COWEN FAILS TO GIVE FAMILIES COMMITMENT ON PUBLIC INQUIRY
Cowen fails to give families commitment on public inquiry
Michael Brannan
Political Correspondent
RELATIVES of the victims of the Omagh bombing were left disappointed last night after Taoiseach Brian Cowen failed to commit to the public inquiry they have demanded.
Northern Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness yesterday backed a public inquiry for the first time, as hundreds of people gathered in the town to mark the 10th anniversary of the single worst atrocity of the Troubles, when a Real IRA bomb killed 29 people - including a woman pregnant with twins.
But Mr Cowen pointed to the civil action being taken by the families in Belfast and Dublin against the alleged perpetrators.
"The civil action seems to be the best means they can (use to) find out what exactly happened on that occasion. But it's really a very difficult time for families and I don't want to add to their sense of grief or loss," he said.
But Michael Gallagher, who lost his son Aidan in the bombing, said this was an excuse that the families had heard for a "long number of years".
"I think other politicians need to get behind us. We have to get a public inquiry to bring an end to this and only they can do that," he said.
Frustration
Mr Gallagher and several other relatives did not attend the commemoration ceremony yesterday because of their frustration at the official response to the bombing.
He said he had previously been told by former British prime minister Tony Blair to wait until after the trial of electrician Sean Hoey - who was acquitted on all charges in connection with the bombing this year.
"If you ask Brian Cowen in a few months time, after the civil action, he will have another hurdle for the families to jump," Mr Gallagher said.
Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness acknowledged the families had lost faith in the police investigation into the Omagh bombing, which was roundly criticised by former Police Ombudswoman Nuala O'Loan.
"They have seen debacle after debacle, and I think what we need to do is support the families in the demands they are, making," said Mr McGuinness.
But this put him at odds with DUP junior minister Jeffrey Donaldson, who was representing First Minister Peter Robinson at yesterday's commemoration.
Mr Donaldson said that while he would love to see justice for the people of Omagh for those who perpetrated the "evil deeds", it was a day to remember those who lost their lives in Omagh.
The bomb, in August 1998, was seen as a direct attack by the Real IRA on the Good Friday Agreement, which had been signed just months earlier.
Brutality
SDLP leader Mark Durkan, who also attended yesterday's commemoration ceremony, said it had been an act of brutality which had provoked a strong expression of political determination from all sides.
"Those who planted the bomb were trying to defy the will of the people of Ireland as expressed in the referendum. But the families don't care about the political context, the real issue is that lives were ripped apart," he said.
The ceremony was kept deliberately non-political, with no representatives of any party speaking on stage.
However, Mr Cowen and other officials did later lay wreaths at the Omagh memorial garden.
Speaking afterwards in the town's Strule arts centre, Mr Cowen said the ceremony was a great example of the resilience of the human spirit.
"Ten years ago this day, an awful tragedy occurred with huge loss of life and an awful maiming of very many people, and the sheer senselessness of it all came home to me when I visited the place where that car bomb was placed," he said.
Mr Cowen also issued a warning to the Real IRA.
"The people have spoken; people want to have a peaceful future together and they are the antithesis of all the decency and the effort and the hope that is represented by the political process being waged," he said.
Michael Brannan
Political Correspondent
RELATIVES of the victims of the Omagh bombing were left disappointed last night after Taoiseach Brian Cowen failed to commit to the public inquiry they have demanded.
Northern Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness yesterday backed a public inquiry for the first time, as hundreds of people gathered in the town to mark the 10th anniversary of the single worst atrocity of the Troubles, when a Real IRA bomb killed 29 people - including a woman pregnant with twins.
But Mr Cowen pointed to the civil action being taken by the families in Belfast and Dublin against the alleged perpetrators.
"The civil action seems to be the best means they can (use to) find out what exactly happened on that occasion. But it's really a very difficult time for families and I don't want to add to their sense of grief or loss," he said.
But Michael Gallagher, who lost his son Aidan in the bombing, said this was an excuse that the families had heard for a "long number of years".
"I think other politicians need to get behind us. We have to get a public inquiry to bring an end to this and only they can do that," he said.
Frustration
Mr Gallagher and several other relatives did not attend the commemoration ceremony yesterday because of their frustration at the official response to the bombing.
He said he had previously been told by former British prime minister Tony Blair to wait until after the trial of electrician Sean Hoey - who was acquitted on all charges in connection with the bombing this year.
"If you ask Brian Cowen in a few months time, after the civil action, he will have another hurdle for the families to jump," Mr Gallagher said.
Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness acknowledged the families had lost faith in the police investigation into the Omagh bombing, which was roundly criticised by former Police Ombudswoman Nuala O'Loan.
"They have seen debacle after debacle, and I think what we need to do is support the families in the demands they are, making," said Mr McGuinness.
But this put him at odds with DUP junior minister Jeffrey Donaldson, who was representing First Minister Peter Robinson at yesterday's commemoration.
Mr Donaldson said that while he would love to see justice for the people of Omagh for those who perpetrated the "evil deeds", it was a day to remember those who lost their lives in Omagh.
The bomb, in August 1998, was seen as a direct attack by the Real IRA on the Good Friday Agreement, which had been signed just months earlier.
Brutality
SDLP leader Mark Durkan, who also attended yesterday's commemoration ceremony, said it had been an act of brutality which had provoked a strong expression of political determination from all sides.
"Those who planted the bomb were trying to defy the will of the people of Ireland as expressed in the referendum. But the families don't care about the political context, the real issue is that lives were ripped apart," he said.
The ceremony was kept deliberately non-political, with no representatives of any party speaking on stage.
However, Mr Cowen and other officials did later lay wreaths at the Omagh memorial garden.
Speaking afterwards in the town's Strule arts centre, Mr Cowen said the ceremony was a great example of the resilience of the human spirit.
"Ten years ago this day, an awful tragedy occurred with huge loss of life and an awful maiming of very many people, and the sheer senselessness of it all came home to me when I visited the place where that car bomb was placed," he said.
Mr Cowen also issued a warning to the Real IRA.
"The people have spoken; people want to have a peaceful future together and they are the antithesis of all the decency and the effort and the hope that is represented by the political process being waged," he said.
Further Information
Publisher: IRISH INDEPENDENT
Ref: II10An/09
Published Date: 16-Aug-08
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