OMAGH KEY SUSPECTS WERE NEVER INTERVIEWED
Omagh key suspects 'were never interviewed'
A NUMBER of key suspects in the Omagh bombing have never been interviewed by police, it has been claimed.
Victims' relatives said the Republic's Justice Minister Michael McDowell had admitted that certain men linked to the atrocity had never been quizzed by detectives.
Michael Gallagher, spokesman for the group, said relatives were left disappointed with the information offered to them.
"We do now know that many of the key people who were at the centre of this were not interviewed, including the informant," he said.
"We are totally amazed that this is the case. If the three-man Nally team wanted to get to the truth surely they should have looked at all of the evidence available and not been selective."
He said Mr McDowell told them that if the Northern Ireland investigation team or the British authorities wanted to interview the key witness at the centre of the allegations they could do so.
"We told the Minister that we feel like one side is playing us off against the other," he said.
"We feel like we're going round in circles. In the North they are telling us that because this individual is under the control of the Irish Government they can't have access to him."
Mr Gallagher reiterated the relatives' concerns that the three senior civil servants who formed the Nally team were not the most appropriate people to carry out the inquiry.
"One of the investigation team, Eamon Barnes, former Director of Public Prosecutions, would have made decisions in the days after Omagh about who to prosecute and who not to prosecute," he said.
He said a full judicial inquiry was the only way relatives felt they would get answers. They asked Mr McDowell about evidence the investigation team in Northern Ireland had requested a year ago but which they had never received.
"This is an ongoing issue and we are going to come back to the Minister with details on that," Mr Gallagher said.
Mr McDowell told relatives he could not share information because someone connected with the investigation was due before the courts.
He said he would review the situation when legal proceedings were over, Mr Gallagher said.
A NUMBER of key suspects in the Omagh bombing have never been interviewed by police, it has been claimed.
Victims' relatives said the Republic's Justice Minister Michael McDowell had admitted that certain men linked to the atrocity had never been quizzed by detectives.
Michael Gallagher, spokesman for the group, said relatives were left disappointed with the information offered to them.
"We do now know that many of the key people who were at the centre of this were not interviewed, including the informant," he said.
"We are totally amazed that this is the case. If the three-man Nally team wanted to get to the truth surely they should have looked at all of the evidence available and not been selective."
He said Mr McDowell told them that if the Northern Ireland investigation team or the British authorities wanted to interview the key witness at the centre of the allegations they could do so.
"We told the Minister that we feel like one side is playing us off against the other," he said.
"We feel like we're going round in circles. In the North they are telling us that because this individual is under the control of the Irish Government they can't have access to him."
Mr Gallagher reiterated the relatives' concerns that the three senior civil servants who formed the Nally team were not the most appropriate people to carry out the inquiry.
"One of the investigation team, Eamon Barnes, former Director of Public Prosecutions, would have made decisions in the days after Omagh about who to prosecute and who not to prosecute," he said.
He said a full judicial inquiry was the only way relatives felt they would get answers. They asked Mr McDowell about evidence the investigation team in Northern Ireland had requested a year ago but which they had never received.
"This is an ongoing issue and we are going to come back to the Minister with details on that," Mr Gallagher said.
Mr McDowell told relatives he could not share information because someone connected with the investigation was due before the courts.
He said he would review the situation when legal proceedings were over, Mr Gallagher said.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0927
Published Date: 01-Jun-04
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