FAMILIES NEED SUPPORT OVER OMAGH INQUIRY
Families need support over Omagh inquiry
I HEARTILY agree with Neil Oliver, Newtownards (Letters, August 10), who has called for a full public inquiry into the Omagh bombing, rightly adding that this is long overdue.
Sadly and mindful of government pronouncements following the publication of the Saville Report into the Bloody Sunday affair, the prospect of this ever taking place is pretty bleak indeed. The Omagh families, both those bereaved by the death of loved ones, and relatives of injured victims, have been tortured and traumatized over the past 12 years, having seen their hopes of getting justice and closure dashed so many times. In fact, a few families, I understand, feel they have had enough and are prepared to give up the fight. There are, of course, some families who are not prepared to throw in the towel so easily. They continue to seek answers to questions which the families believe could be obtained during the course of a public inquiry. Both the British and Dublin governments, police authorities and MI5 intelligence would prefer not to have answers to these questions uncovered, so they continue to lie low and hope the families will just go away. The same is true, I hasten to add, regarding the families of the Claudy and also the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. They all feel they have got the same right to a public investigation as the families of the victims of Bloody Sunday in Londonderry.
The Omagh families want to know, for example, why army personnel was so thin on the ground and why so few, if any, were deployed that summer day to man checkpoints on all roads leading into the town, when intelligence had told them that a car bomb was due to cross the border. The families would also want to find out the exact role of MI5 and the techniques used to monitor telephone calls. They are also unhappy with the low level of policing in the town, where a carnival parade was to make its way through the streets in the afternoon. They would want to know if the offer of some enforcements to patrol the town earlier was officially turned down.
Former ombudsman Nuala O'Loan, in a report, stated that there were far too many unanswered questions in the lead up to the arrival of the Real IRA's bomb car in the town and she hoped that ways and means might be found for a thorough investigation. In the light of the recent remarks of the chief constable that another Omagh-type atrocity was now possible, with the growth of dissident republican activity, one is bound to ask why the various government agencies have been so reluctant to supply the means for the families finding out the truth.
These families would very much welcome more support (lukewarm up to now) in their call for a thorough investigation from the leading lights in their town - public representatives, clergy, businessmen, etc, who so often are heard promoting the town's potential, even to the extent of Omagh aspiring to city status by 2025. I applaud the initiative of the barrister Mr Oliver in calling for an independent public inquiry, chaired by a high court judge, who would have the power to subpoena witnesses to attend and to demand the production of all the relevant documents required.
Concerned Observer
I HEARTILY agree with Neil Oliver, Newtownards (Letters, August 10), who has called for a full public inquiry into the Omagh bombing, rightly adding that this is long overdue.
Sadly and mindful of government pronouncements following the publication of the Saville Report into the Bloody Sunday affair, the prospect of this ever taking place is pretty bleak indeed. The Omagh families, both those bereaved by the death of loved ones, and relatives of injured victims, have been tortured and traumatized over the past 12 years, having seen their hopes of getting justice and closure dashed so many times. In fact, a few families, I understand, feel they have had enough and are prepared to give up the fight. There are, of course, some families who are not prepared to throw in the towel so easily. They continue to seek answers to questions which the families believe could be obtained during the course of a public inquiry. Both the British and Dublin governments, police authorities and MI5 intelligence would prefer not to have answers to these questions uncovered, so they continue to lie low and hope the families will just go away. The same is true, I hasten to add, regarding the families of the Claudy and also the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. They all feel they have got the same right to a public investigation as the families of the victims of Bloody Sunday in Londonderry.
The Omagh families want to know, for example, why army personnel was so thin on the ground and why so few, if any, were deployed that summer day to man checkpoints on all roads leading into the town, when intelligence had told them that a car bomb was due to cross the border. The families would also want to find out the exact role of MI5 and the techniques used to monitor telephone calls. They are also unhappy with the low level of policing in the town, where a carnival parade was to make its way through the streets in the afternoon. They would want to know if the offer of some enforcements to patrol the town earlier was officially turned down.
Former ombudsman Nuala O'Loan, in a report, stated that there were far too many unanswered questions in the lead up to the arrival of the Real IRA's bomb car in the town and she hoped that ways and means might be found for a thorough investigation. In the light of the recent remarks of the chief constable that another Omagh-type atrocity was now possible, with the growth of dissident republican activity, one is bound to ask why the various government agencies have been so reluctant to supply the means for the families finding out the truth.
These families would very much welcome more support (lukewarm up to now) in their call for a thorough investigation from the leading lights in their town - public representatives, clergy, businessmen, etc, who so often are heard promoting the town's potential, even to the extent of Omagh aspiring to city status by 2025. I applaud the initiative of the barrister Mr Oliver in calling for an independent public inquiry, chaired by a high court judge, who would have the power to subpoena witnesses to attend and to demand the production of all the relevant documents required.
Concerned Observer
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/812
Published Date: 23-Aug-10
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.