MAN WHO MADE ATROCITY BOMB MAY HAVE BEEN A BRITISH AGENT
Man who made atrocity bomb may have been a British agent
THIS is the man named in Parliament as the Omagh bombmaker.
He is Joseph Patrick "Mooch" Blair from Dundalk, currently held on remand in a Dublin prison, charged with Real IRA membership and possession of ammunition.
In January, 2002, under the legal privilege provided by Parliament, MP Jeffrey Donaldson identified Blair as the man referred to in the Police Ombudsman's report on Omagh as Man A, Blair has never publicly replied to this allegation.
According to Kevin Fulton, he met Man A a few days before the bombing and believed he was bomb making.
He told his police handler about this before Omagh.
According to the Ombudsman's report, Man A's mobile phone was also traced to a call to the Real IRA Omagh bomb convoy on its way to the Tyrone town on the day of the atrocity, August 15,1998.
Yet, ex-RUC Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan has publicly and confidently stated Man A never has and never will be a suspect in the bombing.
And, according to a wide range of sources - in this, the week of two more arrests in connection with the inquiry - he has never been questioned by police in connection with the massacre.
If the police had any reason even to suspect that Mooch Blair might be Man A, the Omagh families have said, then why have they not questioned him?
The only answer they have been able to offer, but never been able to prove, is that Blair could have been a secret services agent at the time of the bomb-making him what Fulton has termed "a protected species".
In short, they fear he was being paid by the British and/or Irish state, and even instructed by its security operatives, while he was allegedly building the bomb for Omagh.
If this was true, the Omagh families worry that they may never know the full truth behind the atrocity.
What we do know is that Mooch Blair, 48, was convicted in the 1970s on 25 terrorist-related charges.
MP Jeffrey Donaldson told Parliament, in January 2002 under legal privilege, that he was also "involved in the making of mortars that were used in the attack on the RUC station in Newry in 1985 in which nine officers were murdered".
After that atrocity, Blair relocated to Dundalk.
It was there that he met British agent Kevin Fulton.
Mooch Blair was well-placed - like the agent Fulton - in Dundalk, which was a hub of activity for much that happened in the IRA.
In the late 1990s, he was also one of the dissident group's senior bombmakers.
Neither Fulton, the Omagh families nor News Letter security sources can understand why he was apparently not even questioned about Omagh.
The Garda refused to comment.
But the News Letter understands from a source close to Fulton that the spy's handler was told by his superiors to keep Fulton away from Blair around the time of Omagh.
The source said: "The only reason I can think of for that is that he was their man, too."
Fulton, meanwhile, said his suspicions about Blair's possible involvement with security services were raised when information he passed on in relation to him was never followed up - involving a haul of one million Viagra tablets.
He said: "I believe my handler put in for an operation on it and I was told Special Branch stopped the whole thing and told my handler he was not to meet me anymore. Why?"
Then he noted another similar situation.
"Myself and a TV producer from Tonight with Trevor McDonald had come up with a plan to get Mooch talking about Omagh on camera.
"This producer went to Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan and he said it was a great idea but all of a sudden the programme was stopped. Why?"
He added: "All I know is that I was a protected species for a long number of years and the picture I am getting is that Man A was a protected species, too."
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan died in the bombing, said: "Ronnie Flanagan said Man A never has been and never will be a suspect. How could he be so sure as to count anybody in or out? Why was he so confident Man A would never be a suspect?"
THIS is the man named in Parliament as the Omagh bombmaker.
He is Joseph Patrick "Mooch" Blair from Dundalk, currently held on remand in a Dublin prison, charged with Real IRA membership and possession of ammunition.
In January, 2002, under the legal privilege provided by Parliament, MP Jeffrey Donaldson identified Blair as the man referred to in the Police Ombudsman's report on Omagh as Man A, Blair has never publicly replied to this allegation.
According to Kevin Fulton, he met Man A a few days before the bombing and believed he was bomb making.
He told his police handler about this before Omagh.
According to the Ombudsman's report, Man A's mobile phone was also traced to a call to the Real IRA Omagh bomb convoy on its way to the Tyrone town on the day of the atrocity, August 15,1998.
Yet, ex-RUC Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan has publicly and confidently stated Man A never has and never will be a suspect in the bombing.
And, according to a wide range of sources - in this, the week of two more arrests in connection with the inquiry - he has never been questioned by police in connection with the massacre.
If the police had any reason even to suspect that Mooch Blair might be Man A, the Omagh families have said, then why have they not questioned him?
The only answer they have been able to offer, but never been able to prove, is that Blair could have been a secret services agent at the time of the bomb-making him what Fulton has termed "a protected species".
In short, they fear he was being paid by the British and/or Irish state, and even instructed by its security operatives, while he was allegedly building the bomb for Omagh.
If this was true, the Omagh families worry that they may never know the full truth behind the atrocity.
What we do know is that Mooch Blair, 48, was convicted in the 1970s on 25 terrorist-related charges.
MP Jeffrey Donaldson told Parliament, in January 2002 under legal privilege, that he was also "involved in the making of mortars that were used in the attack on the RUC station in Newry in 1985 in which nine officers were murdered".
After that atrocity, Blair relocated to Dundalk.
It was there that he met British agent Kevin Fulton.
Mooch Blair was well-placed - like the agent Fulton - in Dundalk, which was a hub of activity for much that happened in the IRA.
In the late 1990s, he was also one of the dissident group's senior bombmakers.
Neither Fulton, the Omagh families nor News Letter security sources can understand why he was apparently not even questioned about Omagh.
The Garda refused to comment.
But the News Letter understands from a source close to Fulton that the spy's handler was told by his superiors to keep Fulton away from Blair around the time of Omagh.
The source said: "The only reason I can think of for that is that he was their man, too."
Fulton, meanwhile, said his suspicions about Blair's possible involvement with security services were raised when information he passed on in relation to him was never followed up - involving a haul of one million Viagra tablets.
He said: "I believe my handler put in for an operation on it and I was told Special Branch stopped the whole thing and told my handler he was not to meet me anymore. Why?"
Then he noted another similar situation.
"Myself and a TV producer from Tonight with Trevor McDonald had come up with a plan to get Mooch talking about Omagh on camera.
"This producer went to Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan and he said it was a great idea but all of a sudden the programme was stopped. Why?"
He added: "All I know is that I was a protected species for a long number of years and the picture I am getting is that Man A was a protected species, too."
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan died in the bombing, said: "Ronnie Flanagan said Man A never has been and never will be a suspect. How could he be so sure as to count anybody in or out? Why was he so confident Man A would never be a suspect?"
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/488
Published Date: 05-Sep-03
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