A SECRET WORLD MEANS WHOLE TRUTH MAY NEVER COME OUT
A secret world that means whole truth may never come out
by Brian Rowan
THESE questions about Omagh may never be answered - questions about who knew what and when, who did what and when, and what information was shared and not shared.
The questions have not changed.
They are about what more could have been done before the bombing to make best use of intelligence, and what more could have been done after the horror of that explosion to better assist the investigation.
The answers are in a secret world, in a place of brick walls and closed doors.
Does anyone really believe that Special Branch or the Security Service MI5 will let all of this be opened up for close scrutiny?
Today, the focus is once more on Omagh, but you could take the title of this latest report - The Omagh Bombing: Some Remaining Questions - and attach it to many other incidents.
The Pat Finucane Murder: Many Unanswered Questions;
The Use of Agents: Many Unanswered Questions;
The Dirty War: Many Unanswered Questions.
They will be asked again and again, but those who have the answers want to protect their sources and their secrets.
So the information that comes back is often confusing, bewildering, and difficult to understand.
Indeed, we are not meant to understand this world.
It can't be obvious, it can't be simple - it is complex and confusing.
And it is a world in which there is no such thing as a straight answer to a straight question.
The Omagh families know that - so many other families know that.
The year of the Omagh bomb was when the dissident threat was at its highest - arguably more severe than it is now.
Those behind the lead-up bombs in Portadown, Moira and Banbridge had just left the IRA.
They still knew the war and they knew what they were doing. The only thing that stopped them doing even more damage was the Omagh bomb.
They were shamed from the stage - and no-one has yet been told the whole story of that day and many other days.
by Brian Rowan
THESE questions about Omagh may never be answered - questions about who knew what and when, who did what and when, and what information was shared and not shared.
The questions have not changed.
They are about what more could have been done before the bombing to make best use of intelligence, and what more could have been done after the horror of that explosion to better assist the investigation.
The answers are in a secret world, in a place of brick walls and closed doors.
Does anyone really believe that Special Branch or the Security Service MI5 will let all of this be opened up for close scrutiny?
Today, the focus is once more on Omagh, but you could take the title of this latest report - The Omagh Bombing: Some Remaining Questions - and attach it to many other incidents.
The Pat Finucane Murder: Many Unanswered Questions;
The Use of Agents: Many Unanswered Questions;
The Dirty War: Many Unanswered Questions.
They will be asked again and again, but those who have the answers want to protect their sources and their secrets.
So the information that comes back is often confusing, bewildering, and difficult to understand.
Indeed, we are not meant to understand this world.
It can't be obvious, it can't be simple - it is complex and confusing.
And it is a world in which there is no such thing as a straight answer to a straight question.
The Omagh families know that - so many other families know that.
The year of the Omagh bomb was when the dissident threat was at its highest - arguably more severe than it is now.
Those behind the lead-up bombs in Portadown, Moira and Banbridge had just left the IRA.
They still knew the war and they knew what they were doing. The only thing that stopped them doing even more damage was the Omagh bomb.
They were shamed from the stage - and no-one has yet been told the whole story of that day and many other days.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/1186
Published Date: 16-Mar-10
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