RELEASE OMAGH REPORT: LABOUR
Release Omagh report: Labour
A SECRET government report on garda intelligence handling at the time of the I Omagh bomb must be made public, it was claimed last night.
Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte called on justice minister Michael McDowell to publish the Nally Report into anti-terror operations prior to the 1998 atrocity after a suspended Donegal garda was cleared of corruption.
Detective Sergeant John White from Ballybofey was acquitted on Tuesday at Letterkenny Circuit Court of three charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice and three of making false statements. The detective hit the headlines when he claimed a Real IRA informer alerted him before the 1998 attack about a car which was to be used in a bombing.
He said he passed the warning on to a senior officer but it was not conveyed to police in Northern Ireland.
In August 1998 a car bomb exploded in Omagh town centre, killing 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins.
The confidential Nally Report probed Mr White's allegations that members of An Garda Siochana kept vital information on Real IRA bomb attack plans from what was the RUC.
But in December 2003, Mr McDowell told the Dail that the Nally Report found no evidence to support any of the officer's claims.
The following February he vowed to make an edited copy of the report public after the DPP had pursued charges against Mr White.
Mr Rabbitte said in the wake of the case against Mr White collapsing, due to inconsistencies in evidence, the Nally Report had to be brought in to the open.
"Sgt White has described the prosecution as "malicious" and has called for a probe into the officers - senior-ranking members of the Garda Siochana - who investigated him," Mr Rabbitte said.
A SECRET government report on garda intelligence handling at the time of the I Omagh bomb must be made public, it was claimed last night.
Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte called on justice minister Michael McDowell to publish the Nally Report into anti-terror operations prior to the 1998 atrocity after a suspended Donegal garda was cleared of corruption.
Detective Sergeant John White from Ballybofey was acquitted on Tuesday at Letterkenny Circuit Court of three charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice and three of making false statements. The detective hit the headlines when he claimed a Real IRA informer alerted him before the 1998 attack about a car which was to be used in a bombing.
He said he passed the warning on to a senior officer but it was not conveyed to police in Northern Ireland.
In August 1998 a car bomb exploded in Omagh town centre, killing 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins.
The confidential Nally Report probed Mr White's allegations that members of An Garda Siochana kept vital information on Real IRA bomb attack plans from what was the RUC.
But in December 2003, Mr McDowell told the Dail that the Nally Report found no evidence to support any of the officer's claims.
The following February he vowed to make an edited copy of the report public after the DPP had pursued charges against Mr White.
Mr Rabbitte said in the wake of the case against Mr White collapsing, due to inconsistencies in evidence, the Nally Report had to be brought in to the open.
"Sgt White has described the prosecution as "malicious" and has called for a probe into the officers - senior-ranking members of the Garda Siochana - who investigated him," Mr Rabbitte said.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0724
Published Date: 20-Jan-05
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