A FEAR OF STIRRING SLEEPING DOGS
VIEWPOINT
A fear of stirring sleeping dogs
OMAGH BOMB: Two years on, why are the killers still at large?
Next Tuesday will be the second anniversary of the most devastating tragedy in the
history of the troubles - the Omagh bombing. Yet what has been the result of the combined efforts of the RUC and the Garda to catch the Real IRA killers responsible for the deaths of 29 people and to apprehend the key figures in the organisation?
One man, a native of Co Armagh living across the border in Louth, has been charged with conspiring to cause the explosion and with being a member of an illegal organisation. He was refused legal aid, as a publican, a building contractor and a landowner, but otherwise is free on bail until his trial next year. For all the mountains of paperwork, tracing the car from its theft in Carrickmacross to Omagh, no-one else has been charged. And now, to add insult to so much injury, the Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association - which supports Real IRA prisoners in the Republic's jails - is holding a fundraising event in west Belfast just three days after the Omagh anniversary. The 32-County Sovereignty Movement, which denies links with the Real ERA, has recruited Martin Galvin, the New York lawyer responsible for raising millions of dollars for Sinn Fein, to address the rally.
The injured and maimed of Omagh and the relatives of the dead, in Co Tyrone, Donegal and Spain, are entitled to be angry not only with the organisers but with the way the republican community has turned its back on them. Expressions of dismay, after the bombing, have not been followed up by co-operation with the authorities.
Through intermediaries, if necessary, the IRA could have helped the police track down the breakaway elements who were responsible for Omagh. But even now that they are participating in the Stormont executive, Sinn Fein refuse to assist with inquiries into old comrades who have dipped into IRA arms dumps and have bombed in London.
From all accounts, the police know exactly how the Omagh bomb was planned and executed but lack evidence that would stand up in court. No matter that the law was tightened up in the Republic, to bring culprits to justice, there is an obvious reluctance to use it. The fear of stirring republican sleeping dogs is still paramount.
Omagh was to be different. The outrage was so universal that there would be no hiding place for anyone. Two years on, however, it seems that the culture whereby republicans cover up for others is unbroken. The trust that could have been forged across the community, by co-operation, remains unattainable.
A fear of stirring sleeping dogs
OMAGH BOMB: Two years on, why are the killers still at large?
Next Tuesday will be the second anniversary of the most devastating tragedy in the
history of the troubles - the Omagh bombing. Yet what has been the result of the combined efforts of the RUC and the Garda to catch the Real IRA killers responsible for the deaths of 29 people and to apprehend the key figures in the organisation?
One man, a native of Co Armagh living across the border in Louth, has been charged with conspiring to cause the explosion and with being a member of an illegal organisation. He was refused legal aid, as a publican, a building contractor and a landowner, but otherwise is free on bail until his trial next year. For all the mountains of paperwork, tracing the car from its theft in Carrickmacross to Omagh, no-one else has been charged. And now, to add insult to so much injury, the Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association - which supports Real IRA prisoners in the Republic's jails - is holding a fundraising event in west Belfast just three days after the Omagh anniversary. The 32-County Sovereignty Movement, which denies links with the Real ERA, has recruited Martin Galvin, the New York lawyer responsible for raising millions of dollars for Sinn Fein, to address the rally.
The injured and maimed of Omagh and the relatives of the dead, in Co Tyrone, Donegal and Spain, are entitled to be angry not only with the organisers but with the way the republican community has turned its back on them. Expressions of dismay, after the bombing, have not been followed up by co-operation with the authorities.
Through intermediaries, if necessary, the IRA could have helped the police track down the breakaway elements who were responsible for Omagh. But even now that they are participating in the Stormont executive, Sinn Fein refuse to assist with inquiries into old comrades who have dipped into IRA arms dumps and have bombed in London.
From all accounts, the police know exactly how the Omagh bomb was planned and executed but lack evidence that would stand up in court. No matter that the law was tightened up in the Republic, to bring culprits to justice, there is an obvious reluctance to use it. The fear of stirring republican sleeping dogs is still paramount.
Omagh was to be different. The outrage was so universal that there would be no hiding place for anyone. Two years on, however, it seems that the culture whereby republicans cover up for others is unbroken. The trust that could have been forged across the community, by co-operation, remains unattainable.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0746
Published Date: 09-Aug-00
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.