FLANAGAN LOSING BATTLE FOR HEARTS AND MINDS
Flanagan 'losing battle for hearts and minds'
By GEMMA MURRAY
THE battle for the hearts and minds of the Omagh bomb victims' families was an emotional roller-coaster yesterday when the Chief Constable came under fierce criticism from the relatives of the 29 people murdered.
Sir Ronnie Flanagan spent almost five hours closeted in a hotel in the County Tyrone town with more than 100 relatives of the dead and victims of the bomb - but failed to convince them there was nothing wrong with the police investigation into the 1998 atrocity.
Tired and despondent relatives refused to wear the police chief's dismissal of the damning report by the Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan into the police handling of the case. Calls were made for the very public fight between Sir Ronnie and Mrs O'Loan over who is right and who is wrong to be conducted and ultimately resolved on camera.
Last night, Lawrence Rush, whose wife Libby died in the bombing, said: "Sir Ronnie is a great talker, a great PR man and a very affable sort of person. But Sir Ronnie Flanagan, great PR man as he is, has lost this battle."
Mr Rush accused Sir Ronnie of trying to defend the police force where there were "inadequacies, ineptitude and deceit".
He said some good housekeeping was needed. "Today the people of Omagh had been drowned in a long monotonous denial surrounding investigative inaccuracies.
"Sir Ronnie Flanagan has done very little to appease our fears over police inadequacies," he said.
Relatives spokesman Michael Gallagher - whose son Adrian was killed - spoke of the immense disappointment he and other relatives were feeling.
Referring to the Chief Constable, he said: "You've seen his performance many times, I'm sure. It hasn't differed. He was very impressive in his deliverance, but many of the questions he answered - and indeed the other team members - we were not happy with.
"I felt very disappointed. I think the Chief Constable could have offered more than he did, that he could go some way to meet Nuala O'Loan.
"It appears what he is saying is 'we have done nothing wrong apart for some minor administrative errors' and that is hard to accept."
Flanked by many of those who lost loved ones in the bombing, Mr Gallagher added the relatives would ensure the investigation will not end.
"I think it definitely won't end here. We are going to move this forward. The people who planted this bomb, who planned it, who continue to plan, are out there, and unless we do something as a group of victims, they will continue."
A public inquiry into the whole Omagh affair might be the only way to find out who was right and who was wrong, he said.
But the relatives said it was not a question for them of battles between the Chief Constable and the Ombudsman.
"We are only here for the truth, we are not going to get involved in the fight between Nuala O'Loan's office and the Chief Constable's office. We are far above that," said Mr Gallagher.
Stanley McCombe, whose wife Ann died in the blast, said: "Sir Ronnie and Nuala O'Loan have to sort their own differences out. Let these two people come together on camera. Let the world hear them."
Kevin Skelton, whose wife Philomena was killed in the bomb, spoke of his abhorrence that the investigations had been turned into a "political football".
"I am fed up and sick with the way things have gone on, especially over the last few months. They have turned this atrocity into a political football.
"I want justice for the people that were killed. To be quite honest the way things are going, I want nothing more to do with it.
"If Ronnie Flanagan stood in front of me and held his two hands up and said, 'Kevin, I understand, my men made mistakes, they are only human beings', I would walk out of the room a happy man."
Asked if he felt the Chief Constable had been hard done by the Ombudsman, Mr Gallagher said: "We have been done wrong. That is the bottom line. We shouldn't even be talking about this three and a half years on.
"If this crime had been committed in London, and look at the number of major crimes that were committed in England over the period since the Omagh bomb, people are either in due process or have been convicted.
"And yet here we have 31, including two unborn children, and over 600 families affected and still we have only somebody who wasn't even a bomber in jail at the moment."
Several of the families are due to travel to Dublin this morning to see Colm Murphy sentenced following his conviction earlier this week of conspiracy to cause the explosion.
Mr Gallagher attacked the dismissal by Sir Ronnie of the recommendation from the ombudsman that an officer from an outside force should be brought in to lead the Omagh investigation.
What had been done instead had been "tinkering" and "a cosmetic exercise" in bringing in an officer from Liverpool to assist.
From what they have heard during their lengthy meeting the families have little hope there would be convictions in Northern Ireland on the basis of the police investigation as it was being run at present, he said.
Mr Rush said he wanted big changes in the investigation.
"I believe fundamental change has to take place from above."
He was not satisfied with a single officer being brought in to give a bit of help.
He added: "I think we have got a club here, I think they have got used to it. They have got used to death."
Mr Rush said he believed the Chief Constable had been "a little bit unfair" to Mrs O'Loan.
"He didn't give ground. In all Mrs O'Loan's allegations, he found everything wrong. He didn't give ground at all that there might be something in there that may be rectified. That is one of his weaknesses."
William Gibson, whose wife Esther died in the bombing, left "confused and disappointed".
He said he had no confidence in the police service investigation. "I wouldn't be happy at all, how could you be?"
The only person who voiced support for Sir Ronnie's team was Donna-Marie McGillion who was disfigured in the bombing and still undergoes regular plastic surgery - the next time early next month.
She left the meeting saying she was going to give careful consideration to what she had heard before coming to a final conclusion.
But she added: "I have always had confidence in the investigation and firmly believe that everybody involved will do everything they can to secure convictions."
