OMAGH FAMILIES SLAM NORTH'S DEFENCE PLANS
Omagh families slam north's defence plans
TOWNS across Northern Ireland are not well enough equipped to cope with any major new terrorist attack, victims of the Omagh bomb have claimed. Emergency planning and evacuation procedures are dangerously low compared with other countries, relatives of those killed in the massacre believe.
Mark Breslin, whose wife Geraldine died in the blast, has spent five years studying worldwide preparations and warned that the authorities here have been left behind.
"Future lives could be saved if we had a root-and-branch approach to preparing for terrorist attack," he said.
"I believe Northern Ireland is not as well prepared as the experience and history here should dictate. Other countries seem to be further along this path in a shorter space of time." Mr Breslin has compiled a dossier he says backs his view, including readily accessible plans for parts of the United States, Australia, India and Britain.
His work formed part of a package presented to the Human Rights Commission in Belfast by the Omagh families as part of demands for a public inquiry on both sides of the border into the bombing.
They want chief commissioner Brice Dickson and his staff to back their call for a tribunal into events surrounding the August 1998 Real IRA attack which killed 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins.
"Getting them on board would be a powerful weapon in our armoury," said Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was murdered in the bombing.
Pressure has intensified since Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan's damning assessment of the original investigation.
Relatives of the dead insist that both the PSNI and Garda still have a lot of questions to answer over informants, levels of cooperation and whether all suspects were properly questioned.
A big part of their continued frustration is based on how Omagh was evacuated on the day of the explosion. Although the families do not blame officers on the ground, they claim there was a lack of basic training on bomb-threat procedures.
Mr Breslin cited a plan prepared by Lincoln city centre and distributed to shopowners and businesses in the area.
"I am not aware of what Belfast, for example, has in place," he said.
"These are public safety issues and yet they have been wrapped up in secrecy and security."
Although local councils in Britain are bound by law to produce and publish emergency plans, it is understood that the north has no such requirements.
As Omagh families met Human Rights Commissioners in Belfast, the city council disclosed details of its preparations.
A spokeswoman said: "We do have an emergency action plan which covers situations where people have to be evacuated, such as a fire or major spillage and we would provide bedding and food.
"For a major terrorist incident we would work with the police, fire and ambulance services.
"There's a strategic group which looks at overall proposals for Northern Ireland. Belfast City Council isn't directly represented on that."
TOWNS across Northern Ireland are not well enough equipped to cope with any major new terrorist attack, victims of the Omagh bomb have claimed. Emergency planning and evacuation procedures are dangerously low compared with other countries, relatives of those killed in the massacre believe.
Mark Breslin, whose wife Geraldine died in the blast, has spent five years studying worldwide preparations and warned that the authorities here have been left behind.
"Future lives could be saved if we had a root-and-branch approach to preparing for terrorist attack," he said.
"I believe Northern Ireland is not as well prepared as the experience and history here should dictate. Other countries seem to be further along this path in a shorter space of time." Mr Breslin has compiled a dossier he says backs his view, including readily accessible plans for parts of the United States, Australia, India and Britain.
His work formed part of a package presented to the Human Rights Commission in Belfast by the Omagh families as part of demands for a public inquiry on both sides of the border into the bombing.
They want chief commissioner Brice Dickson and his staff to back their call for a tribunal into events surrounding the August 1998 Real IRA attack which killed 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins.
"Getting them on board would be a powerful weapon in our armoury," said Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was murdered in the bombing.
Pressure has intensified since Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan's damning assessment of the original investigation.
Relatives of the dead insist that both the PSNI and Garda still have a lot of questions to answer over informants, levels of cooperation and whether all suspects were properly questioned.
A big part of their continued frustration is based on how Omagh was evacuated on the day of the explosion. Although the families do not blame officers on the ground, they claim there was a lack of basic training on bomb-threat procedures.
Mr Breslin cited a plan prepared by Lincoln city centre and distributed to shopowners and businesses in the area.
"I am not aware of what Belfast, for example, has in place," he said.
"These are public safety issues and yet they have been wrapped up in secrecy and security."
Although local councils in Britain are bound by law to produce and publish emergency plans, it is understood that the north has no such requirements.
As Omagh families met Human Rights Commissioners in Belfast, the city council disclosed details of its preparations.
A spokeswoman said: "We do have an emergency action plan which covers situations where people have to be evacuated, such as a fire or major spillage and we would provide bedding and food.
"For a major terrorist incident we would work with the police, fire and ambulance services.
"There's a strategic group which looks at overall proposals for Northern Ireland. Belfast City Council isn't directly represented on that."
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0704
Published Date: 10-Aug-04
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