FORUM DEMANDS RELEASE OF OMAGH FILES
Forum demands release of Omagh files
FORUM of politicians is to call on the British government to release secret files on the suspects allegedly behind the Omagh bombing.
Nobody has been convicted for the 1998 Real IRA attack, which killed 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins.
The issue will be raised by more than a dozen cross-party members of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body (BIIPB) including Labour MP Andrew Mackinlay and Fine Gael TD Brian Hayes.
Mr Mackinlay will table a motion at the meeting calling on the British government "to disclose immediately to the legal counsel of the families of the victims of the Omagh bombing details of and all information relating to and arising from the request made by the RUC to Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) for surveillance of those subsequently suspected of preparing and carrying out the atrocity in Omagh a decade ago, including transcripts and timelines".
Memorial events were held in Omagh in August to mark the 10th anniversary of the attack.
The inter-parliamentary body is convening for its two-day meeting in Newcastle upon Tyne in north-east England on Monday. British and Irish parliamentarians will also examine proposals to remember the past with an address by Lord Eames and Denis Bradley, co-chairmen of the Consultative Group on the Past.
The agenda also includes a briefing by secretary of state Shaun Woodward on recent political developments in Northern Ireland and his assessment of the future. The body will be attended for the first time by an official Ulster Unionist delegation led by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass, a former MP, and assembly member David McClarty.
"This reverses almost two decades of a unionist boycott of the body, which will change its name to the British-Irish Assembly to accommodate unionist concerns," a spokesman for the inter-parliamentary body said.
There will also be a presentation from Eamon Ryan - the Republic's minister for communications, energy and natural resources - on how to maximise energy in Ireland and Britain.
A report on how to boost renewable energy will be debated.
The body will also hear calls for the creation of a code of conduct for employers of migrant workers "to protect vulnerable communities from exploitation".
The inter-parliamentary body was formally established in 1990 as a link between Westminster and Dublin, with 25 British and 25 Irish members drawn from the upper and lower houses of both parliaments. In recent years the body has been extended to include representatives from the Welsh Assembly, the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Isle of Man and Channel Islands. The body's joint chairmen are the Labour MP and former secretary of state Peter Hain and Donegal North East Fianna Fail TD Niall Blaney.
FORUM of politicians is to call on the British government to release secret files on the suspects allegedly behind the Omagh bombing.
Nobody has been convicted for the 1998 Real IRA attack, which killed 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins.
The issue will be raised by more than a dozen cross-party members of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body (BIIPB) including Labour MP Andrew Mackinlay and Fine Gael TD Brian Hayes.
Mr Mackinlay will table a motion at the meeting calling on the British government "to disclose immediately to the legal counsel of the families of the victims of the Omagh bombing details of and all information relating to and arising from the request made by the RUC to Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) for surveillance of those subsequently suspected of preparing and carrying out the atrocity in Omagh a decade ago, including transcripts and timelines".
Memorial events were held in Omagh in August to mark the 10th anniversary of the attack.
The inter-parliamentary body is convening for its two-day meeting in Newcastle upon Tyne in north-east England on Monday. British and Irish parliamentarians will also examine proposals to remember the past with an address by Lord Eames and Denis Bradley, co-chairmen of the Consultative Group on the Past.
The agenda also includes a briefing by secretary of state Shaun Woodward on recent political developments in Northern Ireland and his assessment of the future. The body will be attended for the first time by an official Ulster Unionist delegation led by Lord Maginnis of Drumglass, a former MP, and assembly member David McClarty.
"This reverses almost two decades of a unionist boycott of the body, which will change its name to the British-Irish Assembly to accommodate unionist concerns," a spokesman for the inter-parliamentary body said.
There will also be a presentation from Eamon Ryan - the Republic's minister for communications, energy and natural resources - on how to maximise energy in Ireland and Britain.
A report on how to boost renewable energy will be debated.
The body will also hear calls for the creation of a code of conduct for employers of migrant workers "to protect vulnerable communities from exploitation".
The inter-parliamentary body was formally established in 1990 as a link between Westminster and Dublin, with 25 British and 25 Irish members drawn from the upper and lower houses of both parliaments. In recent years the body has been extended to include representatives from the Welsh Assembly, the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Isle of Man and Channel Islands. The body's joint chairmen are the Labour MP and former secretary of state Peter Hain and Donegal North East Fianna Fail TD Niall Blaney.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0971
Published Date: 18-Oct-08
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