By GEMMA MURRAY
THE battle for the hearts and minds of the Omagh bomb victims' families was an emotional roller-coaster yesterday when the Chief Constable came under fierce criticism from the relatives of the 29 people murdered.
Sir Ronnie Flanagan spent almost five hours closeted in a hotel in the County Tyrone town with more than 100 relatives of the dead and victims of the bomb - but failed to convince them there was nothing wrong with the police investigation into the 1998 atrocity.
Tired and despondent relatives refused to wear the police chief's dismissal of the damning report by the Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan into the police handling of the case. Calls were made for the very public fight between Sir Ronnie and Mrs O'Loan over who is right and who is wrong to be conducted and ultimately resolved on camera.
Last night, Lawrence Rush, whose wife Libby died in the bombing, said: "Sir Ronnie is a great talker, a great PR man and a very affable sort of person. But Sir Ronnie Flanagan, great PR man as he is, has lost this battle."
Mr Rush accused Sir Ronnie of trying to defend the police force where there were "inadequacies, ineptitude and deceit".
He said some good housekeeping was needed. "Today the people of Omagh had been drowned in a long monotonous denial surrounding investigative inaccuracies.
"Sir Ronnie Flanagan has done very little to appease our fears over police inadequacies," he said.
Relatives spokesman Michael Gallagher - whose son Adrian was killed - spoke of the immense disappointment he and other relatives were feeling.
Referring to the Chief Constable, he said: "You've seen his performance many times, I'm sure. It hasn't differed. He was very impressive in his deliverance, but many of the questions he answered - and indeed the other team members - we were not happy with.
"I felt very disappointed. I think the Chief Constable could have offered more than he did, that he could go some way to meet Nuala O'Loan.
"It appears what he is saying is 'we have done nothing wrong apart for some minor administrative errors' and that is hard to accept."
Flanked by many of those who lost loved ones in the bombing, Mr Gallagher added the relatives would ensure the investigation will not end.
"I think it definitely won't end here. We are going to move this forward. The people who planted this bomb, who planned it, who continue to plan, are out there, and unless we do something as a group of victims, they will continue."
A public inquiry into the whole Omagh affair might be the only way to find out who was right and who was wrong, he said.
But the relatives said it was not a question for them of battles between the Chief Constable and the Ombudsman.
"We are only here for the truth, we are not going to get involved in the fight between Nuala O'Loan's office and the Chief Constable's office. We are far above that," said Mr Gallagher.
Stanley McCombe, whose wife Ann died in the blast, said: "Sir Ronnie and Nuala O'Loan have to sort their own differences out. Let these two people come together on camera. Let the world hear them."
Kevin Skelton, whose wife Philomena was killed in the bomb, spoke of his abhorrence that the investigations had been turned into a "political football".
"I am fed up and sick with the way things have gone on, especially over the last few months. They have turned this atrocity into a political football.
"I want justice for the people that were killed. To be quite honest the way things are going, I want nothing more to do with it.
"If Ronnie Flanagan stood in front of me and held his two hands up and said, 'Kevin, I understand, my men made mistakes, they are only human beings', I would walk out of the room a happy man."
Asked if he felt the Chief Constable had been hard done by the Ombudsman, Mr Gallagher said: "We have been done wrong. That is the bottom line. We shouldn't even be talking about this three and a half years on.
"If this crime had been committed in London, and look at the number of major crimes that were committed in England over the period since the Omagh bomb, people are either in due process or have been convicted.
"And yet here we have 31, including two unborn children, and over 600 families affected and still we have only somebody who wasn't even a bomber in jail at the moment."
Several of the families are due to travel to Dublin this morning to see Colm Murphy sentenced following his conviction earlier this week of conspiracy to cause the explosion.
Mr Gallagher attacked the dismissal by Sir Ronnie of the recommendation from the ombudsman that an officer from an outside force should be brought in to lead the Omagh investigation.
What had been done instead had been "tinkering" and "a cosmetic exercise" in bringing in an officer from Liverpool to assist.
From what they have heard during their lengthy meeting the families have little hope there would be convictions in Northern Ireland on the basis of the police investigation as it was being run at present, he said.
Mr Rush said he wanted big changes in the investigation.
"I believe fundamental change has to take place from above."
He was not satisfied with a single officer being brought in to give a bit of help.
He added: "I think we have got a club here, I think they have got used to it. They have got used to death."
Mr Rush said he believed the Chief Constable had been "a little bit unfair" to Mrs O'Loan.
"He didn't give ground. In all Mrs O'Loan's allegations, he found everything wrong. He didn't give ground at all that there might be something in there that may be rectified. That is one of his weaknesses."
William Gibson, whose wife Esther died in the bombing, left "confused and disappointed".
He said he had no confidence in the police service investigation. "I wouldn't be happy at all, how could you be?"
The only person who voiced support for Sir Ronnie's team was Donna-Marie McGillion who was disfigured in the bombing and still undergoes regular plastic surgery - the next time early next month.
She left the meeting saying she was going to give careful consideration to what she had heard before coming to a final conclusion.
But she added: "I have always had confidence in the investigation and firmly believe that everybody involved will do everything they can to secure convictions."
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/417
Published Date: 25-Jan-02
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