24.8.2008
Friday-Thursday, 14-20 August, 2008
Friday-Thursday, 8-14 August, 2008
Friday-Thursday, 8-14 August, 2008
Wreathes not enough for Omagh victims
By Irish Republican News
A cross-border public inquiry is the only proper tribute to relatives bereaved by the Omagh bomb blast, a memorial service heard on Sunday.
The system "has failed everyone" and its leaders should "hang their heads in shame" because of the lack of progress, bereaved father Michael Gallagher told mourners in the County Tyrone town.
They had gathered to mark ten years since the bomb blast, which killed 29 people, and two unborn twins, after bomb warnings failed to clear the centre of the predominately nationalist town.
Following the signing of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, bomb attacks by the breakaway 'Real IRA' had been mainly directed against the commercial centres of northern market towns.
It has emerged in recent years that informers within the republican group had forewarned state forces in both jurisdictions regarding the construction and planning of the Omagh bomb.
There have also been a string of failures in the forensics handling of the investigation. Nobody has been convicted of causing the deaths, and the PSNI police has declared that convictions are unlikely.
It has since been suggested that civilian casualties in Omagh could have been sacrificed as a means of turning public opinion against republicanism, similar to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974.
Mr Gallagher, whose son Aidan, 21, died, said: "The only proper tribute to Omagh's dead, ten years on, must be that full cross-border public inquiry.
"We call on public figures to back our call, otherwise the system continues to fail everyone and should hold its head in shame.
"They will be judged not on their token gestures but on what they have or have not done to actually bring justice to Omagh, not wreathes."
Sinn Fein this week supported calls for a cross-border independent inquiry into the Omagh bomb.
Former chief negotiator Martin McGuinness said there were serious concerns about the "debacle after debacle" which plagued police investigations into the tragedy.
The Deputy First Minister said he had listened to what the people in Omagh have said and the criticisms that have been made.
"The calls that are made from the families here for the establishment of an independent tribunal, they obviously have lost all faith in the police investigation and we have seen debacle after debacle," he said.
"I think what we need to do is support the families in the demands that they are now making."
Mr McGuinness was also critical of the Real IRA, who he said had sought to defeat his party's peace project.
"This was a very clear attempt by whoever was behind the bomb to destroy the peace process, destroy Sinn Fein's peace strategy. Ten years on they have failed miserably."
But the bereaved were angered when 26-County Taoiseach Brian Cowen said he did not want to prejudice either the families' civil action against the men they believe were responsible, or potential criminal proceedings in the 26 Counties.
Mr Gallagher said the Taoiseach's comments "were only an excuse" not to hold a judicial inquiry. He said: "What we need is more politicians, particularly at that level, coming on board and supporting the families." He called on the British and Irish governments to do the same.
"When I met Tony Blair two years ago he said, 'let's wait and see what comes out of the Hoey trial'. We did wait and we've seen what came out of it. Let the governments at least give us a commitment that we can work towards that public inquiry," he said.
British officials have yet to comment on the families' appeal for an inquiry.
Copyright © Irish Republican News 2008
Friday-Thursday, 8-14 August, 2008
Feature: Was the Omagh bomb allowed to happen?
By Irish Republican News
The families of the victims have called for a full cross-order public inquiry into the Omagh bomb, which took place ten years ago this week.
Former agent and 'whistleblower' Kevin Fulton, who had infiltrated the IRA alleged that he had warned British services in advance of an attack. He claimed this information could have prevented the attack if it was acted upon.
The allegations where investigated in 2001 by the Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan.
The report concluded that Kevin Fulton was considered as a reliable informant. His warnings did not specifically mention Omagh, but gave information about suspects, possible plots and the location of bombs.
'Mrs O'Loan said: "My conclusion is that even if reasonable action had been taken on the information from Fulton, it is unlikely that the Omagh bomb could have been prevented."'
However, O'Loan's investigation also found that there was another warning by an anonymous caller which specifically mentioned an attack in Omagh on the 15th August, the day of the bombing. The warning was not acted upon by Special Branch. If it had been, and it should have been, the attack could well have been prevented.
Since the Ombudsman's Report, the Nally report investigated claims that the 26-County Garda police failed to pass on information to the RUC in the North about the Omagh bomb plot and allowed it to happen. The Nally report denied the claims.
Michael Gallagher, father of a bomb victim and Chairman of the Omagh Support and Self Help Group, has said that the report is inadequate because it did not include the evidence of Paddy Dixon.
According to the Observer:
"Dixon was the most important police informer (Garda) inside the Real IRA in the crucial months leading up to the 1998 Omagh bombing, which left 29 dead...
"In total, five Real IRA bombing missions were thwarted as a result of Dixon's intelligence But in order to give Dixon credibility within the [Real IRA], the Garda police ordered that a number of attacks be allowed through. They included a massive bomb attack that devastated Moira in February 1998. No one died in the blast, but the next sortie allowed through, however, would have far more serious consequences.'
In short, Dixon claims the Omagh bomb was allowed to go ahead. Again Nuala O'Loan is convinced Dixon is credible.
The puzzle remains - why won't the Garda let Paddy Dixon talk to the PSNI?", says Michael Gallagher.
The families have been campaigning and lobbying to get a new investigation. Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has spoken of his support for the idea.
"Republicans would be only too glad to co-operate with any independent, international investigation into the bomb explosion, because we think the PSNI (Police Service) themselves have questions to answer. There's a very strong belief within Irish Republicanism that the PSNI not alone failed to investigate the Omagh bomb properly, but the RUC actually knew about the bomb before it took place."
Only two men have been tried in connection with the Omagh murders. The case against south Armagh man Colm Murphy collapsed and his conviction overturned in 2005 when doubt was cast on the evidence of two Garda officers. Electrician Sean Hoey was cleared and two senior PSNI officers were accused of perjury when his trial ended in December last year.
Mr McGuinness has signalled his party's determination to get answers.
"There are serious questions to be asked about the Omagh bomb investigation," he said.
"Nobody knows more about what happened than (the PSNI-POLICE), and there's a very strong argument for an international, independent investigation into the Omagh bomb investigation and the actual bomb explosion itself."
Copyright © Irish Republican News 2008