to find closure, I hope at last God will be merciful and bring you closure.

"I apologise for all Irish republicans who had no intention of hurting anybody. I've sympathies with you."

He added:"I was a participant in the IRA's activities in Birmingham. I was an active volunteer. How clear can I make it."

Asked if he planted the bombs he said: "I gave you the only answer I can give you."

In response to being told relatives would say he has blood on his hands, he said: "I know they'd say that. I can justify that. I don't shirk my responsibility in that direction. He said that two people planted the bombs but refused to say who they were.

The Herald:

The Herald:

And asked if he was one of them he said: "I'm not telling you."

He said the bombs, made of gelignite, had not been intended to kill people,adding that there had been a crucial eight-minute delay before police were warned of the bombs' location.

He claimed mistakes were made so that bomb warnings were made too late.

"The explosions? They were horrific. They were terrible. It shocked the IRA," he said.

'It was not the intention of the IRA to kill innocent people. That wasn't meant. It wouldn't have been done if that was the case.

"When we found out what happened we diffused the third one in the Hagley Road. I did."

The Herald:

In 1990, Michael Hayes was named in a Granada TV programme as one of the men who placed the bombs in the two pubs.

Mr Hayes said he was arrested and questioned by West Midlands Police about the bombings in 1974, but was released.

"I''ve been accused of a lot of things, without one shred of forensic evidence, without one statement made, without one witness coming out against me," he said.

Julie Hambleton of the Justice4the21 campaign - whose older sister Maxine died aged 18 in the Tavern in the Town, dismissed the apology.

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"You've murdered 21 people and all you've got is sorry? What about, 'I did it'. I'm handing myself in. That might help," she said.

"An apology? Please! Don't insult us.

“He’s gutless and spineless. He’s told us nothing, he’s admitted nothing.”

An inquest into the bombings has been re-opened following a campaign by victims' families, who feel they have been denied justice and that their loved ones have been forgotten.

Victims' relatives have always wanted the names of the suspects to be disclosed at the inquest.

But last week the coroner Sir Peter Thornton QC said suspects will notbe investigated or named in new inquests into the deaths - a ruling denounced by the families as a "whitewash".

He said it was "not in the public interest for these investigations and inquests to pursue unachievable, or indeed unlawful objectives."

Family lawyers are were considering whether to make a legal challenge or appeal.

West Midlands Police said their investigation remained open and it would respond to "any new significant information to bring those responsible to justice".