LESSONS CAN BE LEARNED FROM OMAGH
Lessons can be learned from Omagh, but we must not lose sight of the real issues
Lindy MCDOWELL
With his shiny, glossy hair and his very non Tyrone tan, Michael Mansfield QC tends to stand out at the Omagh Inquest. He stands out though for reasons other than coiffure.
The high profile English lawyer has been to the forefront in the controversy over the questioning of RUC witnesses at the inquest.
Many people, including some of the victims' families, have been distressed by what they see as an aggressive style of questioning of officers who on that terrible day, it is beyond dispute, acted with the utmost courage.
Mr Mansfield and another lawyer make the point however, that it is important to establish precisely what happened in the immediate aftermath of the bomb warnings and to ascertain whether the strategy employed that day failed in any way and could be improved.
On the face of it, this would appear to make sense. In the week in which a 50lb bomb was discovered on the railway line at Dunmurry, most of us accept that another Omagh atrocity could happen at any time.
The terrorists as someone once memorably pointed out, still haven't gone away, you know. And while the threat remains, it's important that we do all in our power to ensure that the damage they are capable of inflicting is minimised.
What disturbs many observers, however, is the perception that in Omagh, the search for answers appears to be moving the spotlight of blame from the bombers and focussing instead on men and women who battled to cope with the carnage they left behind. The aim may be sound, but the impression being given is that, the RUC, not the bombers, are in the dock over Omagh.
The brutal reality though, is that on that sunny Saturday afternoon in August, men drove a car packed with a primed bomb into a busy shopping street in Omagh and left it there. They meant to kill people. We know that because if they had merely wanted to cause structural damage they would have left it there in the middle of the night, not the middle of the afternoon.
If they had merely wanted a symbolic strike, they would have left it at the courthouse as they claimed.
We also know that the Real IRA are neither ashamed nor remorseful. Of all the dozens of people who are believed to have had some knowledge of the bombing operation, not a single one has broken his or her silence. The evidence that moves you and me to tears does not trouble their collective conscience. The warnings phoned in the aftermath of the Omagh bomb were vague and deliberately misleading because the bombers meant it to be that way. They meant to kill a lot of people. Against such evil, the police, are forever deeply disadvantaged.
On that day in Omagh, police officers dealt with carnage on an indescribable scale. I remember one glassy-eyed young officer describing to me how he had used Pampers nappies blown from the window of Boots to try to stem the flow of blood from one woman's injuries. He didn't get that from a "procedure." Another officer continued to dig victims from the rubble and tend to them despite injures which later required almost 30 stitches. That man wasn't responding to orders. But to his own humanity.
Possibly there are lessons to learn from Omagh and we should do everything in our power to ensure that they are acted upon. Whether it is necessary or right though, that this should become the main focus of the inquest is a different matter.
Every night I see on television those two brave men Michael Gallagher and Stanley McCombe talk in their quiet voices about each day's proceedings. It is painful to watch them. God knows what it is like for them to go through that. They put themselves through it because they are determined to get justice for an adored only son, a much loved wife.
For their sakes, the one message that above all should emerge from the Omagh inquest, is that the bombers, the people responsible for the carnage, must be caught. That justice, real justice, must be done.
Lindy MCDOWELL
With his shiny, glossy hair and his very non Tyrone tan, Michael Mansfield QC tends to stand out at the Omagh Inquest. He stands out though for reasons other than coiffure.
The high profile English lawyer has been to the forefront in the controversy over the questioning of RUC witnesses at the inquest.
Many people, including some of the victims' families, have been distressed by what they see as an aggressive style of questioning of officers who on that terrible day, it is beyond dispute, acted with the utmost courage.
Mr Mansfield and another lawyer make the point however, that it is important to establish precisely what happened in the immediate aftermath of the bomb warnings and to ascertain whether the strategy employed that day failed in any way and could be improved.
On the face of it, this would appear to make sense. In the week in which a 50lb bomb was discovered on the railway line at Dunmurry, most of us accept that another Omagh atrocity could happen at any time.
The terrorists as someone once memorably pointed out, still haven't gone away, you know. And while the threat remains, it's important that we do all in our power to ensure that the damage they are capable of inflicting is minimised.
What disturbs many observers, however, is the perception that in Omagh, the search for answers appears to be moving the spotlight of blame from the bombers and focussing instead on men and women who battled to cope with the carnage they left behind. The aim may be sound, but the impression being given is that, the RUC, not the bombers, are in the dock over Omagh.
The brutal reality though, is that on that sunny Saturday afternoon in August, men drove a car packed with a primed bomb into a busy shopping street in Omagh and left it there. They meant to kill people. We know that because if they had merely wanted to cause structural damage they would have left it there in the middle of the night, not the middle of the afternoon.
If they had merely wanted a symbolic strike, they would have left it at the courthouse as they claimed.
We also know that the Real IRA are neither ashamed nor remorseful. Of all the dozens of people who are believed to have had some knowledge of the bombing operation, not a single one has broken his or her silence. The evidence that moves you and me to tears does not trouble their collective conscience. The warnings phoned in the aftermath of the Omagh bomb were vague and deliberately misleading because the bombers meant it to be that way. They meant to kill a lot of people. Against such evil, the police, are forever deeply disadvantaged.
On that day in Omagh, police officers dealt with carnage on an indescribable scale. I remember one glassy-eyed young officer describing to me how he had used Pampers nappies blown from the window of Boots to try to stem the flow of blood from one woman's injuries. He didn't get that from a "procedure." Another officer continued to dig victims from the rubble and tend to them despite injures which later required almost 30 stitches. That man wasn't responding to orders. But to his own humanity.
Possibly there are lessons to learn from Omagh and we should do everything in our power to ensure that they are acted upon. Whether it is necessary or right though, that this should become the main focus of the inquest is a different matter.
Every night I see on television those two brave men Michael Gallagher and Stanley McCombe talk in their quiet voices about each day's proceedings. It is painful to watch them. God knows what it is like for them to go through that. They put themselves through it because they are determined to get justice for an adored only son, a much loved wife.
For their sakes, the one message that above all should emerge from the Omagh inquest, is that the bombers, the people responsible for the carnage, must be caught. That justice, real justice, must be done.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0603
Published Date: 20-Sep-00
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