IN/0423

Gardai mounting op
Michael O'Toole
Dublin Correspondent

Omagh operation massive
OMAGH MAY be outside their jurisdiction, but gardai have mounted one of their biggest investigations in recent years because of the atrocity.
The force has launched a massive operation to track down the men who helped bring death and destruction to the Co Tyrone town.
And day by day, Garda sources are becoming increasingly confident of catching the culprits.
Up to 50 uniformed gardai and detectives are involved in the hunt for the gang which stole the Vauxhall Cavalier car used by Real IRA members to transport the massive bomb which blew apart the centre of Omagh more than a month ago - and left 29 people dead.
The team includes special branch detectives and members of the elite Emergency Response Unit.
The Vauxhall was stolen from the St. Macartan's area of Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan in the early hours of the morning a few days before the explosion.
It was taken from a part-time student from the border village who was visiting his girlfriend at the time.
In the immediate aftermath of the bomb, gardai established a busy incident room in the town - already more than a dozen people have been questioned by detectives and nine people charged in connection with stolen cars.
One man has also been charged with conspiracy to cause explosions in Britain.
In the latest development, three men were arrested in Dundalk on Wednesday and were still being held in Carrickmacross and Monaghan late last night.
Assistant Commissioner Kevin Carty, an expert in paramilitaries, is in overall command of the hunt for the car thieves.
Another key figure in the investigation is Chief Superintendent Colum Rooney, who has been in charge of the Cavan/Monaghan area since 1992 and is highly experienced in paramilitary cases.
Mr Rooney told the Irish News that he was delighted with the response from the public all over the Republic to a Garda appeal for information after the bomb.
He said: "People were shocked and outraged by what happened in Omagh and the level of co-operation from the public was exactly as you would expect in such a serious investigation.
"People want to help and are very anxious to help - it gives one great comfort the level of co-operation we have had. As a result of the publicity, we have had people ringing up from all over Ireland saying we think we saw something.
"We realise, of course, that sometimes it takes a bit of doing for people to lift up the phone and call us."
But he admits getting inside information on the Real IRA or the gang that stole the car can be extremely difficult.
He says: "The difficulty with this type of crime and when you are dealing with this type of organisation is that there is a limited number of people who know about their activities."
Despite that, Chief Superintendent Rooney remains confident the culprits can be brought to justice.
"We were confident when we set out on the investigation that we were going to find the people responsible for taking the car in Carrickmacross and we still believe that we will find the people that stole the car," he says.
The senior garda is also happy at the level of co-operation and intelligence sharing between his team and the RUC officers investigating the bomb attack itself.
He said: "I have visited Omagh myself and we would discuss the case virtually on a daily basis."
Chief superintendent Rooney said there is one way to catch the car thieves - normal, everyday detective work.
He explained: "We went back to the area where the car was parked and there was a through examination by the technical people and we did house to house enquiries - that is where any investigation starts.
"We held a press conference in Cavan to tell the public what we were doing and to ask for their assistance.
"Out of that publicity we got a lot of assistance and intelligence that there were criminal groups involved in the taking of cars on a fairly wide scale, so our investigation took us down that road.
"The investigation starts at a central point and it develops - that's why we have so many people involved in the case.
"We have had to put people on different avenues, but they are' all linked to the overall investigation."
There have been major spin offs for gardai investigating the car theft - including two large arms finds and the recovery of stolen property worth more than £100,000.
Engines for about 30 stolen cars were uncovered by special search teams in the midlands area including Kildare and north Dublin. Gardai also recovered two stolen lorries worth some £30,000 each and a stolen digger worth the same amount.
Arms recovered included five rifles, two pistols and component parts for a rocket launcher.
Officers are now investigating links between car theft gangs and the Real IRA, although Mr Rooney does not want to speculate on how intimate the two groups are.
He says: "We have a lot of intelligence gathered in relation of the car and we are still continuing to follow that intelligence.
"In the last week we have had two major finds of firearms in the Innsikeen and Hackballscross area and our search teams are continuing to operate on the ground."
Mr Rooney says there is no time frame on the operation and insists it will continue until the culprits are in the dock for their role in the worst atrocity of the troubles.