REPORT HELPS IN BID FOR PUBLIC INQUIRY
REPORT 'HELPS IN BID FOR PUBLIC INQUIRY'
A DAMNING report critical of the Government's refusal to reveal secret documents about the Omagh bomb investigation strengthens a case for a public inquiry into the atrocity, the campaign group for relatives of the victims has said.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden died in the 1998 Real IRA bombing, made the comments after members of the Northern Ireland Affairs committee published the report.
It was issued after the Government repeatedly blocked requests made by Chairman Sir Patrick Cormack to see a confidential briefing on the claims that vital information picked up from bombers' phone calls was not passed on to RUC detectives in the days after the attack.
Mr Gallagher, who is chair of the Omagh Support and Self Help Group, said: "We believed it was vital to establish what happened in the days prior to and on the day of the bombing. And sadly that is not going to happen and it is inevitable that people will draw their own conclusions," he said.
He added: "I think reports such as this one coming out strengthen our call even further that there should be a public inquiry, because obviously our Government wants to hide information from the families. That in itself is very damning on the Government's part."
A DAMNING report critical of the Government's refusal to reveal secret documents about the Omagh bomb investigation strengthens a case for a public inquiry into the atrocity, the campaign group for relatives of the victims has said.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden died in the 1998 Real IRA bombing, made the comments after members of the Northern Ireland Affairs committee published the report.
It was issued after the Government repeatedly blocked requests made by Chairman Sir Patrick Cormack to see a confidential briefing on the claims that vital information picked up from bombers' phone calls was not passed on to RUC detectives in the days after the attack.
Mr Gallagher, who is chair of the Omagh Support and Self Help Group, said: "We believed it was vital to establish what happened in the days prior to and on the day of the bombing. And sadly that is not going to happen and it is inevitable that people will draw their own conclusions," he said.
He added: "I think reports such as this one coming out strengthen our call even further that there should be a public inquiry, because obviously our Government wants to hide information from the families. That in itself is very damning on the Government's part."
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/1162
Published Date: 14-Jul-08
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